How to set up an SMS MCP server to receive SMS in Claude Cowork
This guide walks you through retrieving incoming SMS messages in Claude Cowork using the Ozeki SMS MCP server. By following this tutorial, you will learn how to instruct Claude to list incoming messages in plain language, allow the tool use, and confirm the transaction through the gateway logs.
What is an MCP tool call?
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool call is how an AI model communicates with external systems. When the AI needs to retrieve data such as incoming SMS messages, it sends a structured request to the appropriate MCP server, which processes it and returns the result back to the model.
Example prompt
List all incoming SMS messages.
Steps to follow
We assume Ozeki SMS Gateway is already installed on your system, you have created an MCP user account with an API key, and you have already configured the Ozeki SMS MCP server in Claude Cowork.
Video tutorial
The following video shows how to retrieve incoming SMS messages in Claude Cowork using the Ozeki SMS MCP server step-by-step.
Step 1 - Use the list incoming messages tool
Type a plain language instruction in the Claude Cowork chat prompt asking the AI to list incoming SMS messages. Claude will interpret the request and call the appropriate MCP tool to retrieve the messages from the gateway inbox (Figure 1).
List all incoming SMS messages.
Claude Cowork may prompt you to allow the tool use before proceeding. This is a security confirmation to ensure you are aware that an external tool is being called on your behalf. Confirm the action to allow Claude to retrieve the messages (Figure 2).
You will see the result of the tool call in the chat window, displaying the list of incoming messages returned by the Ozeki SMS MCP server. Each entry includes the sender number, message text, and timestamp confirming when it was received (Figure 3).
Step 2 - Check the SMS in the SMS Gateway logs
Open Ozeki SMS Gateway in your browser and navigate to the MCP user details page by clicking on the MCP user entry in the Users and applications panel (Figure 4).
In the MCP user event log, you should see an entry for the incoming message retrieval request as well as the response, confirming that the API key authentication, tool call, and data retrieval were all processed correctly by the gateway (Figure 5).
Final thoughts
You have successfully retrieved incoming SMS messages in Claude Cowork using the Ozeki SMS MCP server. Claude can now list incoming messages from your gateway simply by being asked to do so in plain language, making it easy to add SMS inbox access to any Claude Cowork workflow.