---
title: Quickstart | API Docs
description: Send your first message in under 5 minutes.
---

This guide walks you through sending your first message with the Linq Partner API.

## Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

- A **bearer token** from your Linq representative
- At least one **phone number** provisioned on your account
- A recipient phone number in **E.164 format** (e.g., `+15556667777`)

## 1. Install an SDK (optional)

- [TypeScript](#tab-panel-0)
- [Python](#tab-panel-1)
- [cURL](#tab-panel-2)

Terminal window

```
npm install @linqapp/sdk
```

Terminal window

```
pip install linq-python
```

No installation needed — use `curl` from your terminal.

## 2. Send your first message

Create a chat and send a message in a single request:

- [cURL](#tab-panel-3)
- [TypeScript](#tab-panel-4)
- [Python](#tab-panel-5)

Terminal window

```
curl -X POST https://api.linqapp.com/api/partner/v3/chats \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LINQ_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "from": "+12223334444",
    "to": ["+15556667777"],
    "message": {
      "parts": [
        { "type": "text", "value": "Hello from Linq!" }
      ]
    }
  }'
```

```
import LinqAPIV3 from '@linqapp/sdk';


const client = new LinqAPIV3({
  apiKey: process.env.LINQ_API_KEY,
});


const chat = await client.chats.create({
  from: '+12223334444',
  to: ['+15556667777'],
  message: {
    parts: [
      { type: 'text', value: 'Hello from Linq!' }
    ],
  },
});


console.log('Chat created:', chat.id);
console.log('Message ID:', chat.last_message?.id);
```

```
import os
from linq import LinqAPIV3


client = LinqAPIV3(api_key=os.environ["LINQ_API_KEY"])


chat = client.chats.create(
    from_="+12223334444",
    to=["+15556667777"],
    message={
        "parts": [
            {"type": "text", "value": "Hello from Linq!"}
        ]
    },
)


print(f"Chat created: {chat.id}")
print(f"Message ID: {chat.last_message.id}")
```

You’ll receive a response with the chat details and message status:

```
{
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "is_group": false,
  "last_message": {
    "id": "6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8",
    "parts": [
      { "type": "text", "value": "Hello from Linq!" }
    ],
    "sent_at": "2026-02-05T19:52:17.219Z",
    "service": "iMessage"
  }
}
```

## 3. Send a follow-up message

Once you have a chat ID, send additional messages to the same conversation:

- [cURL](#tab-panel-6)
- [TypeScript](#tab-panel-7)
- [Python](#tab-panel-8)

Terminal window

```
curl -X POST https://api.linqapp.com/api/partner/v3/chats/{chat_id}/messages \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LINQ_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parts": [
      { "type": "text", "value": "Following up!" }
    ]
  }'
```

```
const message = await client.chats.messages.send(chat.id, {
  parts: [
    { type: 'text', value: 'Following up!' }
  ],
});
```

```
message = client.chats.messages.send(
    chat.id,
    parts=[{"type": "text", "value": "Following up!"}],
)
```

## 4. Set up webhooks

To receive real-time notifications when messages are delivered, read, or received, create a webhook subscription:

- [cURL](#tab-panel-9)
- [TypeScript](#tab-panel-10)
- [Python](#tab-panel-11)

Terminal window

```
curl -X POST https://api.linqapp.com/api/partner/v3/webhook-subscriptions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LINQ_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "target_url": "https://your-server.com/webhook?version=2026-02-03",
    "subscribed_events": [
      "message.sent",
      "message.received",
      "message.delivered",
      "message.read",
      "message.failed"
    ]
  }'
```

```
const subscription = await client.webhookSubscriptions.create({
  target_url: 'https://your-server.com/webhook?version=2026-02-03',
  subscribed_events: [
    'message.sent',
    'message.received',
    'message.delivered',
    'message.read',
    'message.failed',
  ],
});
```

```
subscription = client.webhook_subscriptions.create(
    target_url="https://your-server.com/webhook?version=2026-02-03",
    subscribed_events=[
        "message.sent",
        "message.received",
        "message.delivered",
        "message.read",
        "message.failed",
    ],
)
```

> **Tip:** If no version is specified, the subscription uses the latest available version at creation time. Pass `?version=YYYY-MM-DD` explicitly to pin a specific payload format. See [Webhooks → Versioning](/guides/webhooks#webhook-versioning/index.md) and [Signature verification](/guides/webhooks#signature-verification/index.md).

## Next steps

- [Sending Messages](/guides/messaging/sending-messages/index.md) — Text, media, threading, and effects
- [Attachments](/guides/messaging/attachments/index.md) — Send images, videos, and documents
- [Webhooks](/guides/webhooks/index.md) — Signature verification and event handling
- [Group Chats](/guides/chats/group-chats/index.md) — Multi-participant conversations
- [Error Codes](/error/index.md) — Troubleshooting API errors
- [API Reference](/api/index.md) — Complete endpoint specification