# SMS API Go-Live Checklist | ZafeConnect

> A practical checklist before you send real traffic through an SMS API: keys, number format, retries, rate limits, webhooks, monitoring and country tests.

Canonical URL: https://www.zafeconnect.com/blog/sms-api-go-live-checklist
Language: en
Last modified: 2026-11-09

## SMS API integration: a checklist before you go live

URL: https://www.zafeconnect.com/blog/sms-api-go-live-checklist

Published: 2026-11-09

Sending the first test message is easy. This checklist covers what separates a demo from an integration you can trust with real customers.

Key takeaways:
- Keep API keys on the server, and use separate test and live keys.
- Send numbers in international format, give each message your own reference and retry only on temporary errors.
- Receive status by webhook, verify it and reconcile what is missing.
- Test in the countries and on the networks that matter, and set alerts before launch.

### Credentials and environments

- Keep the API key on your server, never in a browser or mobile app
- Use the test key until the integration works, then switch to the live key
- Store keys in a secret manager and rotate them on a schedule
- Give each service its own key, so one can be revoked without affecting the others

### The request

- Send numbers in E.164 format and validate them first
- Choose the sender per country, with the registration it requires
- Count segments and watch for characters that switch the encoding
- Add your own reference to each message and store the message ID returned
- Set a timeout, and retry with a growing delay on timeouts and server errors, not on validation errors
- Respect the documented rate limits and queue the rest

### The result

- Receive status through a webhook, and verify its signature
- Make processing safe to repeat, since events can arrive twice or out of order
- Handle every status, including failed and expired, with a rule for what happens next
- Reconcile messages that have no final status after the normal delay

### Rules around sending

- Check an opt-out list before every marketing send
- Respect timing rules for marketing messages
- Separate transactional and marketing senders
- Rate-limit code requests and set a daily spend cap

### Operations

- Dashboards for send volume, error rate and delivery by country
- Alerts for error spikes, falling delivery and unusual spend
- Logs that keep personal data to what you need
- A runbook that says who acts when delivery drops, and how to reach support

### The test plan

- Real phones in each priority country, on more than one network where you can
- An invalid number, a switched-off phone and a number that has opted out
- A webhook endpoint that is down for a few minutes
- A message long enough for several segments, and one with Unicode

### How ZafeConnect fits
ZafeConnect’s API takes the key in the X-API-Key header, has live and test environments, documented rate limits and signed webhooks, and comes with an OpenAPI 3.1 description and a Postman collection. The developer documentation lists the fields and responses.

FAQ:
Q: Should I retry when a request fails?
A: Retry on timeouts and server errors, with a growing delay. Do not retry validation errors; fix the request.

Q: Can I put the API key in my mobile app?
A: No. Keep it on your server and let the app call your server.

Q: What should I test before launch?
A: Real numbers in your main countries, failure cases, the webhook and your alerts.