Verify API: Quick Start
Setting Up Bird Verify API: A Step-by-Step Guide
The Bird Verify API empowers you to implement automated, multi-step verification strategies across various channels. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up Verify, focusing on SMS and WhatsApp integration.
Setting Up SMS Verification
Step 1: Country Coverage
Identify your target countries, and check the best sender to use using this guide
Submit a ticket to Bird to provision alphanumeric senders and/or numbers for those countries.
Step 2: Install SMS Channels
Navigate to Developers -> SMS -> SMS Setup.
Install SMS channels for each Bird-provisioned sender. (you may have to repeat this step twice one for your toll-free number and one for your alphanumeric)
Crucially, always select "2FA" as the message type for navigator compatibility.
Set Up WhatsApp 2FA
Step 3: Install WhatsApp Channel
Navigate to Developers -> WhatsApp -> WhatsApp Setup -> Install WhatsApp.
You can use your own number or purchase a cost-effective number (e.g., a Canadian number).
Picture: use your own number
Important: the Phone number of your WhatsApp account is not directly visible to end-users during the verification. They will see your company logo and anime, making choosing a great number a secondary matter.
Step 4 Create WhatsApp 2FA Template
Go to Developers -> WhatsApp -> Manage Templates -> Create Template.
Tips, use 2FA template configurations
Set the authentication body's validity period to match your OTP validity (recommended: 300 seconds or less). This prevents stale OTPs from being delivered if a user's data connection is delayed.
If your business uses an app, enable 0-click authentication for automatic password autofill in the action button. You can do so in the Action Buttons -> Authentication Button. This feature works seamlessly on Android phones and gracefully skips on iPhones or unsupported Android versions.
Use a Two-Step Approach
When using the Verify API, always set up at least two steps (you can optionally add a third step via email). This provides the following advantages:
Benefit of WhatsApp-Only Features: You can showcase your brand logo and name to your users and utilize buttons and auto-complete, which are impossible on SMS.
Fallback Mechanism: Implement a two-step approach, starting with WhatsApp and automatically falling back to SMS when necessary.
Mitigating WhatsApp Limitations: Meta does not provide WhatsApp number lookup. Bird's Verify API automatically falls back to SMS when a "not supported" error occurs, ensuring high verification rates.
Seamless User Experience: This fallback is internal to the Bird platform and happens quickly, providing a smooth experience for your users.
Step 5. Prepare your API call
The only action missing is Retrieving IDs:
WhatsApp channel and template IDs are available in WhatsApp Setup and WhatsApp -> Manage Templates, respectively.
OTP navigator UUID is visible in Developers -> Navigators -> Navigator Setup.
API Request Example:
{
"identifier": {
"phonenumber": "Recipient Number"
},
"maxAttempts": 3,
"timeout": 300,
"codeLength": 6,
"steps": [
{
"channelId": "whatsapp_channel_ID",
"template": {
"projectId": "whatsapp_template_ID",
"locale": "en",
"version": "whatsapp_template_version"
}
},
{
"navigatorId": "navigator_UUID"
}
]
}
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