Oct 8, 2026

ChatGPT + Twilio: How to Connect Them for Calls and Texts

ChatGPT can text and start calls from your Twilio account, but not through Twilio’s own plugin. That plugin teaches ChatGPT Twilio’s APIs and never signs in to your account. To act on your account, you run Twilio’s alpha MCP server yourself, give it an address ChatGPT can reach, and add it in Developer mode. Even then, a call ChatGPT starts plays a scripted message and nobody talks back. For live AI calls and texts on your Twilio number with no server, connect Twilio to Carly Teams and add Carly Teams to ChatGPT.

What Twilio offers ChatGPT today

As of October 2026, Twilio has three pieces, and only one touches your account:

Twilio Developer Kit. Twilio’s listing in ChatGPT’s plugin directory is a set of skills that help you write Twilio code. It has no sign-in, so it can’t send anything.
Twilio’s hosted MCP server at mcp.twilio.com/docs searches Twilio’s docs and API specs with no account. Twilio’s MCP docs say it doesn’t execute API calls, and list account-connected tools as planned.
Twilio Alpha MCP server. The twilio-labs/mcp project turns Twilio’s API into tools that run with your API key. Twilio calls it a proof of concept (last release July 2025), and it runs on your own machine, where ChatGPT can’t reach it.

What ChatGPT can do with your Twilio account

With the alpha server connected, ask ChatGPT to:

Send a text (SMS or MMS) from one of your Twilio numbers.
Read the message log, including whether each text was delivered.
Review calls by status and duration, and pull recordings.
Start a call that plays a message you write.
Search for and buy a number, or change where it sends calls and texts.

The server marks no tool as read-only, so ChatGPT asks you to approve every action, even lookups.

How to connect ChatGPT to your Twilio account

Create an API key. In the Twilio Console, go to Settings → Account settings → API keys & auth tokens and click Create API key. Choose Restricted, grant only what ChatGPT needs, and copy the secret (Twilio’s API key guide).
Run the server with only the APIs you need. For texts, calls and numbers: npx -y @twilio-alpha/mcp YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID/YOUR_API_KEY:YOUR_API_SECRET --services twilio_api_v2010. All of Twilio’s API won’t fit in the model’s context.
Give it an address ChatGPT can reach. ChatGPT calls MCP servers from OpenAI’s side. Run OpenAI’s Secure MCP Tunnel client on a computer that stays on (it needs an OpenAI Platform API key), or wrap the server in an HTTP bridge and host it at a public HTTPS address with OAuth in front.
Never pick No Auth for a public address. Anyone who finds the URL could text from your numbers, buy numbers, and run up your Twilio bill.
Check for Developer mode. On the Plugins page, click Add. If Create MCP App isn’t there, turn on Developer mode under Settings → Security and login.
Add the server. Choose Create MCP App, paste the URL or pick your tunnel, and set the authentication.
Test with a read. Pick the app from the + menu in the message box and ask for your last 10 Twilio messages. More on steps 3 to 6: connect an MCP server to ChatGPT.

Why a ChatGPT call through Twilio can’t talk back

Twilio’s call API runs on TwiML, instructions Twilio follows once someone picks up: read this aloud, play this recording, collect a keypress. ChatGPT writes them and starts the call, then never hears the reply.

A two-way AI voice is a separate build: OpenAI’s voice models joined to the call through SIP or a Twilio audio bridge, plus a backend you host for the webhooks, instructions and tools (see OpenAI’s telephony and SIP guide). It’s developer work, billed on OpenAI’s API apart from your ChatGPT plan.

The limits that matter

No Twilio trigger. ChatGPT’s event-triggered tasks fire on Gmail, Slack and GitHub events only. A text to your Twilio number can’t start ChatGPT.
Texting rules still apply. Twilio says anyone texting US numbers from an app over a 10-digit number must register for A2P 10DLC. Toll-free numbers need verification.
Two bills. Twilio charges for numbers, texts and minutes on top of your ChatGPT plan.
You maintain it. The tunnel or host has to stay up, and Twilio warns against running community Twilio MCP servers alongside its own.

ChatGPT calls and texts on your Twilio number with Carly Teams

Twilio is what a Carly Teams line can run on. If your team already has a Twilio account, connect it on the Phone page in Carly, then add Carly Teams to ChatGPT. From the chat, ChatGPT can:

Place calls with a live AI voice agent that does a task, like confirming a delivery, and reports back with a summary and transcript.
Watch a call live, give the agent new instructions mid-call, or hang up.
Send and answer texts, and review missed calls and voicemail.
Build your agents: a voice agent that answers the line 24/7 or after hours, qualifies callers, books meetings on the team calendar, or transfers the call live to a person, in English or Spanish to match the caller. Or a text agent that texts back missed calls.

