How to send SMS from OpenWebUI
This guide walks you through sending an SMS message directly from OpenWebUI using the Ozeki SMS MCP server. By following this tutorial, you will learn how to enable the SMS MCP tool, ask the AI to send an SMS in plain language, and verify that the message was delivered through the gateway logs.
What is an MCP tool call?
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool call is how an AI model communicates with external systems. When the AI needs to perform an action or retrieve data, such as querying a database, calling an API, or reading a file, it sends a structured request to the appropriate MCP server, which processes it and returns the result.
Example prompt
Send an SMS to +36301111111, the message should be "Hello from OpenWebUI".
Steps to follow
We assume Ozeki SMS Gateway is already installed on your system, you have created an MCP user account with an API key, and you have already configured the Ozeki SMS MCP server in OpenWebUI.
How to send SMS from OpenWebUI video
The following video shows how to send an SMS message from OpenWebUI using the Ozeki SMS MCP server step-by-step.
Step 1 - Enable the SMS MCP tool
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 1).
Step 2 - Use the Send SMS tool
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 2).
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 3).
Step 3 - Verify the transaction in logs
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 4).
In the user's event log, you should see a log entry for the outgoing message, including the recipient number and message text, confirming that it was successfully processed by the gateway (Figure 5).
Conclusion
You have successfully sent an SMS message from OpenWebUI using the Ozeki SMS MCP server. The AI model connected through OpenWebUI can now deliver SMS messages to any phone number simply by being asked to do so in plain language, making it easy to add mobile messaging to any OpenWebUI workflow.