Developer Guide: Implementing Sinch Inbound SMS with Fastify and Node.js - code-examples -

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for building a production-ready Node.js application using the Fastify framework to receive and process inbound SMS messages via the Sinch SMS API. We will cover project setup, webhook handling, sending replies, security considerations, deployment, and troubleshooting.

By the end of this guide, you will have a functional Fastify application capable of:

  • Receiving webhook notifications from Sinch for incoming SMS messages.
  • Parsing the message content and sender information.
  • Logging incoming messages.
  • Optionally sending an automated reply back via Sinch.
  • Running locally using ngrok for testing.
  • Being ready for containerized deployment.

Target Audience: Developers familiar with Node.js and basic web concepts, looking to integrate Sinch SMS capabilities into their applications. Familiarity with Fastify is helpful but not strictly required.

Technologies Used:

  • Node.js: The JavaScript runtime environment.
  • Fastify: A high-performance, low-overhead web framework for Node.js. Chosen for its speed, extensibility, and developer experience.
  • Sinch SMS API (REST): Used for sending reply messages and configuring inbound webhooks.
  • axios: A promise-based HTTP client for making requests to the Sinch API.
  • dotenv: For managing environment variables securely.
  • ngrok (for local testing): A tool to expose local servers to the internet securely.

Prerequisites:

  • Node.js (LTS version recommended) and npm (or yarn) installed.
  • A Sinch account with access to the SMS API.
  • A provisioned phone number within your Sinch account capable of sending and receiving SMS.
  • Your Sinch Service Plan ID and API Token (found in your Sinch Customer Dashboard under SMS -> APIs).
  • ngrok installed globally (npm install -g ngrok) or available in your PATH (ngrok is a popular tool for exposing local servers during development; other tools or deployment are needed for production).

System Architecture:

The system follows a simple webhook pattern:

  1. User's Phone: Sends an SMS to your Sinch virtual number.
  2. Sinch Platform: Receives the SMS and identifies the configured callback URL (webhook) associated with that number or service plan.
  3. Sinch Platform: Sends an HTTP POST request containing the message details (sender, recipient, body, etc.) to your application's webhook endpoint.
  4. Fastify Application (Your Server): Listens for incoming POST requests on the designated endpoint (/webhooks/sinch).
  5. Fastify Application: Receives the request, parses the JSON payload, logs the message, and potentially performs other actions (e.g., storing in a database, triggering business logic).
  6. (Optional) Fastify Application: Uses the Sinch REST API (via axios) to send an SMS reply back to the original sender.
  7. Sinch Platform: Delivers the reply SMS to the user's phone.
[User's Phone] <-- SMS --> [Sinch Platform] --- HTTP POST --> [Your Fastify App]
     ^                                                         |
     |----------------------- SMS Reply ------------------------| (via Sinch API)

1. Setting up the Project

Let's initialize our Node.js project and install the necessary dependencies.

1. Create Project Directory: Open your terminal and create a new directory for the project, then navigate into it.

mkdir sinch-fastify-sms
cd sinch-fastify-sms

2. Initialize Node.js Project: This creates a package.json file to manage dependencies and project metadata. You can accept the defaults or fill them in.

npm init -y

3. Install Dependencies: We need Fastify for the web server, axios to make API calls to Sinch for replies, and dotenv to manage environment variables.

npm install fastify axios dotenv

4. Create Project Structure: Create the basic files and directories we'll need.

touch index.js .env .gitignore
  • index.js: The main entry point for our Fastify application.
  • .env: Stores sensitive credentials and configuration (API keys, phone numbers). Never commit this file to version control.
  • .gitignore: Specifies intentionally untracked files that Git should ignore.

5. Configure .gitignore: Add node_modules and .env to your .gitignore file to prevent committing them.

# .gitignore
node_modules
.env
*.log

6. Set up Environment Variables: Open the .env file and add the following variables. Replace the placeholder values with your actual Sinch credentials and number.

