Put a flow in SMS

Everyone can text, including the people who aren't in Slack and won't open a link. ZeroWidth runs a shared text number: your flow gets a short connect code, and texting that code to the number starts a conversation with the flow. Plain SMS, any phone.

Turn on texting (once per workspace)

Texting is off until an OWNER or ADMIN enables it, because messages draw from a monthly allowance. In your workspace's Integrations settings, find the Text messages card — it shows the ZeroWidth number and this month's usage against your plan's allowance — and flip the switch.

Get a connect code

1. 1
   Create an SMS share

   Open the flow's Share dialog (the ⋯ menu), pick the SMS method, and create the share. You get the connect code and the number to text it to.

2. 2
   Hand both out

   Share the code and the number wherever your audience is — a flyer, an email signature, a case document. Anyone who texts the code is talking to your flow.

How the conversation works

• Connect — text the code to the number. A phone texting for the first time gets a short welcome and replies Y to confirm (standard for text messaging); after that it's connected. Anything after the code in the same text is treated as the first message.
• Then just text — the phone stays connected to that flow, and the conversation keeps its history, so follow-ups have context. Replies come back SMS-sized: the flow is asked to keep answers short, and overly long ones are trimmed.
• Commands — RESET disconnects and clears the conversation, HELP explains, STOP opts the phone out of the number entirely (START undoes it). Texting a different flow's connect code on its own switches the conversation to that flow — one phone talks to one flow at a time.

The first reply also tells the texter that messages are reviewed by the team running the flow and how to disconnect — that disclosure is built in.

Good to know

• Replies must complete quickly. The answer rides back on the incoming text, so the flow has to finish in seconds. Long-running flows — deep multi-step agents, heavy research chains — aren't a fit for SMS; keep the flow lean, or use a share link instead.
• Every exchange is a real flow run. It bills against your workspace's spend and shows up in the flow's Runs tab. The text itself also counts against the workspace's monthly message allowance (visible on the Text messages card).
• Conversations end. Each has a length limit, and an idle conversation may disconnect after a period of inactivity. RESET (or texting the code again after a lapse) starts a fresh one.

Troubleshooting