How to add an AI chatbot to SMS

People text the businesses they trust. It’s fast, it’s personal, and almost every message gets opened. The problem is speed: a text that waits an hour for a reply might as well not be answered. Connect your Twilio number to Supportweave and, by default, every inbound text is answered by AI — the same knowledge-grounded pipeline that runs on your website widget — with a grounded reply sent straight back as a text. Want a person in the loop instead? Flip the AI replies toggle off and that channel goes human-first: the text lands in one shared inbox flagged for a human, in the wait queue with its real arrival time and firing a desktop alert the second it arrives, and a teammate replies with an AI-drafted suggestion from your knowledge base.

Here’s how to put your Twilio number in the Supportweave inbox and start answering texts from one place.

What you'll need

• A Supportweave workspace (set up during your demo)
• A chatbot trained on your content
• A Twilio account with an SMS-capable phone number you own

Step 1: Train your agent first

Before it can answer a text, your agent needs to know your business. Crawl your site, upload your docs, and add the FAQs you already get every day. The care you put in here is the difference between grounded answers and guesses. See the training guide for the full setup.

Step 2: Get an SMS-capable Twilio number

In the Twilio Console, buy or select a phone number that supports SMS. Go to Phone Numbers → Manage → Active numbers and confirm the number you want to use has the messaging capability.

If you’re sending to US recipients, you’ll also need to complete A2P 10DLC registration in Twilio, which links your number to a registered brand and campaign so carriers deliver your texts reliably.

Step 3: Connect SMS in Supportweave

In the Supportweave dashboard, open the chatbot you want to handle texts, go to its Channels tab, and pick SMS. (Channels are set per chatbot — there’s no separate global Channels page.) Supportweave gives you a webhook URL.

Copy that URL. This is the address Twilio will call every time someone texts your number.

Step 4: Point your Twilio number at the webhook

Back in the Twilio Console, go to Phone Numbers → Manage → Active numbers and click the number you’re using.

1. 1Scroll to Messaging configuration.
2. 2Under A message comes in, choose Webhook.
3. 3Paste the webhook URL from Supportweave.
4. 4Set the method to HTTP POST.
5. 5Click Save.

That’s the whole handoff. From now on, every text to that number routes into your Supportweave inbox.

Step 5: Send a test text

Grab your phone and text your Twilio number a real question, like your hours or your return policy. Within moments the AI texts back a grounded reply pulled from your knowledge base, and the exchange shows up in your shared inbox tagged SMS so your team can follow along. If the texter asks for a person — or the workspace runs out of credits — the thread flips to needing a human: it waits in the queue with its true arrival time, and if desktop alerts are on, your browser pings you the moment it lands. Turn the AI replies toggle off for this channel and SMS goes human-first instead — the text lands flagged for a human, and the AI copilot drafts a suggested reply from your knowledge base for a teammate to review, edit, and send back out on the same number.

Desktop alerts are opt-in per browser — turn them on from the inbox header or Settings → Notifications.

Take it further

• Every text is auto-tagged with intent, sentiment, and a lead score, so your team knows what to pick up first
• Repeat texters merge into one contact timeline across every channel, so you’re never guessing who’s who
• In human-first mode, the AI copilot drafts replies and handoff summaries — your team reviews, edits, and sends
• Turn on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, or a voice line from the same shared inbox, no retraining
• SMS answers on its own by default, and so do WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram — plus the website widget and voice line reply instantly and grounded, no human in the loop
• White-label the whole experience so it reads as your brand, not ours

One shared inbox holds your texts, your calls, your website chat, and your social DMs, all backed by one knowledge base you train once — with the AI answering directly over SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, the website widget, and the voice line. See the SMS channel page for the full picture, or book a demo to see it running on a number of your own.