# .env

# Sinch Credentials (REST API for sending)
# Found in your Sinch Customer Dashboard -> SMS -> APIs
SINCH_SERVICE_PLAN_ID="YOUR_SERVICE_PLAN_ID"
SINCH_API_TOKEN="YOUR_API_TOKEN"

# Your Sinch Virtual Number (E.164 format, e.g., +12075551234)
SINCH_NUMBER="YOUR_SINCH_VIRTUAL_NUMBER"

# Server Configuration
PORT=3000
HOST="0.0.0.0" # Listen on all available network interfaces

# Optional: Set Sinch API region if not default (e.g., us, eu, au, ca)
# See Sinch docs for regional endpoints
SINCH_REGION="us"

Why this setup? Using environment variables (dotenv) keeps sensitive credentials out of your codebase, adhering to security best practices. The .gitignore file ensures these secrets and bulky node_modules aren't accidentally committed. Listening on 0.0.0.0 makes the server accessible within Docker containers or cloud environments.

2. Implementing Core Functionality: The Webhook Handler

Now, let's build the Fastify server and the endpoint that will receive incoming SMS messages from Sinch.

1. Basic Fastify Server: Open index.js and set up a minimal Fastify server.

// index.js

// Load environment variables from .env file
require('dotenv').config();

// Import Fastify
const fastify = require('fastify')({
  logger: true // Enable Fastify's built-in Pino logger
});

// Basic route for health check or testing
fastify.get('/', async (request, reply) => {
  return { status: 'ok', timestamp: new Date().toISOString() };
});

// Function to start the server
const start = async () => {
  try {
    const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
    const host = process.env.HOST || '0.0.0.0';
    await fastify.listen({ port: parseInt(port, 10), host: host });
    fastify.log.info(`Server listening on port ${port}`);
  } catch (err) {
    fastify.log.error(err);
    process.exit(1);
  }
};

// Placeholder for sendSmsReply function (will be defined later)
// async function sendSmsReply(recipientNumber, messageBody, log) { /* ... implementation ... */ }

// --- Sinch Webhook Handler ---

// Define the expected schema for the incoming Sinch payload
// This helps with validation and provides type safety hints.
// This schema defines the expected structure based on Sinch documentation
// for inbound text messages. Always verify against the latest official
// Sinch API documentation for any potential variations.
const sinchInboundSmsSchema = {
  body: {
    type: 'object',
    required: ['from', 'to', 'body', 'id', 'type'],
    properties: {
      event: { type: 'string' }, // e.g., 'inboundSms' (may vary)
      id: { type: 'string' }, // Sinch message ID
      timestamp: { type: 'string', format: 'date-time' },
      version: { type: 'number' },
      type: { type: 'string', const: 'mo_text' }, // Message Originating Text
      to: { // Your Sinch Number
        type: 'object',
        required: ['endpoint'],
        properties: {
          type: { type: 'string' }, // e.g., 'number'
          endpoint: { type: 'string' } // The Sinch number receiving the message
        }
      },
      from: { // Sender's Number
        type: 'object',
        required: ['endpoint'],
        properties: {
          type: { type: 'string' }, // e.g., 'number'
          endpoint: { type: 'string' } // The sender's phone number
        }
      },
      body: { type: 'string' }, // The message content
      operator_id: { type: 'string', nullable: true }, // Carrier info (optional)
      // Add other fields if needed based on Sinch documentation
    }
  }
};

// POST route to receive Sinch Inbound SMS webhooks
fastify.post('/webhooks/sinch', { schema: sinchInboundSmsSchema }, async (request, reply) => {
  request.log.info('Received Sinch inbound SMS webhook:');
  request.log.info(request.body); // Log the entire payload for debugging

  try {
    const { from, to, body, id } = request.body;
    const senderNumber = from.endpoint;
    const recipientNumber = to.endpoint; // Should be your Sinch number
    const messageContent = body;
    const messageId = id;

    request.log.info(`Message ID [${messageId}] from [${senderNumber}] to [${recipientNumber}]: ""${messageContent}""`);

    // --- TODO: Add your business logic here ---
    // - Store the message in a database
    // - Trigger other services
    // - Implement conversational logic

    // Example: Send an automated reply (requires sendSmsReply function defined later)
    // await sendSmsReply(senderNumber, `Thanks for your message: ""${messageContent.substring(0, 50)}...""`, request.log);

