How to Build a Daily Affirmations SMS Service with Stripe & Syncano

This article, sponsored by Syncano, demonstrates building a daily affirmations SMS service using their cloud platform. Syncano handles data storage, user accounts, automated code execution, and webhooks. The service integrates Twilio for SMS messaging and Stripe for secure payments.

Key Features:

• Leverages Syncano's infrastructure for backend management.
• Uses Twilio's API for sending daily affirmations via SMS.
• Integrates Stripe for subscription-based payments ($1/month).
• Automates SMS delivery using Syncano's scheduling capabilities.
• Manages user accounts and securely stores user data within Syncano.
• Employs Syncano webhooks for custom backend processes (e.g., saving phone numbers).
• Prioritizes security using HTTPS and careful API key management.

Prerequisites:

Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is recommended. The example uses jQuery for simplicity; a framework like React, Angular, or Meteor is suggested for production applications.

The Demo Application:

A web app sending daily affirmations to subscribed users. The code is available on GitHub.

Getting Started with Syncano:

1. Create a free Syncano account at Syncano.com.
2. Generate a Syncano API key from your dashboard (dashboard.syncano.io). Note the Account Key as well. Remember to keep these secure.
3. Create a new Syncano instance (if needed).

User Accounts and Custom Classes:

Syncano provides built-in user account functionality. Create a custom class ("Affirmation") to store affirmations, and add fields to the user_profile class for subscribed (boolean) and phone (string).

SMS Integration with Twilio:

1. Sign up for a Twilio account and obtain a Twilio phone number and API credentials.
2. Install the Syncano "Send SMS" solution.
3. Configure the "sendsms" CodeBox with your Twilio credentials.

Scheduled Affirmations CodeBox:

Create a Node.js CodeBox ("Scheduled Affirmation") to fetch a random affirmation and send it to subscribed users using the "sendsms" CodeBox. This code iterates through subscribed users and sends each a message.

Stripe Payment Integration:

1. Create a Stripe account.
2. Create a subscription plan in Stripe ("affirmationsubscription").
3. Create a Syncano CodeBox ("Stripe Subscribe New Customer") to handle Stripe subscriptions using the Stripe API. Create a webhook to trigger this CodeBox.
4. Implement Stripe Checkout on the frontend to collect payment information.
5. Create a CodeBox ("Stripe Unsubscribe Customer") and webhook ("unsubscribecustomer") to handle cancellations.

Scheduling Tasks in Syncano:

Schedule the "Scheduled Affirmation" CodeBox to run daily.

Security:

Use HTTPS for all sensitive data transactions.

Conclusion:

This tutorial demonstrates how Syncano simplifies backend development for building a functional SMS service. Remember to replace placeholder API keys and instance names with your own. The complete code is available on GitHub. The article also includes a FAQ section addressing common questions about daily affirmations SMS services.

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