In this chapter we’ll look at how Rock handles incoming SMS messages using Rock’s SMS Pipeline feature.

Rock’s SMS Pipeline is the entry point for all incoming SMS messages. Think of it as a switchboard operator that's directing each message to its intended action.

The Fundamentals

Below is an overview of how the SMS Pipeline feature works. If some of these concepts are foreign to you right now, don’t worry. We’ll go over all the details in the next section.

1. An incoming SMS message is received into the pipeline.
2. The message flows down the pipeline, through a series of Actions. Actions are activities that the system performs, like launching a workflow.
3. Each action has filters. The pipeline uses filters to analyze the message and its contents against criteria you provide. If the message meets your criteria, then the action is performed. If not, the message moves to the next action. This process repeats until an action is performed.
4. When an action is performed, the pipeline looks at the action’s Continue setting. This determines if the message should continue down the pipeline to the next action, or if the matched action is all that’s needed.
5. If a message continues down the pipeline after an action has already been performed, it works the same way as described in #3 above. Satisfying the filter criteria for one action does not mean the message automatically satisfies the filters on the remaining actions.

These general steps are repeated for each new message you receive. That means you can use a single pipeline to perform different actions for a variety of scenarios.

Anatomy of Actions

Actions automate many of the tasks you would want to perform in Rock after receiving a text message. For instance, you might want to send the person an automated reply message. Or you might want to launch a workflow if the person’s message contains certain keywords.

Each action you add has its own settings and filters, giving you full control over what should happen and when.

There are four SMS Pipeline actions:

• Give
• Launch Workflow
• Reply
• SMS Conversations

We’ll use the Reply example pictured below to describe the properties of actions in general. Then in the following sections we’ll dive into each type of action individually. The below page can be accessed from Admin Tools > Settings > SMS Pipeline.