    // Acknowledge receipt to Sinch
    reply.code(200).send({ status: 'received' });

  } catch (error) {
    request.log.error('Error processing Sinch webhook:', error);
    // Inform Sinch there was an error, but avoid sending detailed errors back
    reply.code(500).send({ status: 'error processing message' });
  }
});

// Start the server
start();
  • Schema Validation: We define sinchInboundSmsSchema. Fastify automatically validates incoming request bodies against this schema. If validation fails, Fastify sends a 400 Bad Request response, protecting our handler from invalid data. We added a note emphasizing checking official Sinch docs.
  • Logging: We log the entire incoming request.body for easy debugging during development. We also log key extracted information.
  • Data Extraction: We safely extract relevant fields like from.endpoint (sender), to.endpoint (your Sinch number), and body (the message text).
  • Business Logic Placeholder: A comment marks where you'd integrate your specific application logic.
  • Acknowledgement: It's crucial to send a 200 OK response back to Sinch quickly to acknowledge receipt. Failure to respond or sending error codes repeatedly might cause Sinch to disable the webhook.
  • Error Handling: A try...catch block handles unexpected errors during processing, logs them, and sends a generic 500 Internal Server Error response.

Endpoint Documentation & Testing:

  • Endpoint: POST /webhooks/sinch

  • Description: Receives inbound SMS notifications from the Sinch platform.

  • Request Body: application/json

    • Requires fields: from (object with endpoint), to (object with endpoint), body (string), id (string), type (string, 'mo_text').
    • See sinchInboundSmsSchema in the code above for the full expected structure.
    • Example Request Payload (Simulated): 
      {
  ""event"": ""inboundSms"",
  ""id"": ""01ARZ3NDEKTSV4RRFFQ69G5FAV"",
  ""timestamp"": ""2025-04-20T10:30:00.123Z"",
  ""version"": 1,
  ""type"": ""mo_text"",
  ""to"": {
    ""type"": ""number"",
    ""endpoint"": ""+12075551234""
  },
  ""from"": {
    ""type"": ""number"",
    ""endpoint"": ""+15558675309""
  },
  ""body"": ""Hello from user!"",
  ""operator_id"": ""310260""
}

  • Responses:

    • 200 OK: Successfully received and acknowledged the message. 
      { ""status"": ""received"" }
    • 400 Bad Request: The incoming request body did not match the expected schema. (Handled automatically by Fastify). 
      {
  ""statusCode"": 400,
  ""error"": ""Bad Request"",
  ""message"": ""body should have required property '...' or body should match pattern \""...\""""
}
    • 500 Internal Server Error: An error occurred while processing the message on the server. 
      { ""status"": ""error processing message"" }

  • Testing with curl: You can simulate a Sinch webhook call using curl once your server is running. Check your running server's console logs to see the output.

    curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/webhooks/sinch \
-H ""Content-Type: application/json"" \
-d '{
  ""event"": ""inboundSmsTest"",
  ""id"": ""TEST01"",
  ""timestamp"": ""2025-04-20T11:00:00Z"",
  ""version"": 1,
  ""type"": ""mo_text"",
  ""to"": { ""type"": ""number"", ""endpoint"": ""+12075551234"" },
  ""from"": { ""type"": ""number"", ""endpoint"": ""+15558675309"" },
  ""body"": ""This is a test message via curl"",
  ""operator_id"": ""SIMULATED""
}'

3. Integrating with Sinch (Sending Replies)

While the primary goal is receiving, let's implement the function to send replies using the Sinch REST API and axios.

1. Add axios: We already installed axios in the setup phase.

2. Create the Send Function: Add this function to your index.js file, replacing the placeholder comment.

// index.js (additions)

// ... (Fastify setup and webhook handler above)

const axios = require('axios');

// --- Sinch API Client for Sending SMS ---

// Construct the Sinch API base URL dynamically based on region
const sinchRegion = process.env.SINCH_REGION || 'us';
const SINCH_API_BASE_URL = `https://${sinchRegion}.sms.api.sinch.com/xms/v1/`;

