Production-Ready Bulk SMS Broadcasting with NestJS and Infobip - code-examples -

Frequently Asked Questions

Create a NestJS application with the Infobip SDK (@infobip-api/sdk) and configure an API endpoint to accept recipient phone numbers and a message. The Infobip service will handle sending the messages via the Infobip API using the provided credentials. You can manage these credentials and application settings through .env files for security and maintainability. The API Gateway returns a response back to the client with a BulkId for tracking purposes.
The Infobip Node.js SDK (`@infobip-api/sdk`) simplifies interaction with the Infobip API. It provides methods to send SMS messages and manage other communication channels, abstracting away the complexities of direct API calls. Use the official SDK for ease of integration and better maintenance.
NestJS provides a robust, structured framework with features like dependency injection, validation, and modularity, resulting in a more maintainable and scalable application. It accelerates development and handles automatic validation, and has structured logging for monitoring.
Consider a message queue like BullMQ for high-volume SMS broadcasting. Queues handle asynchronous processing, ensuring your API remains responsive while messages are sent in the background. This decoupling enhances reliability, especially for very large recipient lists.
Yes, the provided code allows for a custom sender ID. Pass the desired sender ID in the request payload alongside the recipients and message. If no custom ID is provided, a default sender ID is used from the configuration. This is particularly helpful for branding and recognition.
Store your Infobip API key, base URL, and sender ID in a .env file in your project's root directory. Use the @nestjs/config package to load these variables into your NestJS application securely. Avoid hardcoding these sensitive credentials directly in your code. Add this file to your .gitignore.
Rate limiting, implemented with @nestjs/throttler, prevents abuse and protects your application from excessive requests. The provided code limits requests to 10 per minute per IP by default, preventing overload and ensuring service availability.
The system implements error handling for various scenarios: validation errors (400), rate limiting (429), configuration errors (500), and Infobip API errors (502). `p-retry` automatically retries failed calls to the Infobip API with exponential backoff, and logs error details for debugging purposes.
The project utilizes NestJS, Infobip API with its Node.js SDK, TypeScript, dotenv, class-validator, class-transformer, @nestjs/throttler, Winston/NestJS Logger, helmet, and p-retry. This comprehensive stack ensures robustness, security, and maintainability.
The example code uses the 'p-retry' library for retry logic. This handles transient errors gracefully. Failed Infobip API calls are automatically retried a certain number of times with increasing delays between attempts, enhancing the reliability of message delivery. You should inspect error responses, especially the response code or error type, to determine whether to initiate a retry.
The BroadcastController receives requests at the /broadcast endpoint, validates them, and passes the data to the InfobipService. It also handles rate limiting and returns the appropriate response to the client, including error handling.
While not implemented in the basic guide, a database is crucial for production. PostgreSQL or MySQL are recommended, along with an ORM like Prisma or TypeORM to manage and track broadcast history, recipient statuses, delivery reports, and other data persistently.
The provided code uses `@IsPhoneNumber` from `class-validator`, which offers a basic level of validation. For comprehensive validation across all regions and formats, consider a dedicated library like `libphonenumber-js` combined with a custom validator to enforce E.164 compliance. This ensures accurate and reliable delivery.
You need Node.js (LTS), npm or yarn, an active Infobip account, and basic understanding of TypeScript, Node.js, and NestJS. After installing required dependencies and setting up your environment variables, configure the core modules, specifically app.module.ts, then update your main application file (main.ts). Ensure CORS is enabled if needed, and apply automatic request validation based on data transfer objects (DTOs).
A successful response returns a 202 Accepted status code with a JSON body containing a success message and the bulkId provided by Infobip. This bulkId allows tracking the status and delivery reports of the sent messages. The client can utilize this ID for further inquiries and management.