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  • Python & Flask
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  • Python & Sanic

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Get Started with Python Using Flask Framework

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.You can start making and receiving calls either by using our PHLO visual workflow builder or our APIs and XML documents. Follow the instructions in one of the tabs below.
  • Using XML

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Install Python, Flask, and the Plivo Python SDK

You must set up and install Python, Flask, and Plivo’s Python SDK before you make your first call.

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Install Python

Download and install Python from its official site.

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Install Flask and the Plivo Python SDK

Create a projects directory and change into it.
$ mkdir mypythonapp
$ cd mypythonapp
Install Flask and the Plivo Python SDK using pip.
$ pip install flask plivo
Alternatively, you can download the source code and run
$ python setup.py install
We recommend that you use virtualenv to manage and segregate your Python environments, instead of using sudo with your commands and overwriting dependencies.Once you’ve set up your development environment, you can start making and receiving calls using our APIs and XML documents. Here are three common use cases to get you started.

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Make your first outbound call

Plivo requests an answer URL when the call is answered (step 4) and expects the file at that address to hold a valid XML response from the application with instructions on how to handle the call. To see how this works, you can use https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.plivo.com/answer.xml as an answer URL to test your first outgoing call. The file contains this XML code:
<Response> 
<Speak>Congratulations! You've made your first outbound call!</Speak> 
</Response>
This code instructs Plivo to say, “Congratulations! You’ve made your first outbound call!” to the call recipient. You can find the entire list of valid Plivo XML verbs in our XML Reference documentation.

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Set up a Flask server to handle outbound calls

Create a file called makecall.py and paste into it this code.
import plivo

client = plivo.RestClient('<auth_id>','<auth_token>')
response = client.calls.create(
    from_='<caller_id>',
    to_='<destination_number>',
    answer_url='https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.plivo.com/answer.xml',
    answer_method='GET', )
print(response)
Replace the auth placeholders with your authentication credentials from the Plivo console. Replace the phone number placeholders with actual phone numbers in E.164 format (for example, +12025551234).
Note: We recommend that you store your credentials in the auth_id and auth_token environment variables to avoid the possibility of accidentally committing them to source control. If you do this, you can initialize the client with no arguments and Plivo will automatically fetch the values from the environment variables. You can use os.environ to store environment variables and retrieve them when initializing the client.

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Test

Save the file and run your code.
$ python makecall.py

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Receive your first inbound call

Plivo requests an answer URL when it answers the call (step 2) and expects the file at that address to hold a valid XML response from the application with instructions on how to handle the call. In this example, when an incoming call is received, Plivo’s text-to-speech engine plays a message using the Speak XML element.You must have a voice-enabled Plivo phone number to receive incoming calls; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console, or by using the Numbers API.

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Set up a Flask server to handle incoming calls

Create a file called receive_call.py and paste into it this code.
from flask import Flask, Response
from plivo import plivoxml

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/receive_call/', methods=['GET','POST'])
def speak_xml():
    # Generate a Speak XML document with the details of the text to play on the call
    response = (plivoxml.ResponseElement()
            .add(plivoxml.SpeakElement('Hello, you just received your first call')))
    return Response(response.to_string(), mimetype='application/xml')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)
Save the file and run the code.
$ python receive_call.py
You should see your basic server application in action at http://localhost:5000/receive_call/.

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Expose your local server to the internet

To receive incoming calls, your local server must connect with Plivo API services. For that, we recommend using ngrok, which exposes local servers running behind NATs and firewalls to the public internet over secure tunnels. Using ngrok, you can set webhooks that can talk to the Plivo server.
Run ngrok on the command line, specifying the port that hosts the application on which you want to receive calls (8000 in this case):
./ngrok http 8000
This starts the ngrok server on your local server. Ngrok will display a forwarding link that you can use as a webhook to access your local server over the public network.
You can check the app in action at https://6ea358b0f703.ngrok.io/receivecall/ and check the XML response.

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Create a Plivo application to receive calls

Associate the Flask server you created with Plivo by creating a Plivo application. Visit Voice > Applications and click Add New Application. You can also use Plivo’s Application API.Give your application a name — we called ours Receive_call. Enter the server URL you want to use (for example https://<yourdomain>.com/receive_call.php/) in the Primary Answer URL field and set the method to POST. Click Create Application to save your application.

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Assign a Plivo number to your application

Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this application.From the Application Type drop-down, select XML Application.From the Plivo Application drop-down, select Receive_call (the name we gave the application).Click Update Number to save.

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Test

Make a call to your Plivo number using any phone.

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Forward an incoming call

Plivo requests an answer URL when the call is answered (step 4) and expects the file at that address to hold a valid XML response from the application with instructions on how to handle the call. In this example, when an incoming call is received, Plivo forwards the call using the Dial XML element.You must have a voice-enabled Plivo phone number to receive incoming calls; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console, or by using the Numbers API.

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Set up a Flask server to forward calls

Create a file called forward_call.py and paste into it this code.
from flask import Flask, request, make_response, Response
from plivo import plivoxml

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/forward_call/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def forwardcall():

    response = plivoxml.ResponseElement()
    response.add(
        plivoxml.DialElement().add(
            plivoxml.NumberElement('<destination_number>')))
    return(response.to_string())

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)
Replace the destination number placeholder with an actual phone number (for example, 12025551234).

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Create a Plivo application to forward calls

Associate the Flask server you created with Plivo by creating a Plivo application. Visit Voice > Applications in the Plivo console and click on Add New Application, or use Plivo’s Application API.Give your application a name — we called ours Forward Call. Enter the server URL you want to use (for example https://<yourdomain>.com/forward_call/) in the Answer URL field and set the method to POST. Click Create Application to save your application.

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Assign a Plivo number to your application

Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this application.From the Application Type drop-down, select XML Application.From the Plivo Application drop-down, select Forward Call (the name we gave the application).Click Update Number to save.

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Test

Make a call to your Plivo number using any phone. Plivo will send a request to the answer URL you provided requesting an XML response and then forward the call according to the instructions in the XML document the server provides.

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More use cases

We illustrate more than 20 use cases with code for both API/XML and PHLO on our documentation pages.