---
title: Wait SMS
description: "Wait for an SMS to arrive on a real SIM and verify it: sender, message text, and number of parts for long messages. For OTP and alerts."
lastUpdated: "2026-09-23"
---

> **For AI agents:** the complete documentation index is at [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Append `.md` to any page URL for its markdown version.

Wait for an SMS to arrive on the SIM and verify it: OTP delivery, notifications, alerts. The action checks the sender, the message text, and the number of parts for long messages.

## Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
| ----------- | ---------- | ------------- |
| Expected Message | No | The SMS content you expect. The result records the match ratio. |
| Check SMS reception from a previous step | No | Start watching from a previous action's position, for SMS triggered earlier in the flow (a Send SMS or USSD action, for example). |
| SMS reception is optional | No | The test passes even if no SMS arrives; variables get their default values. Default: off. |

## Results and metrics

In the action report (`result`), for each SMS received:

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `sender` | Phone number that sent the SMS. |
| `message` | The SMS body. |
| `count` | Number of parts, for multi-part (concatenated) messages. |
| `ratio` | Match ratio (0 to 100) against the expected message. |
| `relative_duration` | How long after the watch started the SMS arrived, in seconds. |
| `dynamic_variables` | Values extracted from the SMS (an OTP code, for example) into variables. |

In Analytics, each run feeds the SMS reception measurement with `reception_duration_seconds` and `duration_seconds`, tagged by status, antenna, and access technology.

Assertions can target `sms_sender`, `message`, `concatenated_sms` (part count), or extract a `variable`.

## What's next?

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Send SMS" icon="message" href="/tests/actions/cellular/send-sms">

    Send the SMS from another SIM and verify both ends

</Card>
  <Card title="SIM steps overview" icon="sim-card" href="/tests/actions/cellular/overview">

    Assertions, stored variables, and shared options

</Card>
</Columns>