fmSMS Webhooks Using Claris Connect
You can use Claris Connect to create a flow to handle incoming messages from your SMS Gateway. This is a much simpler process than using the supplied PHP files for the FileMaker Data API as you don't need to worry about hosting the files and dealing with web servers and PHP configuration changes etc. You can setup a new Claris Connect Flow in a few minutes which can receive incoming SMS messages from your SMS Gateway and create a new record in the Replies table.
If you are using the Twilio SMS Gateway make sure you follow the Twilio Webhooks using Claris Connect article as Claris Connect has native support for handling incoming messages from Twilio.
For information on the supported versions of FileMaker Server/FileMaker Cloud and other minimum requirements please see our Claris Connect Webhooks FAQ article.
To setup a new Claris Connect Flow to receive incoming SMS Messages from your SMS Gateway:
1. login to Claris Connect and create a new Project and give the Project a Name (e.g. Incoming SMS Messages)
2. click the Webhooks button on the left to create a new Webhook that we can use for receiving incoming messages
Click the Create a webhook button to create a new Webhook for your Project.
2. you will then be prompted to enter a webhook name that will appear in the URL. Enter your preferred name (e.g. fmsms) and click the Create button:
A new webhook will be created showing the URL for this webhook:
Make a note of the URL and copy this somewhere else as you will need to enter this into your SMS Gateway account settings.
3. now that the webhook has been created click the Flows button on the left to create a new flow for this webhook. Search for Webhooks in the list of triggers:
Click on the Webhooks app that appears which takes you to the Incoming HTTP Request screen - click Continue:
4. you will then be prompted to choose the Webhook from the drop down list. You should see the webhook you created earlier:
You now need to test the webhook trigger by sending a message from your phone to your SMS Gateway number to simulate an incoming SMS message. Before you can do that you need to enter the URL for the Webhook into your SMS Gateway's account so they know where to send the incoming SMS notifications. The process for this is different for each SMS Gateway. You can also view the details for each supported SMS Gateway from our list of Supported SMS Gateways - just click the Further details link for more information on where to enter the URL for your webhook.
After the message has been received by your SMS Gateway and sent to your Claris Connect URL the Save Trigger button will become active - click the Save Trigger button to continue.
5. you now need to add another action to the Claris Connect Flow which will create a new record in the Replies table in the fmSMS file and populate the relevant fields with data from the incoming SMS. Click the + button and select Action to add a new Action:
In the list of apps search for 'FileMaker' and select the appropriate option for where your copy of fmSMS is hosted:
After selecting the appropriate Claris FileMaker option choose the Create Record option and click Continue
6. you will then be prompted to authenticate with your Claris FileMaker server (the process is slightly different for each option):
You can use the same FileMaker account that the PHP files use here as they have the required access privileges for receiving incoming messages via the Data API. After you have successfully authenticate click the Continue button:
7. you then need to choose the FileMaker layout to use - select the WebReplies layout which is the same layout the PHP files use and has the necessary fields. To map the SMS Gateway data from the incoming SMS to the matching FileMaker field the blue icon to the right of the following fields and select the option from the list (you should see the data from the test message your sent earlier to your SMS Gateway number):
The object names will be different for each SMS Gateway - the following shows an example for an SMS Gateway that sends an HTTP POST with a JSON payload that Claris Connect is parsing for us:
For most SMS Gateways you will only need to map the following fields at a minimum:
Click the Save button - your Flow should now show the following 2 actions:
You can now toggle the Disabled option to Enabled - you will receive the following prompt:
Click Save to make your Flow active. You can now test this is working successfully by sending another message from your phone to your SMS Gateway number and you should see a new record created shortly after in the Replies table in the fmSMS file.