SMS (Emory Email + OTP)

This is a minimal FastAPI backend that:

• Receives SMS via Twilio
• Uses the sender's phone number as identity
• Verifies that the user is an Emory student via @emory.edu email
• Sends a 6-digit verification code to their Emory email
• After verification, allows them to text ride requests (Emory → ATL airport)

Setup

1. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root with your Twilio credentials:

TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=your_account_sid
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=your_auth_token
DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./trypsync.db  # Optional, defaults to SQLite

3. Run the server

uvicorn main:app --reload

4. Configure Twilio Webhook

In your Twilio Console, set the webhook URL for incoming SMS to:

http://your-domain.com/sms

For Local Development (ngrok)

Install ngrok on Windows:

1. Option A: Download directly

   • Visit https://ngrok.com/download
   • Download the Windows version
   • Extract the ngrok.exe file
   • Add it to your PATH, or run it from the extracted folder

2. Option B: Using Chocolatey (if installed)

   choco install ngrok

3. Option C: Using Scoop (if installed)

   scoop install ngrok

After installing ngrok:

1. Start your FastAPI server:

   uvicorn main:app --reload

2. In a new terminal, start ngrok:

   ngrok http 8000

3. Copy the HTTPS URL from ngrok (e.g., https://abc123.ngrok.io)

4. In Twilio Console → Phone Numbers → Your Number → Messaging Configuration:

   • Set the webhook URL to: https://abc123.ngrok.io/sms
   • Set HTTP method to: POST

Alternative: Use Twilio CLI (if you prefer)

twilio phone-numbers:update +1234567890 --sms-url http://localhost:8000/sms

Usage Flow

1. User texts the Twilio number
2. System prompts for Emory email (@emory.edu)
3. System sends OTP code to the email (currently stubbed - prints to console)
4. User replies with the OTP code
5. User is verified and can send ride requests

Development Notes

• Email sending is currently stubbed (prints to console). Replace send_verification_email() in main.py with actual email sending logic.
• The database defaults to SQLite for local development. Set DATABASE_URL for production PostgreSQL.
• Ride request parsing is a placeholder - implement parsing logic in the verified user flow.