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Step 1: Local Setup

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

This tutorial walks these steps in order:

flowchart TD
    START["Step 1: Local Setup"]
    N1["Prerequisites"]
    N2["1. Create ACS Resource"]
    N3["2. Initialize .NET Console App"]
    N4["3. Add NuGet Packages"]
    N5["4. Set Up User Secrets"]
    N6["5. Verify Setup"]
    START --> N1
    N1 --> N2
    N2 --> N3
    N3 --> N4
    N4 --> N5
    N5 --> N6

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"
Command Purpose
az communication create Creates an Azure Communication Services resource.
--name "MyACSResource" Names the ACS resource to create.
--location "Global" Sets the resource location (ACS resources are Global).
--data-location "United States" Sets the immutable region where data at rest is stored.
--resource-group "MyResourceGroup" Places the resource in the named resource group.

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.

See Also

Sources