Navigators

Navigators allow you to send a message via the best of multiple channels.

Last updated 2 months ago

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Navigators

Navigators allow you to send a message via the best of multiple channels.

Navigator behaviour may vary according to the country you are sending to and the message type. You can see the preferred kind of SMS channels for each scenario and check any existing navigator in your workspace via the Navigator TAB in the developer dashboard

Navigators only support SMS channels. Other platform channels (WhatsApp, RCS, etc.) will not be included in any message sent via Navigators.

List Available Navigators

By default, each workspace will have 4 navigators.

Please contact our support team if you need a customized navigator added to your workspace. One of our support support agents will coordinate its provisioning

Marketing: The primary objective of marketing navigators is to send bulk traffic. They will only attempt delivery via PROMOTIONAL channels, adhering to strict compliance checks, including quiet hours and Opt-Out regulations.
Conversation: Conversational navigators consider only two-way CONVERSATIONAL channels, ignoring any one-way channels (such as those using Alphanumeric senders).
Transactional: The transactional navigator prioritizes high-quality routes when applying only the minimum required compline check. Transactional navigators will only send traffic from TRANSACTIONAL channels to ensure the best possible Quality of Service.
OTP: The 2FA navigator prioritizes deliverability above all. It attempts to send messages via 2FA channels first but will use TRANSACTIONAL channels if none are available, and as a last resort, it will utilize PROMOTIONAL channels.

When sending OTPs, ensure you have either 2FA or transactional channels in your workspace. OTP messages delivered through promotional channels during quiet hours may be delayed until the following day.

Inspect a Navigator

Coverage

Navigators can access as many countries as there are channels available to them. Coverage may vary over time based on channel availability and health.

You can check a navigator coverage and the channel it will use for each country by clicking on it in the navigator set up page

Sending messages

A-Sync : this will start a background process that may require some time to complete. A Get call may be required to to retrieve the final result .

The navigator message will contain navigator metadata, including.

Navigator information

providing UUID relevant to both the navigator objection and the navigator message objects

    "meta": {
        "navigatorId": "5f40c7f0-5904-4d68-8840-a1a5dc3e36c3",
        "navigatorMessageId": "5ec65d4f-53b0-45f8-8f83-b177f976b3e3"
    },

Attempts

Navigator may attempt to send messages via more than one channel. attempts will list and providing information about all channels a navigator used when handling a given message

    "navigatorData": {
        "attempts": [
            {
                "channelId": "6f50cd25-d416-44d3-bf63-de88a60129d0",
                "messageId": "3ecadc0d-cf7c-4b2a-90bc-fed5a3f6a26e",
                "attempt": 1,
                "status": "accepted",
                "createdAt": "2024-07-18T14:04:18.214Z"
            }

You can get messages sent to a navigator by making a request to the channel endpoint that accepted the message based on the response above

Check Navigators Messages Status Reports

To receive status reports about messages, you will need webhook subscriptions. You can create the via UI

Configure Webhook Subscriptions

Navigators Webhooks

We recommend subscribing at least to navigator.outbound. Navigator event will provide you information about any fallback as well the status of your navigator messages.

Note: Navigator message status reflects the final outcome of all delivery attempts made by the Navigator. For example, if a WhatsApp delivery fails but the fallback via SMS succeeds, the navigator message status will be marked as "Delivered."

{"service": "channels",
  "event": "navigator.outbound",
  "payload": {
    "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-100000000000",
    "navigatorId": {navigatorI},
    "reference": "",
"attempts": [
            {
                "channelId": {channelId},
                "platformId": "rcs-google",
                "messageId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
                "attempt": 1,
                "status": "sending_failed",
                "createdAt": "2024-12-24T09:52:54.524Z"
            },
            {
                "channelId": {channelId},
                "platformId": "whatsapp",
                "messageId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001",
                "attempt": 2,
                "status": "sending_failed",
                "createdAt": "2024-12-24T09:52:54.524Z",
                "failure": {
                    "code": 12006,
                    "description": "Invalid message",
                    "source": {
                        "name": "pre-processing"
                    }
                }
            },
            {
                "channelId": {channelId},
                "platformId": "sms-messagebird",
                "messageId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000002",
                "attempt": 3,
                "status": "delivered",
                "createdAt": "2024-12-24T09:52:54.524Z"
            }
        ],
    "status": "delivered",
    "createdAt": "2024-12-24T09:52:54.524Z",
    "updatedAt": "2024-12-24T09:52:55.855Z"
  }
}

Optional: channel Webhooks

If you are interested in diving deep on specific attempts status you can also subscribe to sms.outbound and one for whatsapp.outbound . When doing so you will be able to retrieve the navigator ID and navigator message id in the meta field.

