Documentation

Everything you need to integrate console.text() in 30 seconds.

On this page

Quick Start

Get your first SMS alert working in 30 seconds.

1. Get your API key

Visit the homepage and enter your email and phone number to generate your API keys instantly.

2. Install the package

npm install @holler2660/console-text

3. Initialize and use

CommonJS (Node.js)
const { init } = require("@holler2660/console-text");
init({ apiKey: "ct_live_your_key_here" });
// Now anywhere in your code:
console.text("Payment processed!");
ES Modules (TypeScript / Modern JS)
import { init } from '@holler2660/console-text';
init({ apiKey: 'ct_live_your_key_here' });
// Now anywhere in your code:
console.text('Deployment successful!');

✅ That's it! You'll receive an SMS within 5-10 seconds.

API Reference

init(config)

Initialize the console.text() SDK. Call this once at the start of your application.

Parameters

Parameter Type Required Description
apiKey string Yes Your API key (ct_live_* or ct_test_*)
timeout number No Request timeout in milliseconds (default: 5000)
retries number No Number of retry attempts (default: 2)
debug boolean No Enable debug logging (default: false)

Example

init({
apiKey: 'ct_live_your_key_here',
timeout: 10000,
retries: 3,
debug: true
});

console.text(message, options?)

Send an SMS alert. Available after calling init().

Parameters

Parameter Type Required Description
message string Yes Alert message (max 500 characters, auto-truncated)
options object No Additional metadata and severity
└ metadata object No Custom data to attach to alert
└ severity 'info' | 'warning' | 'critical' No Alert severity level

Examples

Simple message
console.text('Deploy succeeded!');
With metadata
console.text('Payment failed', {
userId: '123',
amount: 99.99,
error: 'Card declined'
});
With severity
console.text('Database down!', {
severity: 'critical',
metadata: { server: 'prod-1' }
});

🔑 Test vs Live Keys

✓
ct_test_* Logs to console only, no SMS sent
✓
ct_live_* Sends real SMS to your phone

Usage Examples

Express.js API

const express = require('express');
const { init } = require('@holler2660/console-text');
init({ apiKey: process.env.CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY });
const app = express();
app.post('/api/payment', async (req, res) => {
try {
// Process payment...
console.text('Payment succeeded!');
} catch (error) {
console.text('Payment failed', { error: error.message });
}
});

Next.js API Route

import { init } from '@holler2660/console-text';
init({ apiKey: process.env.CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY });
export default async function handler(req, res) {
if (req.method === 'POST') {
console.text('New signup!', { email: req.body.email });
res.status(200).json({ success: true });
}
}

Cron Job

const cron = require('node-cron');
const { init } = require('@holler2660/console-text');
init({ apiKey: process.env.CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY });
// Run backup every night at 2am
cron.schedule('0 2 * * *', async () => {
try {
await runBackup();
console.text('Backup completed successfully');
} catch (error) {
console.text('Backup failed!', { severity: 'critical' });
}
});

Deployment Script

const { init } = require('@holler2660/console-text');
const { exec } = require('child_process');
init({ apiKey: process.env.CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY });
exec('git push heroku main', (error, stdout) => {
if (error) {
console.text('Deploy failed!', { severity: 'critical' });
} else {
console.text('Deploy succeeded to production!');
}
});

Serverless Function (Vercel)

import { init } from '@holler2660/console-text';
init({ apiKey: process.env.CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY });
export default async function handler(req, res) {
// Process webhook...
console.text('Stripe webhook received',
type: req.body.type,
amount: req.body.data.amount
);
res.status(200).send('OK');
}

💡 Best Practice: Environment Variables

Never hardcode your API key! Use environment variables:

# .env file
CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY=ct_live_your_key_here
// In your code
init({ apiKey: process.env.CONSOLE_TEXT_API_KEY });

Rate Limiting

console.text() automatically prevents spam with built-in rate limiting.

How it works

  • • Same message within 5 minutes = sent only once
  • • Different messages = each one sends
  • • Rate-limited messages are logged but not sent

Bypassing Rate Limits

If you need to send the same message multiple times, add a timestamp or unique ID:

// ❌ Will be rate-limited
console.text('Payment failed');
console.text('Payment failed'); // Won't send
// ✅ Won't be rate-limited
console.text(`Payment failed at $new Date().toISOString()`);

Troubleshooting

SMS not received?

  • ✓ Check you're using a ct_live_* key (not ct_test_*)
  • ✓ Verify your phone number is correct in your account
  • ✓ Wait 5-10 seconds (delivery isn't instant)
  • ✓ Check if message was rate-limited (same message within 5 min)

Getting API errors?

  • ✓ Enable debug mode: init({ debug: true })
  • ✓ Check your API key format (must start with ct_live_ or ct_test_)
  • ✓ Verify you called init() before console.text()

Network timeouts?

Increase timeout and retries:

init({
apiKey: 'ct_live_xxx',
timeout: 10000, // 10 seconds
retries: 5
});

Alerts failing silently?

This is by design! Alerting should never crash your app. To debug:

init({ apiKey: 'ct_live_xxx', debug: true });
// Now check console for error messages

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