SMS log
The SMS log, shown on the Messages page, is your workspace's message record. Outbound sends and inbound replies appear newest first. Use it to confirm a send, follow its delivery lifecycle, and inspect its segment count, cost, and carrier details. The aggregate Metrics page shows rates across messages; the SMS log lets you inspect one message. The page also includes Send SMS for one-off dashboard sends.
The message list
Each row is one message. The columns are:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Status | The message's current delivery status (see Statuses) |
| From | The sender: the number, sender ID, or short code the message was sent from |
| To | The recipient's number |
| Message | The start of the message body (click it, or anywhere on the row, to open the message) |
| Category | The message category, shown as a short badge (TXN, MKTG, AUTH, SVC) |
| Sent | When the send was accepted, as a relative time (hover for the exact timestamp) |
The list is paginated, 25 messages per page; use Prev and Next to move between pages.
Searching and filtering
A message log fills up fast, so the page leads with a recipient search and four filters. They combine: a status filter plus a date range narrows to messages matching both.
Search by recipient. The search box matches an exact recipient number in E.164 format. Type the full number, such as +31612345678, to find every message addressed to it. The search does not match substrings.
Status. Filter to one or more delivery statuses. Status is multi-select, so you can, say, show everything that didn't arrive by selecting Undelivered, Failed, and Expired together. The options are the statuses listed in Statuses.
Category. Filter by message category: Transactional, Marketing, Authentication, or Service.
Direction. Filter by Outbound or Inbound. Replies to your numbers are stored alongside your sends, so Inbound shows what you received.
Date. Filter by when the message was sent; pick a preset or choose a custom range from the calendar.
When a filter combination matches nothing, the page shows a no-results state with a Clear filters action to reset back to the full list.
Statuses
A message's status is where it currently sits in the delivery lifecycle. A message walks from accepted toward a terminal receipt.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Accepted | Bird admitted the message and is preparing to hand it to a carrier |
| Sent | Handed to the carrier; awaiting a delivery receipt |
| Delivered | The carrier confirmed delivery to the handset |
| Undelivered | A non-permanent non-delivery: the handset was off, unreachable, or the content was blocked |
| Failed | A permanent failure; the message cannot be delivered |
| Rejected | The message was refused (a policy check, a failed charge, or a carrier that turned it away) |
| Expired | The message's validity window elapsed before a terminal receipt arrived |
| Received | An inbound message |
The status label identifies whether a message is in flight, delivered, received, or unsuccessful. Do not rely on color alone when scanning results.
Inspecting a message
Click any row to open the message in a side panel. It has two tabs, Events and Details, and its header shows the message body, the current status, the recipient, and the category. While a message is still in flight, the panel refreshes itself every few seconds, so a status change or a delivery receipt appears without a manual reload.
Events
The default tab is a timestamped timeline for one message. It renders the stream described in SMS events: Accepted, then Sent, then Delivered, or a failure event (Undelivered, Failed, Rejected, Expired). Delivery events identify the carrier and MCC/MNC (the mobile network). Failure events show the error description; the Details tab contains the error code.
Details
The Details tab is the message's metadata:
- Message ID, Direction, From, To, and Category
- Segments: the billable segment count, the encoding (GSM_7BIT or UCS2), and the character count (see segments and encoding)
- Cost: the amount and currency, once the message has been priced
- Carrier and MCC/MNC: the delivering network, when known
- Validity period: the window the message stays valid for delivery, in seconds
- Sent, Handed to carrier, and Delivered timestamps
- Error: the description and code, on a message that didn't arrive
- Any Tags and Metadata you set on the send
Most fields can be copied with one click.
The same log over the API
The list behind this page is GET /v1/sms/messages, whose filters cover status, category, tag, exact recipient, and time window. Retrieve a message's timeline with GET /v1/sms/messages/{message_id}/events. Read its latest state with GET /v1/sms/messages/{message_id}, or consume webhook events as they happen.
Next steps
- SMS metrics: monitor aggregate delivery rate, failure rate, and accepted volume.
- SMS events: review the event vocabulary behind the timeline.
- Sending SMS: build a send payload with categories, tags, and metadata.