/**
 * Sends an SMS message using the Sinch REST API.
 * @param {string} recipientNumber - The destination phone number (E.164 format).
 * @param {string} messageBody - The text content of the SMS.
 * @param {import('fastify').FastifyLoggerInstance} [log=fastify.log] - Optional logger instance.
 */
async function sendSmsReply(recipientNumber, messageBody, log = fastify.log) {
  const servicePlanId = process.env.SINCH_SERVICE_PLAN_ID;
  const apiToken = process.env.SINCH_API_TOKEN;
  const sinchNumber = process.env.SINCH_NUMBER;

  if (!servicePlanId || !apiToken || !sinchNumber) {
    log.error('Sinch API credentials or number not configured in .env file. Cannot send SMS.');
    // In production, you might throw an error or handle this more gracefully
    return; // Avoid crashing if config is missing
  }

  const endpoint = `${SINCH_API_BASE_URL}${servicePlanId}/batches`;

  const payload = {
    from: sinchNumber,
    to: [recipientNumber], // API expects an array of recipients
    body: messageBody,
    // Add other parameters like delivery_report: 'full' if needed
  };

  const config = {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiToken}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    // Consider adding a timeout
    // timeout: 10000, // e.g., 10 seconds
  };

  try {
    log.info(`Sending SMS reply to [${recipientNumber}] via Sinch...`);
    const response = await axios.post(endpoint, payload, config);
    log.info(`Sinch API response status: ${response.status}`);
    log.info(`Sinch API response data: ${JSON.stringify(response.data)}`);
    // A successful send usually returns a batch ID, etc.
    return response.data;
  } catch (error) {
    log.error(`Error sending SMS via Sinch to [${recipientNumber}]:`);
    if (error.response) {
      // The request was made and the server responded with a status code
      // that falls out of the range of 2xx
      log.error(`Status: ${error.response.status}`);
      log.error(`Headers: ${JSON.stringify(error.response.headers)}`);
      log.error(`Data: ${JSON.stringify(error.response.data)}`);
    } else if (error.request) {
      // The request was made but no response was received
      log.error('No response received from Sinch API.');
      // log.error(error.request); // Can be verbose
    } else {
      // Something happened in setting up the request that triggered an Error
      log.error('Error setting up Sinch API request:', error.message);
    }
    // Depending on the error, you might implement retries here (see Section 5)
    // Re-throwing allows higher-level handlers or monitoring to catch it
    // throw error; // Commented out to prevent crashing on send failure by default
  }
}

// --- Webhook Handler Modification (Optional) ---
// To enable auto-replies, uncomment the line inside the webhook handler's try block:
//
// fastify.post('/webhooks/sinch', { schema: sinchInboundSmsSchema }, async (request, reply) => {
//   // ... (inside the try block)
//   await sendSmsReply(senderNumber, `Thanks for your message: "${messageContent.substring(0, 50)}..."`, request.log); // Pass request logger
//   // ...
// });


// ... (keep existing start function below)
// start(); // Ensure start() is called only once at the end of the file
  • Dynamic Base URL: We construct the API endpoint URL using the SINCH_REGION environment variable for flexibility.
  • Credentials Check: The function first checks if the necessary environment variables (SINCH_SERVICE_PLAN_ID, SINCH_API_TOKEN, SINCH_NUMBER) are set.
  • API Payload: The payload includes your Sinch number (from), the recipient's number (to - as an array), and the message body.
  • Authorization Header: The Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN header is crucial for authenticating with the Sinch REST API.
  • Axios Request: We use axios.post to send the request.
  • Detailed Error Logging: The catch block provides detailed logging based on the type of error received from axios, which is very helpful for troubleshooting API integration issues.
  • Logger Passing: We pass the request.log instance (or the global fastify.log) into sendSmsReply so that logs related to sending a reply are associated with the original incoming request context when called from the webhook.

3. Sinch Dashboard Configuration: This is a critical step to tell Sinch where to send incoming SMS notifications.

  1. Log in to your Sinch Customer Dashboard.
  2. Navigate to SMS -> APIs.
  3. Find your Service Plan ID listed there and click on it.
  4. Locate the Callback URL section (it might be under "Default Settings" or similar).
  5. Click Add Callback URL or Edit.
  6. Enter the HTTPS URL where your application will be publicly accessible. During local development, this will be your ngrok HTTPS URL, followed by the webhook path. For example: https://<your-ngrok-subdomain&gt;.ngrok.io/webhooks/sinch
  7. Important: Ensure the URL starts with https://. Sinch requires secure callbacks.
  8. Save the changes.

