Concepts

Concepts and glossary

Accounts, channels, lines, conversations, contacts and messages, and how they fit together.

How the pieces fit#

Account
 ├─ API keys                 (what your server authenticates with; can be limited to lines)
 ├─ Channels                 (a connected number or messaging account)
 ├─ Lines                    (what you send from and receive into)
 │    ├─ Senders             (an ordered list of the account's channels: primary, then backups)
 │    └─ Conversations       (one contact on one line)
 │         └─ Messages
 ├─ Contacts                 (people, with one or more addresses)
 ├─ Templates, Campaigns, Automation rules
 └─ Webhook endpoints

Glossary#

Term	What it is
Account	Your organisation in MyComm. Every resource belongs to exactly one account. A partner can manage client accounts; see Partners.
API key	A secret that starts with `mc_live_` (account key) or `mc_partner_` (partner key). It has abilities and can be limited to lines, channel types and IP addresses. See Authentication.
Channel	One connected sender: today a SIM in a phone running the MyComm app (`android_sim`), later other kinds such as WhatsApp. `GET /v1/channels/types` lists the kinds your account can connect.
Device	A phone paired to your account. One device can carry more than one SIM, each its own channel.
Line	What messages are sent from and received into. It sends through an ordered list of the account's channels and moves queued messages to the next one when a sender cannot send. Every account has a Direct line; add `app` lines so each connected system has its own conversations, rules and keys. See Lines.
Conversation	The thread between one contact and one line. Inbound and outbound messages share it.
Contact	A person you message. A contact has one or more identities.
Identity	An address of a contact on a channel kind, for example a phone number (`type: phone`). Contacts are shared across your lines.
Message	One SMS, MMS or other unit sent or received. It has a `direction` (`outbound` or `inbound`), a `status` and, while it waits, a `hold_reason`.
Lane	How urgently an outbound message is sent: `high`, `normal` (default) or `bulk`. Bulk is paced behind other traffic and needs a `category`.
Category	Why you are sending: `transactional` (the recipient expects it) or `marketing` (a promotion). Marketing is refused for recipients who opted out.
Hold	A reason a queued message is waiting, such as `quiet_hours`, `device_offline` or a safety limit. Holds delay messages; they never reject them.
Template	Saved message text with `{{ variables }}`.
Campaign	One message sent to an audience (groups, smart lists, a CSV or addresses), with an estimate before it starts.
Automation rule	A keyword or business-hours rule that answers inbound messages.
Webhook endpoint	A URL of yours that MyComm calls with events. See Receive webhooks.
Suppression	An opt-out. Sends, campaigns and automation all consult the same list.

Things that hold everywhere#

Ids are UUIDv7 strings with no prefix. Treat them as opaque.
Times are RFC 3339 in UTC, for example 2026-10-01T09:15:02Z. A value that is not set is null, never missing.
Lists are {"data": [...], "next_cursor": "..." | null}. See Rate limits and pagination.
Growth. Within v1 the API only adds: new fields, new enum values, new error codes and new event types. Clients ignore what they do not know.
Delays are not failures. Accepting a message (202) means MyComm will send it when the phone, the schedule and the safety limits allow. See the message lifecycle.