---
"@context": https://schema.org
"@type": TechArticle
"@id": https://www.twilio.com/docs/usage/tutorials/how-to-make-http-basic-request-twilio-powershell#article
headline: How To Make REST API Requests in PowerShell
description: We'll show Powershell's Invoke-WebRequest making a REST API request to an HTTP Basic Authentication protected endpoint to send an outbound SMS text message.
url: https://www.twilio.com/docs/usage/tutorials/how-to-make-http-basic-request-twilio-powershell
inLanguage: en
dateModified: 2026-08-20T18:09:16.000Z
author:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio Developer Education Team
publisher:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio
---

# How To Make REST API Requests in PowerShell

To make an HTTP request to Twilio's API from PowerShell, you use the `Invoke-WebRequest` cmdlet with HTTP basic authentication. This guide walks through the required steps and finishes by sending an outgoing SMS message.

[PowerShell](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/mt173057.aspx) allows developers to write command line scripts using the full power of the .NET framework. However, some tasks you may be used to performing in \*nix environments, [like making an authenticated HTTP request with curl](/docs/messaging/quickstart), are not as straightforward.

```powershell
# Pull in Twilio account info, previously set as environment variables
$sid = $env:TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID
$apiKey = $env:TWILIO_API_KEY
$apiSecret = $env:TWILIO_API_SECRET
$number = $env:TWILIO_NUMBER

# Twilio API endpoint and POST params
$url = "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/$sid/Messages.json"
$params = @{ To = "+15558675309"; From = $number; Body = "Hello from PowerShell" }

# Create a credential object for HTTP basic auth
$p = $apiSecret | ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText -Force
$credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($apiKey, $p)

# Make API request, selecting JSON properties from the response
Invoke-WebRequest $url -Method Post -Credential $credential -Body $params -UseBasicParsing |
ConvertFrom-Json | Select sid, body
```

Let's break down the moving parts of this script.

## Export System Environment Variables

First, export the Twilio account credentials and phone number you need to [send an outbound SMS](/docs/messaging/quickstart). Find your Account SID and [create an API key](/docs/iam/api-keys/keys-in-console) on your [Console dashboard](/console). You can use an existing phone number or [buy one in the Console](/console/phone-numbers/incoming).

There are a number of ways to configure system environment variables on Windows, but you can set user-level environment variables in PowerShell with the following commands. Replace the strings below with the relevant values from your account.

```powershell
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID", "your_account_sid", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_API_KEY", "your_api_key", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_API_SECRET", "your_api_secret", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_NUMBER", "+16518675309", "User")
```

In the example script at the beginning of the article, we access these variables through the `$env` variable.

```powershell
# Pull in Twilio account info, previously set as environment variables
$sid = $env:TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID
$apiKey = $env:TWILIO_API_KEY
$apiSecret = $env:TWILIO_API_SECRET
$number = $env:TWILIO_NUMBER
```

## Configure REST API Endpoint and Credentials

After exporting our Twilio account info, we need to configure a URL for the API endpoint we want to hit.

```powershell
$url = "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/$sid/Messages.json"
```

We substitute a variable that holds our account SID, which is also necessary for the API URL. We append the `.json` extension to the URL to get the response back in JSON format.

Next, we create a [hash table](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_hash_tables?view=powershell-6#creating-hash-tables) with the `POST` parameters we need to [send with our request](/docs/messaging/quickstart).

```powershell
$params = @{ To = "+15558675309"; From = $number; Body = "Hello from PowerShell" }
```

What are those parameters for?

* `To`: The phone number you want to send the SMS to
* `From`: A Twilio-powered [phone number](/console/phone-numbers/incoming) the SMS message will come from
* `Body`: The actual text of the outbound message

Now comes a slightly wonky bit we need to do to pass our HTTP basic auth credentials to Twilio in this API request. We need to create a [PSCredential](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.management.automation.pscredential\(v=vs.85\).aspx) to pass into the `Invoke-WebRequest` command.

```powershell
$p = $apiSecret | ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText -Force
$credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($apiKey, $p)
```

## Make an Authenticated API Request in PowerShell

Now that we have all our configuration ready, we use the [`Invoke-WebRequest`](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849901.aspx) command to actually send the SMS. Don't forget the `-UseBasicParsing` option to prevent creating a DOM from the results, and to avoid errors on systems without Internet Explorer installed (server core, and Windows 10 systems only running Edge browsers).

We also use the [`ConvertFrom-Json`](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849898.aspx) command to parse the JSON response from the Twilio API, and [`Select`](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849895.aspx) command to extract properties from the resulting object.

```powershell
Invoke-WebRequest $url -Method Post -Credential $credential -Body $params -UseBasicParsing |
ConvertFrom-Json | Select sid, body
```

Here's the complete script one more time:

```powershell
# Pull in Twilio account info, previously set as environment variables
$sid = $env:TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID
$apiKey = $env:TWILIO_API_KEY
$apiSecret = $env:TWILIO_API_SECRET
$number = $env:TWILIO_NUMBER

# Twilio API endpoint and POST params
$url = "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/$sid/Messages.json"
$params = @{ To = "+15558675309"; From = $number; Body = "Hello from PowerShell" }

# Create a credential object for HTTP basic auth
$p = $apiSecret | ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText -Force
$credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($apiKey, $p)

# Make API request, selecting JSON properties from the response
Invoke-WebRequest $url -Method Post -Credential $credential -Body $params -UseBasicParsing |
ConvertFrom-Json | Select sid, body
```

## What's next

With this code, you can make a REST API request authenticated with HTTP basic auth from a PowerShell script, sending an outgoing text message without leaving PowerShell.