Clearly describing the navigation path in the Sinch dashboard is important for users to find the correct settings.

Environment Variables Summary:

  • SINCH_SERVICE_PLAN_ID: Your specific service plan identifier from the Sinch dashboard. Used in the API URL for sending.
  • SINCH_API_TOKEN: Your secret API token from the Sinch dashboard. Used in the Authorization header for sending.
  • SINCH_NUMBER: Your provisioned Sinch virtual phone number in E.164 format (e.g., +12223334444). Used as the from number when sending replies.
  • PORT: The local port your Fastify server will listen on (e.g., 3000).
  • HOST: The network interface to bind to (0.0.0.0 for broad accessibility, 127.0.0.1 for local only).
  • SINCH_REGION: The geographical region for your Sinch API endpoint (e.g., us, eu). Affects the base URL for sending SMS. Check Sinch documentation for your correct region if not us.

4. Error Handling, Logging, and Retries

Error Handling:

  • Fastify Validation: Handled automatically via the schema defined for the /webhooks/sinch route. Invalid requests get a 400 response.
  • Webhook Processing: The try...catch block in the webhook handler catches errors during message processing (e.g., database errors, errors calling sendSmsReply). It logs the error and returns a 500 status to Sinch.
  • API Call Errors (sendSmsReply): The catch block in sendSmsReply handles network errors, authentication failures (401), authorization issues (403), bad requests (400), or server errors (5xx) from the Sinch API. It logs detailed information.

Logging:

  • Fastify Default Logger (Pino): Enabled via logger: true during Fastify initialization. Provides structured JSON logging by default, which is excellent for production.

  • Key Events Logged:

    • Server startup (fastify.log.info).
    • Incoming webhook requests (request.log.info).
    • Full webhook payload (request.log.info).
    • Extracted message details (request.log.info).
    • Errors during processing (request.log.error).
    • Attempts to send replies (log.info in sendSmsReply).
    • Sinch API responses/errors (log.info/log.error in sendSmsReply).

  • Log Analysis: In production, forward these structured logs to a log management service (e.g., Datadog, Logz.io, ELK stack) for searching, filtering, and alerting based on error messages or specific log properties.

Retry Mechanisms:

  • Incoming Webhooks: Sinch typically has its own retry mechanism if your endpoint fails to respond with a 2xx status code within a timeout period. Ensure your handler responds quickly (ideally under 2-3 seconds) even if background processing takes longer. Offload long tasks to a queue if necessary.
  • Outgoing API Calls (sendSmsReply): Retries are not implemented in the provided sendSmsReply function. For production, consider adding retries with exponential backoff for transient network errors or temporary Sinch API issues (e.g., 503 Service Unavailable). Libraries like async-retry can simplify this. Be cautious retrying 4xx errors (like 400 Bad Request or 401 Unauthorized) as they usually indicate a persistent problem.

5. Database Schema and Data Layer (Conceptual)

Storing message history is often required. While not implemented in this core guide, here's a conceptual approach:

Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) - Simple:

+-----------------+      +-----------------+
|     Contact     |      |     Message     |
+-----------------+      +-----------------+
| contact_id (PK) |      | message_id (PK) |
| phone_number(UQ)|------| sinch_msg_id(UQ)|
| created_at      |      | contact_id (FK) |
| updated_at      |      | direction       | // 'inbound' or 'outbound'
+-----------------+      | body            |
                       | status          | // 'received', 'sent', 'delivered', 'failed'
                       | received_at     |
                       | sent_at         |
                       +-----------------+

Implementation Steps (using an ORM like Prisma or Sequelize):

  1. Install ORM and Database Driver: npm install @prisma/client pg (for Prisma + PostgreSQL).
  2. Initialize ORM: npx prisma init.
  3. Define Schema: Update prisma/schema.prisma with models based on the ERD.
  4. Create Migrations: npx prisma migrate dev --name initial_setup.
  5. Generate Client: npx prisma generate.
  6. Integrate into Webhook Handler:
    • Import the Prisma client.
    • Inside the webhook handler's try block:
      • Find or create the Contact based on senderNumber.
      • Create a new Message record with direction: 'inbound', linking it to the contact, storing the messageContent, messageId, etc.
  7. Integrate into sendSmsReply:
    • After a successful API call, create or update a Message record with direction: 'outbound', status: 'sent', linking to the contact and storing the batch_id returned by Sinch.
    • You would need another webhook endpoint to receive delivery reports from Sinch to update the status to delivered or failed.

