usefulapiAfrica's Talking MCP server
Read Africa's Talking balance, incoming SMS, transactions; send SMS, airtime, data and voice calls. Hosted by usefulapi: connect it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client.
What can I ask?
Turn on the Africa's Talking connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
- What is my Africa's Talking balance?
- Fetch the incoming SMS on my shortcode since message 0.
- Send an SMS to +254711000000 saying the order is ready (ask me to confirm first).
- Check the status of airtime transaction ATPid_abc123.
What you can do with Africa's Talking in Claude and ChatGPT
For businesses in Africa who send SMS, airtime and data with Africa's Talking.
Check your account and data wallet balance
The AI reads the balance of your SMS and airtime wallet and the balance of your mobile data wallet.
Read incoming SMS on your shortcode
The AI fetches received SMS in batches, oldest first, and sums up what customers wrote.
Send an SMS to a list of numbers
The AI sends one text to up to 100 numbers after you approve the numbers and the text. It uses account credit.
Changes dataTop up airtime or send data bundles
The AI sends airtime or data bundles to up to 25 numbers after you approve each number and amount. This spends credit and cannot be reversed.
Changes dataCheck the status of an airtime or data transaction
The AI looks up a transaction by its id and shows status, amount or product, and destination.
Call numbers and check the voice queue
The AI places an outbound call to up to 10 numbers from your number, and reads how many calls are queued per voice number.
Changes dataHow do I connect Africa's Talking?
Before you connect
The login page asks for your App username and API key.
Find both in your Africa's Talking dashboard: open the app, then Settings → API Key at account.africastalking.com. The username is the one you chose when creating the app, shown on the app dashboard; it is not the app name ("sandbox" for the free sandbox app). Sends spend your account credit, so every send tool asks the assistant for your approval first. Your key is used only to call the Africa's Talking API on your behalf; it is never shown to anyone.
Claude claude.ai · Desktop
- Open Customize → Connectors, then click + Add → Add custom connector.
- Enter the name Africa's Talking and this URL, then click Add:https://
africas-talking. usefulapi. io/ mcp - Claude opens the login page: enter your App username and API key.
- In a chat, click + → Connectors and turn on Africa's Talking.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
ChatGPT chatgpt.com
- Open Plugins, click +, then Add custom MCP server.
- Enter the name Africa's Talking and this URL, choose OAuth as the authentication, confirm the warning and create it:https://
africas-talking. usefulapi. io/ mcp - ChatGPT opens the login page: enter your App username and API key.
- In Plugins, install Africa's Talking, then choose it in a chat.
No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Claude Code
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Cursor
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"africas-talking": {
"url": "https://africas-talking.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
} VS Code
Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"africas-talking": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://africas-talking.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
} Codex
Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Other clients
Windsurf, Cline, Zed and other MCP clients: add this URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your App username and API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Proper user | $9/mo · $90/yr | 10,000 tool calls / month |
| Pro+per user | $39/mo · $390/yr | 100,000 tool calls / month |
Each paid plan covers this Africa's Talking server only. Ask your AI to run africastalking_upgrade and choose Pro or Pro+, billed monthly or yearly (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). If you already have Pro, ask to change it to Pro+. The change requires your confirmation, keeps your billing interval and charges the price difference for the rest of the period immediately. Cancel any time with africastalking_cancel_subscription: your paid plan continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and asking to resume the same plan with africastalking_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to support@usefulapi.io.
Tools 14
Show all 14 tools (the AI picks them for you)
Read only · 6
- Get account balance
africastalking_get_balanceThe Africa's Talking app balance (SMS/airtime wallet), e.g. {"balance": "KES 1250.0000"}. The sandbox app has no balance. - Fetch received SMS
africastalking_fetch_messagesFetch incoming SMS received on your shortcodes/numbers, oldest first, in batches (default 25 per call). Pass last_received_id (0 for the first call, then `next_last_received_id` from the previous reply) to move through them; `has_more` stays true while a call returns messages, so keep calling until `count` is 0. Optional shortcode and keyword filters. - Find airtime transaction
africastalking_find_airtime_transactionLook up an airtime transaction by its transaction id (the requestId / ATPid_... from a send reply): status, amount, destination and discount. - Find mobile data transaction
africastalking_find_mobile_data_transactionLook up a mobile data transaction by its transactionId (from a send reply): status, product, destination and cost. GET bundles /query/transaction/find. - Get mobile data wallet balance
africastalking_get_mobile_data_wallet_balanceThe balance of the mobile data wallet, e.g. {"status": "Success", "balance": "KES 500.0000"}. GET bundles /query/wallet/balance. - Get voice queue status
africastalking_get_voice_queue_statusNumber of outbound calls currently queued on each of your voice numbers. Live apps only. POST voice /queueStatus (a read: nothing is changed).