No server to host, no voice pipeline to build. Every call is logged with a summary and transcript, and the CRM updates based on how it went. Before any text or call, ChatGPT confirms the team, the recipient and the message or task with you, within your team permissions.

Setup is one prompt. Paste it into a new ChatGPT chat and it walks you through Plugins, Add, Create MCP App, naming it Carly Teams, choosing OAuth and signing in, then checks that it can see your phone lines.

Carly business setup prompt

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or any AI agent. It connects your team's calls, texts, voicemail and voice agents, one step at a time.

Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat.

I'll add Carly Teams to you myself. It isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it gets added as a custom connection by URL: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If you can run the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead.

1. Tell me how to add Carly Teams. Give me only the steps for the app you are:
- ChatGPT: I open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, I turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. I name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box I open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. Don't have me build, package or upload a plugin.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): I go to Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: run claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp then I run /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: run codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp then codex mcp login carly-teams
- Cursor: I add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: I create a Carly API key at carlyassistant.com/integrations (Advanced > API Keys > Create a new key, with organization read and write scopes for the actions I need). You build a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp using the key as a bearer token and ask me for it in your secure credential prompt.
- Grok: I go to grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector, then Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: add a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams with https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, then I approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: I go to Settings > Connectors > Custom connector > Remote, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Anything else: I add a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams with https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
I sign in with the Carly account that belongs to my organization. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen before giving the next one.

2. When I say it's added, check that you can see the Carly Teams tools, including list_phone_lines. If you can't yet, tell me how to turn Carly Teams on for this chat, or tell me to open a new chat and paste this prompt again.

3. Check it worked: call list_phone_lines to show the teams and phone lines I can access. Don't tell me it's connected until that call succeeds. If I have several teams, ask which to use. If the team needs a phone line, help me connect its existing Twilio account on the Phone page in Carly.

4. Ask what I want to do first, for example: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." I can also read and answer business texts, have the team's agent make a call, or edit the voice and text agents. Before sending texts or making calls, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. Respect my team permissions.

For my email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows, add the regular Carly plugin as a separate connection. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and anywhere else it connects at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/.

Then try:

“Call Josh at the lumber yard and confirm Thursday’s delivery window. Tell me what he says.”
“Text Emily that her install is confirmed for 9am Friday.”
“Have the agent call Claire about her estimate. Watch the call, and if she can’t do Monday, tell it to offer Tuesday.”
“Set up our voice agent to answer after 6pm, book callers on Michael’s calendar, and transfer anything urgent to Michael.”

No Twilio account? Book a call and the Carly team sets up a number with you. Your own email, calendar and files are a second connection, the Carly plugin: Get the Carly plugin. That’s where Carly connects to thousands of apps. Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. See a call placed from the chat in the walkthrough video.

Self-hosted Twilio server vs Carly Teams

	ChatGPT + self-hosted Twilio MCP	ChatGPT + Carly Teams
Setup	API key, alpha server, tunnel or OAuth-protected URL, Developer mode, Create MCP App	Connect Twilio on Carly’s Phone page, paste the setup prompt
Server to host	Yes, and it has to stay on	No
Live AI voice calls	No, calls play a scripted message	Yes, and you can watch and steer them
Inbound texts answered automatically	No, ChatGPT has no Twilio trigger	Yes, with a text agent
After-hours voice agent	A separate developer build on OpenAI’s API	Yes, set up from the chat
Call logs and transcripts	Raw call logs and recordings through the API	Every call logged with a summary and transcript
Price	Twilio usage + paid ChatGPT plan with Developer mode	Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. No Twilio account? The line is set up on a short call

FAQ

Is there an official Twilio plugin for ChatGPT?

Yes, the Twilio Developer Kit, a set of skills for building on Twilio. It doesn’t sign in to your Twilio account, so it can’t send texts or place calls.

Can ChatGPT send an SMS with Twilio?

Yes, through Twilio’s alpha MCP server running with your API key behind a tunnel or an OAuth-protected URL, added with Create MCP App. US texting still needs A2P 10DLC registration or a verified toll-free number.

Can ChatGPT make phone calls through Twilio?

It can start a call that plays a message you write, but it can’t hold a conversation. For that you need a voice app built on OpenAI’s API, or Carly Teams, which places calls with a live voice agent on your Twilio number.

Can ChatGPT reply to texts sent to my Twilio number?

Not on its own. ChatGPT’s event triggers cover Gmail, Slack and GitHub, so an incoming Twilio text can’t start it. A Carly Teams text agent answers texts as they arrive.

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