Performance: Index phone_number on Contact and sinch_msg_id, contact_id on Message. Use database connection pooling (handled by most ORMs).

6. Security Features

  • Input Validation: Handled by Fastify's schema validation on the /webhooks/sinch route. Protects against malformed payloads.
  • Environment Variables: Securely manage API keys and sensitive data using .env and ensuring it's in .gitignore.
  • HTTPS: Sinch requires HTTPS for callback URLs, ensuring data is encrypted in transit. ngrok provides this locally. In production, use a reverse proxy (like Nginx or Caddy) or a PaaS that terminates SSL.
  • Rate Limiting: Protect against denial-of-service or abuse by implementing rate limiting on the webhook endpoint. Use @fastify/rate-limit: 
    npm install @fastify/rate-limit

    // In index.js, register the plugin early
async function buildApp() { // Example if wrapping app creation
  const fastify = require('fastify')({ logger: true });
  await fastify.register(require('@fastify/rate-limit'), {
    max: 100, // Max requests per window per IP
    timeWindow: '1 minute'
  });
  // ... register other routes, hooks, etc.
  return fastify;
}
// Adjust based on how you structure your app startup
  • Webhook Signature Verification:
    • Problem: Anyone who discovers your webhook URL could potentially send fake SMS notifications.
    • Recommendation: While basic Sinch SMS webhook documentation might not heavily emphasize HMAC signature verification for inbound SMS, it's a crucial security layer for production. Consider these approaches:
      1. Shared Secret (Simpler): Include a hard-to-guess secret token as a query parameter in the Callback URL configured in Sinch (e.g., https://.../webhooks/sinch?token=YOUR_SECRET_TOKEN). Verify this token in your handler. This adds a layer of protection but is less robust than HMAC. 
        // Inside the /webhooks/sinch handler
const expectedToken = process.env.WEBHOOK_SECRET_TOKEN;
const receivedToken = request.query.token;
if (!expectedToken || receivedToken !== expectedToken) {
  request.log.warn('Invalid or missing webhook token');
  reply.code(401).send({ status: 'unauthorized' });
  return; // Stop processing
}
// ... rest of the handler logic ...
      2. HMAC (More Secure, If Available): Check if Sinch offers signature verification for SMS webhooks (more common in their Conversation API or other products). This typically involves Sinch signing the request payload (often using the timestamp and payload body) with a secret key known only to you and Sinch. Your application calculates the signature on the received request using the same method and secret key, comparing it to the signature provided by Sinch (usually in a request header like X-Sinch-Signature). This is the most secure method. If Sinch doesn't provide this for basic SMS webhooks, the shared secret method is a pragmatic alternative.
  • Least Privilege: Ensure the API Token used only has permissions necessary for sending SMS (and potentially managing numbers/callbacks if needed), not broader account access.

7. Handling Special Cases

  • Character Encoding: Sinch and modern platforms generally handle UTF-8 correctly, supporting various characters and emojis. Ensure your database (if used) is also configured for UTF-8.
  • Long Messages (Concatenation): Sinch typically handles splitting long messages into multiple parts and delivering them correctly. The body received by your webhook should contain the fully reassembled message. When sending, Sinch also handles splitting if the body exceeds standard SMS limits.
  • Non-Text Messages (MMS/Binary): This guide focuses on text (mo_text). Handling MMS (images, etc.) or binary SMS requires different webhook types (mo_binary) and payload structures, often involving links to media content. This would require extending the schema and handler logic.
  • Invalid Numbers: The sendSmsReply function might fail if the senderNumber is invalid or cannot receive SMS. The error handling block will catch this (often as a 4xx error from Sinch).
  • Duplicate Messages: Network issues could potentially cause Sinch to retry sending a webhook. Use the unique Sinch messageId (request.body.id) to deduplicate messages if necessary (e.g., by checking if a message with that ID already exists in your database before processing).