 "meta": {
      "navigatorId": "91af46ab-70ba-5152-a611-812cad0fbd71",
      "navigatorMessageId": "defe9d3b-9cea-4585-9f67-2a4f1d93101a"
    }

Check Incoming Messages

If you've only sent SMS messages before—especially if you haven’t operated in the U.S.—you’ve likely only used a one-way channel. WhatsApp, however, is a two-way channel by design, so users may try to contact you there. When using a Navigator to send both SMS and r WhatsApp traffic, it’s essential to monitor incoming messages to avoid missing user inquiries. Ignoring users can lead to frustration and could result in them reporting your channel to Meta, potentially causing suspension.

Programmatically

You can subscribe to sms.inbound and whatsapp.inbound event to capture all incoming messages in your workspace

NOTE incoming messages will not be linked to a navigator and will nto have the navigator information in the meta field

Via UI

If you navigate to the customer service section of our side panel you can find all incoming conversations in the entry corresponding to yours SMS or WhatsApp channels.

Create a Customize Navigator

If you want to limit the selection of channels a navigator can access, you can create a customized one.

Update a Navigator

You can add or remove channels from a navigator

Delete a Navigator

Check Logs & Insight

You can check SMS and Log insight separately via the relevant SMS and WhatsApp tabs in our developer view, you can also use the dedicated Navigator logs, which does allow the tracking of attempts and fallbacks

Last updated 2 months ago

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{ "results": [ { "navigatorId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "workspaceId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "type": "messaging", "settings": { "channels": [ { "channelId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" } ] }, "createdAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "updatedAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z" } ], "nextPageToken": "text" }

{ "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "channelId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "sender": { "connector": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "identifierValue": "text", "annotations": { "name": "text" }, "types": [ "text" ] } }, "receiver": { "connector": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "identifierValue": "text", "annotations": { "name": "text" }, "types": [ "text" ] } }, "meta": { "extraInformation": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "anything" }, "referral": { "source": "text", "title": "text", "text": "text", "group": "text", "metadata": { "source_id": "text", "source_url": "text", "media_url": "text", "tracking_id": "text" } }, "order": { "products": [ { "externalCatalogId": "text", "externalProductId": "text", "quantity": 1, "price": { "amount": 1, "exponent": 1, "currencyCode": "text" } } ] }, "referredProduct": { "externalCatalogId": "text", "externalProductId": "text" }, "email": { "subject": "text", "headers": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "text" }, "from": { "username": "text", "displayName": "text" } }, "pushNotifications": { "gatewayTypeOverride": "apns" }, "navigatorId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "navigatorMessageId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "flow": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "stepId": "text", "runId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" }, "journey": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "stepId": "text", "runId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" }, "campaign": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text" } }, "reference": "my-own-identifier", "parts": [ { "platformReference": "text" } ], "status": "accepted", "reason": "text", "direction": "incoming", "origin": { "type": "text", "id": "text" }, "replyTo": { "id": "text", "order": 1, "type": "message" }, "lastStatusAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "createdAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "updatedAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "details": "text", "failure": { "code": 1, "description": "Unsupported media type", "source": { "code": "text", "name": "text" } }, "tags": [ "text" ], "shortLinks": { "domain": "text" }, "scheduledFor": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "body": { "type": "text", "text": { "text": "text", "attachments": [ { "mediaUrl": "https://example.com", "filename": "text", "inline": true } ], "actions": [ { "type": "link", "link": { "text": "text", "url": "text" } } ], "metadata": { "subject": "text", "headers": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "text" }, "whatsapp": { "previewUrl": true }, "line": { "emoji": { "items": [ { "index": 1, "productId": "text", "emojiId": "text", "length": 1 } ] } }, "telegram": { "parseMode": "Markdown" } } } } }

