How to send SMS through SMPP from OpenWebUI
This guide explains how to connect OpenWebUI to Ozeki SMS Gateway's built in SMS MCP server, enabling the AI assistant to send and receive SMS messages through your own on-premises SMS gateway. You will learn how to install Ozeki SMS Gateway, create an MCP user account, generate an API key, register the MCP endpoint in OpenWebUI, and verify the setup by sending a test message.
Solution: How to send SMS from OpenWebUI
OpenWebUI connects to the SMPP SMS MCP Server through the MCP protocol, where OpenWebUI acts as the MCP client and Ozeki SMS Gateway acts as the MCP server. Ozeki SMS Gateway is installed on your local machine or server and connects to the SMS service provider over the internet using an SMPP client connection. When an SMS is sent, it first travels from OpenWebUI to the Ozeki SMS Gateway as an MCP tool call, and the gateway forwards it to the SMS service provider over SMPP, which delivers it to the recipient's mobile phone.
What is OpenWebUI?
OpenWebUI is an extensible, feature-rich, and user-friendly self-hosted web interface designed to work with various LLM providers. It offers a modern chat interface that supports multiple AI models, conversation history, user management, and API integrations.
What is an SMPP SMS MCP Server?
An SMPP SMS MCP Server is a standardized software bridge that uses the Model Context Protocol to connect AI assistants (like Claude) to an SMS gateway system such as Ozeki SMS Gateway, which in turn delivers messages to the mobile network over an SMPP client connection. It exposes tools like "send_message" or "list_incomings" that an AI can autonomously call to perform real-world texting tasks without custom coding. This allows users to simply ask an AI to "send John a reminder text" and have the AI securely execute the action through the server. The SMS MCP Server built into Ozeki SMS Gateway also makes receiving SMS messages possible.
Download Ozeki SMS Gateway
To use this solution you need to install the SMS Gateway on your system.
Download the software: SMS Gateway
https://ozeki-sms-gateway.com/p_727-download-sms-gateway.html
Steps to follow
You will need OpenWebUI installed on your system. If you have not set it up yet, follow our OpenWebUI installation guide.
- Install Ozeki SMS Gateway
- Setup the SMPP SMS connection
- Create an MCP user account
- OpenWebUI SMS MCP Server Config
- Add the SMS MCP Server config to OpenWebUI
- Send a test SMS
- Check the SMS in the SMS Gateway logs
Install Ozeki SMS Gateway
For a full tutorial on installing Ozeki SMS Gateway, check out our How to install Ozeki SMS Gateway on Windows guide.
Before you can use the SMS MCP Server, you need to install Ozeki SMS Gateway on your Windows machine or server. Download the installer zip file from the website, extract it, and run the executable to complete the installation. Once installed, the gateway will start automatically and its web-based management interface will be accessible from your browser.
Setup the SMPP SMS connection
For a full tutorial on setting up an SMPP Client connection, check out our SMPP Client Connection guide.
Before creating the MCP user, you need to connect Ozeki SMS Gateway to the mobile network by setting up an SMPP client. In the Connections panel, select Add new connection, and install a new SMPP client connection. Enter the host, port, and credentials provided by your SMS service provider, then save and activate the connection to bring the gateway online.
Create an MCP user account
For a full tutorial on creating an MCP User, check out our Create an MCP User guide.
Click Add new user/application, and select the MCP user type from the list. Enter a username and password for the account, then open the Advanced tab to generate an API key. Copy this key and store it in a safe location, as you will need it in the next steps.
OpenWebUI MCP server configuration
Type: Streamable HTTP
Name: Ozeki SMS MCP Server
URL: http://{address}:9529/mcp
Auth: Bearer your-bearer-token
Example prompt
Send an SMS to +36301111111, the message should be "Hello from OpenWebUI".
Add the SMS MCP Server config to OpenWebUI
The following video shows how to add the Ozeki SMPP SMS MCP Server to OpenWebUI step-by-step. The video covers opening the admin panel and adding the tool server.
Log in to your OpenWebUI instance and click on your profile username in the bottom-left corner of the interface. Select Admin Panel from the dropdown menu to open the administration area (Figure 1).
In the Admin Panel, click on Settings at the top of the page to open the settings menu where tool servers and integrations can be configured (Figure 2).
In the Settings menu, open the Integrations option from the left sidebar and click the plus (+) icon to add a new tool server entry (Figure 3).
In the connection type selector, choose Streamable HTTP from the available options. This transport type is required for connecting to the Ozeki SMPP SMS MCP Server over HTTP (Figure 4).
In the Add Connection dialog, fill in the Name, ID, and Description
fields to identify this tool server. Enter the URL of your Ozeki SMPP SMS MCP Server in the
URL field following the format http://{address}:9529/mcp. Set the
Auth type to Bearer and paste the API key you generated for your MCP user
account into the token field. Click Save to confirm the entry (Figure 5).
Send a test SMS
The following video shows how to send an SMS message from OpenWebUI using the Ozeki SMPP SMS MCP server step-by-step.
In OpenWebUI, click the New Chat button to open a fresh conversation. Before sending your prompt, locate the Intergrations --> tools selector in the chat interface and enable the Ozeki SMS MCP tool so that OpenWebUI can invoke it during the conversation (Figure 6).
In the chat input box, type your SMS request in plain language and press the Send button or Enter. The AI model will interpret the request and select the appropriate MCP tool to fulfill it (Figure 7).
Send an SMS to +36301111111, the message should be "Hello from OpenWebUI".
Once the tool has been executed, OpenWebUI will display the result. A successful response confirms that the message was submitted to the gateway and handed off for delivery (Figure 8).
Check the SMS in the SMS Gateway logs
The following video shows how to check the SMS in the logs in Ozeki SMS Gateway step-by-step.
Open Ozeki SMS Gateway in your browser and navigate to the MCP user details page by clicking on the MCP user entry in the Users and applications panel (Figure 9).
In the user's event log, you should see an entry for the outgoing message, including the recipient number and message text, confirming that it was successfully processed by the gateway (Figure 10).
Conclusion
In this guide, you have learned how to connect the Ozeki SMPP SMS Gateway MCP Server to OpenWebUI and use it to send SMS messages directly from the chat interface. By installing the gateway, setting up a mobile network connection, creating an MCP user account, and registering the MCP endpoint in OpenWebUI, you now have a fully functional on-premises SMS integration that your AI assistant can use to communicate with any mobile phone.