Changes data · 4
- Send SMS
africastalking_send_smsWRITE: send one text message to up to 100 phone numbers. Spends account credit and delivers to real phones (the sandbox app only reaches the simulator). Needs confirm=true after the user approved the recipients and text. Returns the vendor's per-recipient status (statusCode 101 = sent), message ids and cost. Never retried. - Send airtime
africastalking_send_airtimeWRITE: top up mobile airtime for up to 25 phone numbers. Spends account credit immediately and cannot be reversed. Needs confirm=true after the user approved each number and amount. Amounts are in the given ISO currency (e.g. KES, UGX, TZS). Pass an idempotency_key to make a retry safe. Returns per-number status and requestId (use africastalking_find_airtime_transaction to follow up). - Send mobile data bundle
africastalking_send_mobile_dataWRITE: send mobile data bundles to up to 25 phone numbers from your Africa's Talking data wallet. Spends wallet credit and cannot be reversed. Needs confirm=true after the user approved each number and bundle. product_name is your data product (created in the Africa's Talking dashboard). Pass an idempotency_key to make a retry safe. Returns per-number status and transactionId (see africastalking_find_mobile_data_transaction). POST bundles /mobile/data/request. - Make voice call
africastalking_make_voice_callWRITE: place an outbound voice call from one of your Africa's Talking numbers to up to 10 phone numbers. The call is billed and rings real phones; what is said is decided by the voice callback URL configured for the number in the dashboard. Needs confirm=true after the user approved the numbers. Live apps only (the sandbox has no voice service). Returns a per-number queue status. POST voice /call.
Your usefulapi plan · 4
- Usage status (free-tier meter)
africastalking_usage_statusReport the caller's current usage: the plan, calls used this month, the limit of the plan (the free monthly cap or the Pro fair use limit), remaining, and whether the limit is reached. Read-only; does not count against the meter. - Request a missing feature
africastalking_request_featureTell usefulapi that the user needs something the Africa's Talking tools cannot do yet (a missing tool, field or filter). Call it only when the user asks for something none of the tools can do, and tell the user that you send the request. Do not call it for errors or for normal requests. Do not include personal data, credentials or customer records. Stored with the product name and the client type (for example Claude or Cursor), without the user's account. At most 5 requests per day. Does not count against the meter. - Upgrade to Pro or Pro+
africastalking_upgradeGet a paid plan for Africa's Talking (the free tier caps monthly usage). Pro: 10,000 tool calls a month, for normal use — plan "monthly" ($9/month) or "yearly" ($90/year, 2 months free). Pro+: 100,000 tool calls a month, for automations and heavy use — plan "plus" ($39/month) or "plus_yearly" ($390/year). Without a plan it returns both Pro and Pro+, each with a payment link, for the user to choose; with a plan, one link. An existing Pro subscription changes to Pro+ in place: call without confirm first, as the reply states the exact charge for this account (the price difference for the rest of the period, or in a free Pro trial the full Pro+ price, as the trial ends); then call with confirm: true. Cancel any time: the plan then runs to the end of the paid period, so it also suits a one-time job. A link opens Stripe Checkout in the browser; after payment the account upgrades automatically. Does not count against the meter. - Cancel the Pro subscription
africastalking_cancel_subscriptionCancel the caller's Africa's Talking Pro subscription at the end of the paid period (no refund for the current period; Pro continues until then, then the free tier applies). Requires confirm: true. Run africastalking_upgrade later to undo the cancel before the period ends. Does not count against the meter.
FAQ
What can I do with Africa's Talking in Claude or ChatGPT?
Check your account and data wallet balance. Read incoming SMS on your shortcode. Send an SMS to a list of numbers. Top up airtime or send data bundles. Check the status of an airtime or data transaction. Call numbers and check the voice queue. See what you can do for the details.
Is this an official Africa's Talking product?
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Africa's Talking. The server calls the Africa's Talking API with your own Africa's Talking access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Can I connect Africa's Talking to Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
What do I need to connect?
The login page asks for your App username and API key. See Before you connect for where to find them.
Do I put my Africa's Talking key or an Authorization header in the client config?
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your App username and API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
How do you keep my Africa's Talking credentials?
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the Africa's Talking API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in Africa's Talking.
Can the AI change my Africa's Talking data?
Yes, if you approve it. 4 of the 10 Africa's Talking tools can create or change data. The other 6 are marked read-only. Most MCP clients ask you to approve a tool call before it runs.
What does it cost?
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with 10,000 tool calls / month. Pro+ costs $39/mo or $390/yr, with 100,000 tool calls / month. Each subscription covers this Africa's Talking server only. Cancel any time: your paid plan then runs to the end of the paid period. Run africastalking_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
How do I subscribe or cancel?
Ask the AI to run africastalking_upgrade and choose Pro or Pro+, billed monthly or yearly: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. If you already have Pro, ask to change it to Pro+. After you confirm, your existing subscription changes in place, keeps its billing interval and charges the price difference for the rest of the period immediately. To cancel, run africastalking_cancel_subscription. Your paid plan continues to the end of the paid period.
What if a Africa's Talking tool that I need is missing?
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with africastalking_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Which AI clients can I use?
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.
Need a tool this server does not have, or a connection to another system? We build custom integrations and MCP servers.