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Step 1: Local Setup

Prepare your development environment and Azure resources for .NET development.

Prerequisites

  1. .NET 6+ SDK: Ensure the latest SDK is installed.
  2. Azure CLI: For resource management.
  3. Visual Studio or VS Code: Recommended IDEs.

1. Create ACS Resource

Use the Azure CLI to create a resource:

az communication create --name "MyACSResource" --location "Global" --data-location "United States" --resource-group "MyResourceGroup"

Copy the Connection String from the output or the Azure Portal.

2. Initialize .NET Console App

Create a new console application:

dotnet new console -n CommunicationApp
cd CommunicationApp

3. Add NuGet Packages

Add the Identity SDK to get started:

dotnet add package Azure.Communication.Identity

4. Set Up User Secrets

For local development, use User Secrets to store your connection string securely.

dotnet user-secrets init
dotnet user-secrets set "CommunicationServices:ConnectionString" "<your-connection-string>"

5. Verify Setup

Update Program.cs to verify connectivity:

using Azure.Communication.Identity;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;

var config = new ConfigurationBuilder().AddUserSecrets<Program>().Build();
string connectionString = config["CommunicationServices:ConnectionString"];

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(connectionString))
{
    Console.WriteLine("Connection string not found in user secrets.");
    return;
}

var client = new CommunicationIdentityClient(connectionString);
var user = await client.CreateUserAsync();

Console.WriteLine($"Successfully created user with ID: {user.Value.Id}");

Run the application: 

dotnet run

Next Step

Now that your environment is ready, let's Send an SMS.

Sources