POST /workspaces/{workspaceId}/navigators/{navigatorId}/messages HTTP/1.1 Host: Authorization: Bearer jwt Content-Type: application/json Accept: */* Content-Length: 3167 { "sender": { "connector": { "identifierValue": "channels@bird.com", "annotations": { "name": "text" } } }, "receiver": { "contacts": [ { "id": "a1405560-c8d3-4b1a-877d-3f449ad95352", "identifierKey": "emailaddress", "identifierValue": "channels@bird.com", "type": "cc", "identifiers": [ { "identifierKey": "emailaddress", "identifierValue": "channels@bird.com" } ], "platformAddress": "text", "platformAddressSelector": "text" } ] }, "reference": "my-own-identifier", "template": { "name": "text", "projectId": "a1405560-c8d3-4b1a-877d-3f449ad95352", "version": "a1405560-c8d3-4b1a-877d-3f449ad95352", "locale": "text", "attachments": [ { "mediaUrl": "https://example.com", "filename": "text", "inline": true } ], "shortLinks": { "enabled": true, "domain": "text" }, "variables": { "default": "text", "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "text" }, "utmParameters": [ { "key": "text", "value": "text" } ], "parameters": [ { "type": "string", "key": "text", "value": "text" } ], "settings": { "useMmLite": true } }, "templates": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": { "name": "text", "projectId": "a1405560-c8d3-4b1a-877d-3f449ad95352", "version": "a1405560-c8d3-4b1a-877d-3f449ad95352", "locale": "text", "attachments": [ { "mediaUrl": "https://example.com", "filename": "text", "inline": true } ], "shortLinks": { "enabled": true, "domain": "text" }, "variables": { "default": "text", "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "text" }, "utmParameters": [ { "key": "text", "value": "text" } ], "parameters": [ { "type": "string", "key": "text", "value": "text" } ], "settings": { "useMmLite": true } } }, "meta": { "extraInformation": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "anything" }, "referral": { "source": "text", "title": "text", "text": "text", "group": "text", "metadata": { "source_id": "text", "source_url": "text", "media_url": "text", "tracking_id": "text" } }, "order": { "products": [ { "externalCatalogId": "text", "externalProductId": "text", "quantity": 1, "price": { "amount": 1, "exponent": 1, "currencyCode": "text" } } ] }, "referredProduct": { "externalCatalogId": "text", "externalProductId": "text" }, "email": { "subject": "text", "headers": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "text" }, "from": { "username": "text", "displayName": "text" } }, "pushNotifications": { "gatewayTypeOverride": "apns" }, "navigatorId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "navigatorMessageId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "flow": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "stepId": "text", "runId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" }, "journey": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "stepId": "text", "runId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" }, "campaign": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text" } }, "replyTo": { "id": "text", "order": 1, "type": "message" }, "body": { "type": "text", "text": { "text": "text", "attachments": [ { "mediaUrl": "https://example.com", "filename": "text", "inline": true } ], "actions": [ { "type": "link", "link": { "text": "text", "url": "text" } } ], "metadata": { "subject": "text", "headers": { "ANY_ADDITIONAL_PROPERTY": "text" }, "whatsapp": { "previewUrl": true }, "line": { "emoji": { "items": [ { "index": 1, "productId": "text", "emojiId": "text" } ] } }, "telegram": { "parseMode": "Markdown" } } } }, "notification": { "url": "text" }, "capFrequency": true, "enableLinkTracking": true, "ignoreQuietHours": true, "ignoreGlobalHoldout": true, "tags": [ "text" ], "shortLinks": { "domain": "text" }, "scheduledFor": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "validity": 1 }

POST /workspaces/{workspaceId}/navigators HTTP/1.1 Host: Authorization: Bearer jwt Content-Type: application/json Accept: */* Content-Length: 113 { "name": "text", "type": "messaging", "settings": { "channels": [ { "channelId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" } ] } }

{ "navigatorId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "workspaceId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "type": "messaging", "settings": { "channels": [ { "channelId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" } ] }, "createdAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z", "updatedAt": "2025-05-29T08:23:55.354Z" }

List Available Navigators

Inspect a Navigator

Coverage

Sending messages

Navigator information

Attempts

Check Navigators Messages Status Reports

To receive status reports about messages, you will need webhook subscriptions. You can create the via UI

Configure Webhook Subscriptions

Navigators Webhooks

Check Incoming Messages

Programmatically

Via UI

Create a Customize Navigator

Update a Navigator

Delete a Navigator

Check Logs & Insight

List Available Navigators

Inspect a Navigator

Coverage

Sending messages

Navigator information

Attempts

Check Navigators Messages Status Reports

To receive status reports about messages, you will need webhook subscriptions. You can create the via UI

Configure Webhook Subscriptions

Navigators Webhooks

Check Incoming Messages

Programmatically

Via UI

Create a Customize Navigator

Update a Navigator

Delete a Navigator

Check Logs & Insight

Get list of workspace navigators.

Get navigator by ID

Get navigator coverage by ID

Get message by message ID

Delete navigator by ID

Send a message

Create navigator for the workspace.

Update a navigator by ID