# REST API (SMS)

> An SMS REST API lets software send messages and read their status over HTTPS with JSON, using standard verbs and URLs, without a persistent connection or a telecom protocol.

A REST API maps messaging onto ordinary web requests: POST to create a message, GET to read it, a list endpoint with filters, JSON in and out, errors as HTTP status codes with a machine-readable body. Any language with an HTTP client can use it, which is why modern gateways offer REST first and SMPP, if at all, second.

The qualities to look for are the ones that matter under retries and failures: idempotency keys, stable error codes, signed webhooks, rate-limit headers and a published OpenAPI description.

At SMSMeteor: six endpoints under https://api.smsmeteor.com/v1 cover sending, batches, status, listing, rates and balance. Start with the [quickstart](https://smsmeteor.com/docs/quickstart).

Related terms: [API key](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/api-key), [Idempotency key](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/idempotency-key), [Webhook](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/webhook), [OpenAPI](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/openapi), [SMPP](https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/smpp)

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Source: https://smsmeteor.com/glossary/rest-api (HTML). Generated by SMSMeteor from the same data as the page. Summary of the whole site: https://smsmeteor.com/llms.txt