8. Performance Optimizations

  • Fastify: Chosen for its high performance out-of-the-box.
  • Asynchronous Operations: All I/O (logging, API calls, potential DB access) uses async/await, preventing the Node.js event loop from being blocked.
  • Logging Level: In production, consider setting the log level to info or warn instead of debug to reduce logging overhead (fastify({ logger: { level: 'info' } })).
  • Payload Size: Be mindful of very large webhook payloads if they occur, though typical SMS webhooks are small.
  • Database Optimization: Proper indexing (as mentioned in Section 5) is crucial if storing messages.
  • Load Testing: Use tools like k6, autocannon, or wrk to simulate high volumes of webhook traffic and identify bottlenecks in your processing logic or downstream dependencies. 
    # Example using autocannon (install with npm i -g autocannon)
autocannon -m POST -H ""Content-Type=application/json"" -b '{ ""event"": ""loadTest"", ""id"": ""LT01"", ""timestamp"": ""2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"", ""version"": 1, ""type"": ""mo_text"", ""to"": { ""type"": ""number"", ""endpoint"": ""+12075551234"" }, ""from"": { ""type"": ""number"", ""endpoint"": ""+15558675309"" }, ""body"": ""Load test"" }' http://localhost:3000/webhooks/sinch

9. Monitoring, Observability, and Analytics

  • Health Checks: The GET / route serves as a basic health check endpoint for load balancers or monitoring systems.
  • Logging: Centralized logging (Section 4) is key for observability.
  • Performance Metrics (APM): Integrate Application Performance Monitoring tools like Sentry (which has Fastify integration), Datadog APM, or Dynatrace. These automatically instrument your Fastify app to track request latency, error rates, throughput, and trace requests across services.
    • Sentry Example: 
      npm install --save @sentry/node @sentry/profiling-node

      // index.js - Place this BEFORE requiring fastify

const Sentry = require('@sentry/node');
const { ProfilingIntegration } = require('@sentry/profiling-node'); // Optional profiling

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN, // Add SENTRY_DSN to your .env
  integrations: [
    // enable HTTP calls tracing
    new Sentry.Integrations.Http({ tracing: true }),
    // Sentry's Node SDK generally auto-detects and instruments Fastify
    // if @sentry/node is initialized before fastify is required.
    // Explicit Fastify integration might not be needed with recent SDKs.
    // new Sentry.Integrations.Fastify(), // Usually not required anymore
    // Optional: Add profiling
    new ProfilingIntegration(),
  ],
  // Performance Monitoring
  tracesSampleRate: 1.0, // Capture 100% of transactions - adjust in production
  // Set sampling rate for profiling - this is relative to tracesSampleRate
  profilesSampleRate: 1.0, // Capture profiling for 100% of transactions with traces
});

// Import Fastify *after* Sentry.init
const fastify = require('fastify')({ logger: true });

// --- Sentry Handlers ---
// Must be registered before routes and other hooks that handle requests
fastify.addHook('onRequest', Sentry.Handlers.requestHandler());
fastify.addHook('onRequest', Sentry.Handlers.tracingHandler());

// Optional: Register Sentry Error Handler
// This should generally be registered after your routes
// and before the default Fastify error handler or custom error handlers
// Note: Fastify's default error handler might log the error before Sentry captures it.
// You might need a custom error handler to ensure Sentry capture happens first
// Example (check Sentry/Fastify docs for latest best practices):
// fastify.setErrorHandler(async (error, request, reply) =&gt; {
//   Sentry.captureException(error);
//   // Optionally re-throw or use Fastify's default handler after capture
//   // reply.send(error); // Or handle the response as needed
// });

// ... rest of your Fastify setup (routes, other hooks, start function) ...
  • Business Metrics: Log or send events for key business actions (e.g., message received, reply sent, specific user interaction triggered) to analytics platforms (like Mixpanel, Amplitude, or a data warehouse) to understand usage patterns.
  • Alerting: Set up alerts in your monitoring or logging system for:
    • High error rates (5xx responses on webhook, API call failures).
    • Increased latency.
    • Low throughput (if expecting consistent traffic).
    • Specific error messages (e.g., "Invalid Sinch credentials").

