drwjkirkpatrick-web/SMS-first-agent

SMS-only customer engagement platform for small businesses in Kenya. Offline-first, M-Pesa-ready, built for Raspberry Pi. # SMS-First Agent > SMS-only customer engagement platform for small businesses in Kenya. Built for Raspberry Pi, offline-first, M-Pesa-ready. **Repository:** github.com --- ## What It Does A headless backend that lets a Kenyan small business automate customer communication via SMS — appointment reminders, promotional campaigns, credit/layaway follow-up, M-Pesa payment confirmation, and two-way customer interaction — without requiring customers to have a smartphone, internet, or email. **Customers** use any mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone). They text keywords like `STATUS`, `PAID`, `CALL`, `PROMO`, `BOOK`, `POINTS`, `STOP`. **Business owners** manage via a simple admin dashboard or CSV import. No technical knowledge required. --- ## Why SMS-First for Kenya | Factor | Detail | |--------|--------| | Mobile penetration | ~95% of adults have a mobile phone | | SMS universality | Every phone receives SMS — no app, no data plan | | M-Pesa | Mobile money is the primary payment rail | | Cost | SMS at ~KES 1/message is affordable; data apps are not | | Rural reality | 2G/3G coverage widespread; 4G/LTE limited outside cities | | Regulation | Kenya Data Protection Act (2019) governs SMS marketing | --- ## Architecture ``` POS/Excel/CSV → FastAPI API → PostgreSQL → Africa's Talking → Customer Phone Redis → Celery Workers (scheduler, sends, reconciliation) M-Pesa Webhook → Payment matching → SMS confirmation ``` | Component | Technology | Purpose | |-----------|-----------|---------| | Web Framework | FastAPI | REST API, webhooks, admin dashboard | | Task Queue | Celery + Redis | Background jobs (reminders, sends, reconciliation) | | Database | PostgreSQL 16 | State, outbox, audit log (local on Pi) | | SMS | Africa's Talking | Primary SMS gateway (local routing, KES billing) | | SMS Fallback | Twilio | International routing backup | | Payments | M-Pesa STK Push / C2B | Payment collection + confirmation | | Scheduler | Ce …