atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader

A NativePHP Mobile plugin for Laravel that lets your Android app read SMS messages from the device inbox and listen for incoming SMS in real time.

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Introduction

atendwa/sms-reader bridges the Android SMS ContentProvider and BroadcastReceiver into your Laravel application. It provides:

• SmsReader::getMessages() — query the device inbox with optional sender, limit, and date filters.
• SmsReader::getMessagesForSenders() — batch inbox queries across multiple senders.
• SmsReceived event — fired in real time whenever a new SMS arrives on the device.

The plugin only operates inside the NativePHP Android runtime. On the web, in Artisan, or on iOS it returns empty results rather than throwing, so your code runs safely in all environments.

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Requirements

Requirement	Version
PHP	8.3+
Laravel	11+
NativePHP Mobile	3.0+
Android	API 26+ (Android 8.0)

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Installation

1. Add the package via Composer

composer require atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader

2. Register the plugin with NativePHP

NativePHP requires every plugin to be explicitly registered as a security measure — it prevents transitive Composer dependencies from silently bundling native code into your app.

php artisan native:plugin:register atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader

This adds the service provider to app/Providers/NativeServiceProvider.php:

public function plugins(): array
{
    return [
        \Atendwa\SmsReader\SmsReaderServiceProvider::class,
    ];
}

3. Rebuild the app

Plugin changes require a full rebuild:

php artisan native:run android

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Verifying the Installation

Check the plugin is registered

php artisan native:plugin:list

You should see atendwa/sms-reader in the output.

Validate the plugin manifest

php artisan native:plugin:validate

Test the bridge on-device

Add a temporary debug button in a Livewire component to confirm the bridge is reachable:

use Atendwa\SmsReader\Facades\SmsReader;

public function debugSms(): void
{
    $raw = SmsReader::getRawResponse(['sender' => 'MPESA', 'limit' => 1]);
    dd($raw); // inspect the raw JSON from the native bridge
}

If the bridge is working you will see a JSON string like:

{"messages":[{"id":"123","sender":"MPESA","body":"...","timestamp":1234567890000}]}

If nativephp_call() does not exist (e.g. you are running on the web), the method returns a descriptive string rather than throwing.

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Usage

Reading inbox messages

use Atendwa\SmsReader\Facades\SmsReader;

// All messages from MPESA in the last 30 days
$sinceMs = now()->subDays(30)->timestamp * 1000;

$messages = SmsReader::getMessages([
    'sender' => 'MPESA',
    'limit'  => 500,
    'since'  => $sinceMs,
]);

// Each message: ['id' => string, 'sender' => string, 'body' => string, 'timestamp' => int]
foreach ($messages as $sms) {
    echo $sms['body'];
}

Available options:

Option	Type	Description
sender	string	Filter by originating address (exact match)
limit	int	Maximum number of messages to return (default 500)
since	int	Only return messages newer than this Unix timestamp in milliseconds

Reading from multiple senders

$messages = SmsReader::getMessagesForSenders(
    senders:    ['MPESA', 'airtelmoney'],
    sinceMs:    now()->subDays(90)->timestamp * 1000,
    limitEach:  500,
);

Results are merged and sorted by timestamp descending.

Listening for incoming SMS (real time)

Use the #[OnNative] attribute in any Livewire component:

use Atendwa\SmsReader\Events\SmsReceived;
use Native\Mobile\Attributes\OnNative;

class Dashboard extends Component
{
    #[OnNative(SmsReceived::class)]
    public function onSmsReceived(
        string $sender,
        string $body,
        int    $timestamp,
        string $id,
    ): void {
        // $sender    — originating address, e.g. "MPESA"
        // $body      — full SMS text
        // $timestamp — Unix milliseconds since epoch
        // $id        — "{sender}_{timestamp}", stable per message
    }
}

Livewire v3 & v4: The #[OnNative] attribute is provided by NativePHP Mobile and works with both Livewire v3 and v4.

---

JavaScript Usage

For Vue, React, Inertia, or vanilla JS apps, import directly from the package's JS file:

import {
    getMessages,
    getMessagesForSenders,
    onSmsReceived,
    offSmsReceived,
} from './vendor/atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader/resources/js/smsReader.js';

TypeScript definitions are included at resources/js/smsReader.d.ts.