10. Deployment Considerations

  • Containerization (Docker): Package the application into a Docker image for consistent deployments.
    • Dockerfile Example: 
      # Dockerfile
FROM node:18-alpine AS base

WORKDIR /app

# Install dependencies only when package files change
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production

# Copy application code
COPY . .

# Expose the port the app runs on
EXPOSE 3000

# Set environment variables (can be overridden at runtime)
ENV NODE_ENV=production
ENV PORT=3000
ENV HOST=0.0.0.0
# Ensure SINCH_* variables are injected securely at runtime (e.g., via secrets management)

# Run the application
CMD [ ""node"", ""index.js"" ]
    • .dockerignore: Similar to .gitignore, include node_modules, .env, Dockerfile, .dockerignore, *.log.
  • Platform Choice:
    • PaaS (e.g., Heroku, Vercel, Render): Simplest option, handles infrastructure, scaling, HTTPS. Ensure the platform supports long-running Node.js servers (not just serverless functions for this webhook pattern).
    • Container Orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, AWS ECS, Google Cloud Run): More control and scalability, requires more setup. Ideal for larger applications.
    • Virtual Machine (e.g., AWS EC2, Google Compute Engine): Full control, requires manual setup of Node.js, process manager (like pm2), reverse proxy (Nginx/Caddy for HTTPS), and firewall.
  • Environment Variables: Inject sensitive environment variables (SINCH_API_TOKEN, etc.) securely using platform secrets management, not by hardcoding them in the Docker image or code.
  • Process Management: In non-PaaS environments, use a process manager like pm2 (npm install pm2 -g) to keep the Node.js application running, manage logs, and handle restarts (pm2 start index.js).
  • HTTPS Termination: Ensure HTTPS is enforced. PaaS and orchestrators often handle this. If using VMs, configure a reverse proxy like Nginx or Caddy to handle SSL certificates (e.g., via Let's Encrypt) and proxy requests to your Node.js app running on localhost:3000.
  • Scaling:
    • Vertical: Increase CPU/RAM of the server/container instance.
    • Horizontal: Run multiple instances of the application behind a load balancer. Ensure your application is stateless or manages state externally (e.g., using a database or Redis) if scaling horizontally. The webhook handler itself is generally stateless.

11. Troubleshooting

  • Check Server Logs: The first step for any issue. Look for errors reported by Fastify, axios, or your custom logic.
  • Verify ngrok Tunnel: If testing locally, ensure ngrok is running and the HTTPS URL is correctly configured in the Sinch dashboard. Check the ngrok web interface (http://localhost:4040 by default) to see incoming requests.
  • Test with curl: Use the curl command (provided in Section 2) to simulate requests directly to your running application, bypassing Sinch/ngrok to isolate issues.
  • Check Sinch Dashboard:
    • API Logs: Look for logs related to callback attempts or SMS sending failures in the Sinch dashboard (if available).
    • Callback URL: Double-check the configured callback URL is correct, uses HTTPS, and includes the /webhooks/sinch path.
    • Number Configuration: Ensure the Sinch number is correctly provisioned and assigned to the Service Plan ID used.
  • Environment Variables: Ensure all required .env variables are set correctly and accessible by the application (especially in deployment environments). Log them on startup (excluding secrets) for verification if needed.
  • Firewall Issues: In deployed environments, ensure firewalls allow incoming traffic on the application's port (e.g., 3000 or 443 if using a reverse proxy) from Sinch's IP ranges (check Sinch documentation for these).
  • Sinch API Errors: Examine the detailed error logs from the sendSmsReply function's catch block (Status, Headers, Data) to understand failures when sending replies. Consult the Sinch API documentation for specific error codes.

This guide provides a solid foundation for receiving Sinch SMS messages with Fastify. Remember to adapt the business logic, error handling, security measures, and deployment strategy to your specific production requirements.