> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.photon.codes/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> Use Stable documentation by default. Honor an explicit Beta request or a URL under /docs/beta/. If the requested version conflicts with the installed CLI package or API origin, clarify the target before writing integration code.
> Pages under /docs/beta/ document Beta; other product pages document Stable. Keep the CLI package, commands, API origin, and credentials within the selected version. State the documentation version in your answer.
> For MCP search, always pass version: Stable or version: Beta. Unfiltered search mixes both versions. For filesystem reads, keep Beta queries under /beta/ and exclude /beta/ from Stable queries; discover paths before reading them.
> The public docs base is https://photon.codes/docs. Convert MCP page paths to public URLs under that base, preserving /beta/ when present. Read https://photon.codes/docs/skill.md for version selection and https://photon.codes/docs/llms.txt for the version indexes.

# Start a phone number verification

> Start a phone number verification: startAccountPhoneVerification in the TypeScript, Python and Rust clients.

`POST /v1/account/phone/verifications`

Sends an SMS code. Answers CAPTCHA\_REQUIRED with the widget to render when no solved challenge accompanies the request; retry with the returned challengeContext and a token. Rate limited per account, per destination number, and globally; a rejection carries Retry-After.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="TypeScript">
    ```typescript TypeScript theme={null}
    photon.account.startPhoneVerification(input: StartAccountPhoneVerificationInput, options?: RequestOptions): Promise<StartAccountPhoneVerificationOutput>
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Python">
    ```python Python theme={null}
    photon.account.start_phone_verification(input: StartAccountPhoneVerificationInput) -> models.StartAccountPhoneVerificationResponse
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Rust">
    ```rust Rust theme={null}
    client.start_account_phone_verification(body: &types::StartAccountPhoneVerificationRequest).await -> Result<ResponseValue<types::StartAccountPhoneVerificationResponse>, Error<StartAccountPhoneVerificationError>>
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<RequestExample>
  ```typescript TypeScript theme={null}
  import { Photon } from "@photon-ai/api";

  const photon = new Photon({
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.PHOTON_API_TOKEN}` },
  });
  const result = await photon.account.startPhoneVerification({
    body: {
      phoneNumber: "phoneNumber",
    },
  });
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import os

  from photon_api import Photon
  from photon_api.rpc_generated import StartAccountPhoneVerificationInput

  photon = Photon(headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['PHOTON_API_TOKEN']}"})
  result = photon.account.start_phone_verification(
      StartAccountPhoneVerificationInput.model_validate({
          "body": {
              "phoneNumber": "phoneNumber",
          },
      })
  )
  ```

  ```rust Rust theme={null}
  use photon_ai_api::{Credential, PhotonClientBuilder, SecretString};

  let token = std::env::var("PHOTON_API_TOKEN")?;
  let client = PhotonClientBuilder::new()
      .credential("accountServiceKey", Credential::Bearer(SecretString::from(token)))
      .build()?;
  let result = client
      .start_account_phone_verification(
          &serde_json::from_value(serde_json::json!({
              "phoneNumber": "phoneNumber",
          }))?,
      )
      .await
      .map_err(|error| format!("{error:?}"))?
      .into_inner();
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json 201 theme={null}
  {
    "channel": "sms",
    "expiresAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
    "resendAvailableAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

## Body

<ParamField body="captcha" type={"PhoneVerificationCaptcha"} />

<ParamField body="phoneNumber" type={"string"} required />

## Returns

**`201`** A pending verification. The Account is unchanged. StartAccountPhoneVerificationResponse

<ResponseField name="channel" type={"\"sms\""} required />

<ResponseField name="expiresAt" type={"string (date-time)"} required />

<ResponseField name="resendAvailableAt" type={"string (date-time)"} required />


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