Reading inbox messages

// All MPESA messages from the last 30 days
const sinceMs = Date.now() - 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;

const messages = await getMessages({ sender: 'MPESA', limit: 500, since: sinceMs });

for (const sms of messages) {
    console.log(sms.sender, sms.body, sms.timestamp);
}

Reading from multiple senders

const messages = await getMessagesForSenders(
    ['MPESA', 'airtelmoney'],
    sinceMs,   // null to skip date filter
    500,       // limitEach
);
// Results are merged and sorted by timestamp descending

Listening for incoming SMS (real time)

const handler = ({ sender, body, timestamp, id }) => {
    console.log(`New SMS from ${sender}: ${body}`);
};

// Register
onSmsReceived(handler);

// Unregister when the component unmounts
offSmsReceived(handler);

If you prefer to use NativePHP's own JS event bus directly, the exported constant SMS_RECEIVED_EVENT holds the fully-qualified event class name:

import { SMS_RECEIVED_EVENT } from './vendor/atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader/resources/js/smsReader.js';

window.Native?.on(SMS_RECEIVED_EVENT, handler);

Vue 3 (Composition API)

<script setup>
import { onMounted, onUnmounted, ref } from 'vue';
import { getMessages, onSmsReceived, offSmsReceived } from
    './vendor/atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader/resources/js/smsReader.js';

const messages = ref([]);
const error = ref(null);

async function loadMessages() {
    try {
        messages.value = await getMessages({ sender: 'MPESA', limit: 50 });
    } catch (e) {
        error.value = e.message;
    }
}

const handleIncoming = (sms) => {
    messages.value.unshift(sms);
};

onMounted(() => {
    loadMessages();
    onSmsReceived(handleIncoming);
});

onUnmounted(() => {
    offSmsReceived(handleIncoming);
});
</script>

React

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { getMessages, onSmsReceived, offSmsReceived } from
    './vendor/atendwa/nativephp-sms-reader/resources/js/smsReader.js';

export default function SmsList() {
    const [messages, setMessages] = useState([]);
    const [error, setError] = useState(null);

    useEffect(() => {
        getMessages({ sender: 'MPESA', limit: 50 })
            .then(setMessages)
            .catch((e) => setError(e.message));

        const handleIncoming = (sms) =>
            setMessages((prev) => [sms, ...prev]);

        onSmsReceived(handleIncoming);
        return () => offSmsReceived(handleIncoming);
    }, []);

    if (error) return <p>{error}</p>;
    return (
        <ul>
            {messages.map((sms) => (
                <li key={sms.id}>{sms.body}</li>
            ))}
        </ul>
    );
}

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Permissions

The plugin declares the required permissions automatically via nativephp.json. You do not need to add them manually.

Permission	Purpose
READ_SMS	Query the inbox ContentProvider
RECEIVE_SMS	Listen for incoming messages via BroadcastReceiver

On Android 6.0+ these are runtime permissions. The plugin requests them automatically the first time getMessages() is called. If the user has not granted them yet, a RuntimeException is thrown with the message:

SmsReader bridge error [PERMISSION_REQUIRED]: READ_SMS permission has not been granted...

Show the user a prompt and retry after they grant the permission.

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Error Handling

getMessages() throws a RuntimeException in these situations:

Condition	Exception message
nativephp_call not in registry	SmsReader.GetMessages not found in bridge registry
Bridge returned invalid JSON	SmsReader bridge returned invalid JSON: ...
Permission not granted	SmsReader bridge error [PERMISSION_REQUIRED]: ...
Permission denied by system	SmsReader bridge error [PERMISSION_DENIED]: ...
Any other native error	SmsReader bridge error [ERROR_CODE]: ...

use RuntimeException;

try {
    $messages = SmsReader::getMessages(['sender' => 'MPESA']);
} catch (RuntimeException $e) {
    // surface the error to the user
    $this->error = $e->getMessage();
}

The JavaScript getMessages() function throws an Error with the same message format:

try {
    const messages = await getMessages({ sender: 'MPESA' });
} catch (e) {
    // e.message — "SmsReader bridge error [PERMISSION_REQUIRED]: ..."
    console.error(e.message);
}

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Testing

The package ships with a Pest test suite that covers all three methods and the SmsReceived event. Because the bridge only exists inside the NativePHP Android runtime, tests use a thin subclass that overrides two protected hook methods (isOnDevice() and callBridge()) to simulate on-device behaviour without requiring a real device.

# Install dev dependencies inside the package directory
cd packages/nativephp-sms-reader
composer install

# Run all tests
composer test

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Support

Found a bug or have a question? Open an issue on GitHub or reach out directly:

Email: opensource@tendwa.dev

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License

MIT — Copyright © 2026 Anthony Tendwa