---
"@context": https://schema.org
"@type": TechArticle
"@id": https://www.twilio.com/docs/conversations-classic/api#article
headline: The Conversations (classic) API Overview
description: "Introduction to the Conversations (classic) API, which you can use to create conversational messaging across multiple channels: Chat, WhatsApp, and SMS, and more."
url: https://www.twilio.com/docs/conversations-classic/api
inLanguage: en
dateModified: 2026-05-05T17:40:20.000Z
author:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio Developer Education Team
publisher:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio
---

# The Conversations (classic) API Overview

The Conversations (classic) API allows you to create conversational (back-and-forth) messaging across multiple channels: Chat, WhatsApp, and SMS.

## API Base URL

All URLs in the reference documentation use the following base URL:

```xml
https://conversations.twilio.com/v1

```

> \[!NOTE]
>
> You can control your connectivity into Twilio's platform by including your specific [edge location](/docs/global-infrastructure/edge-locations) in the subdomain. This will allow you to bring Twilio's public or private network connectivity closer to your applications for improved performance.
>
> For instance customers with infrastructure in Australia can make use of the `sydney` edge location by using the base url of:
>
> ```bash
> https://conversations.sydney.us1.twilio.com/v1
> ```

## Authentication

To authenticate requests to the Twilio APIs, Twilio supports [HTTP Basic authentication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication). Use your *API key SID* as the username and your *API key secret* as the password. You can create an API key [in the Twilio Console](/docs/iam/api-keys/keys-in-console) or [using the API](/docs/iam/api-keys/key-resource-v1).

Learn more about [Twilio API authentication](/docs/usage/requests-to-twilio).

## Resources

The [Conversation resource](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-resource) is the primary resource, representing a unique thread of a conversation.

A Conversation has the following sub-resources:

* [Conversation Participants](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-participant-resource)
* [Conversation Messages](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-message-resource)
* [Conversation-Scoped Webhooks](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-scoped-webhook-resource).

The [Conversation Webhook resource](/docs/conversations-classic/api/conversation-scoped-webhook-resource) covers webhook configurations for all Conversations (classic).

## Getting started

Refer to our [quickstart guide](/docs/conversations-classic/quickstart) for a step by step introduction to Conversations (classic) and an overview of commonly used features.