php - Problem with Twilio performing their sample code

I am trying to recreate the example on the Twilio site: https://www.twilio.com/docs/conversations/group-texting?code-sample=code-send-a-second-conversational-message&code-language=PHP&code-sdk-version=6.x#scenario-1-set-up-a-group-message-with-one-chat-participant-and-two-sms-participants

I have it working to a point of adding a participant and it fails.

My php script consists of:

<?php

// Update the path below to your autoload.php,
// see https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md
require __DIR__ . '/cron/twilio-php-main/src/Twilio/autoload.php';

use Twilio\Rest\Client;

$GLOBALS = require __DIR__ . '/includes/config.php';

$twilio = new Client($GLOBALS['twSID'], $GLOBALS['twToken']);

$conversation = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations
                                          ->create([
                                                       "friendlyName" => "RawesomePaws"
                                                   ]
                                          );

print("Created conversation.\n");
print_r($conversation . "\n");
print("conversation -> sid = ".$conversation->sid . "\n"); // CH16ac1d4633184feebc3907546cf9ccfc

print("About to add Rawesome Phone.\n");
$participant = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations($conversation->sid)
                                         ->participants
                                         ->create([
                                                      "identity" => "Rawsome Orders",
                                                      "messagingBindingProjectedAddress" => "+MYTWILIONUMBER"
                                                  ]
                                         );

print("Added RawsomePawsOrders.\n");
print("participant -> id = " . $participant->sid . "\n");

print("About to add robs Phone.\n");

$participant = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations($conversation->sid)
                                         ->participants
                                         ->create([
                                                      "messagingBindingAddress" => "+MYPERSONALNUMBER"
                                                  ]
                                         );

print("Added Rob.\n");
print($participant->sid);

$message = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations($conversation->sid)
                                     ->messages
                                     ->create([
                                                  "body" => "Hi there. What did you think of the listing I sent?",
                                                  "author" => "RawesomePaws"
                                              ]
                                     );

print("Sent Message.\n");
print($message->sid);

I get to the code above

$participant = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations($conversation->sid)
                                         ->participants
                                         ->create([
                                                      "messagingBindingAddress" => "+MYPERSONALNUMBER"
                                                  ]
                                         );

and it fails:

Fatal error: Uncaught Twilio\Exceptions\RestException: [HTTP 409] Unable to create record: Group MMS with given participant list already exists as Conversation CHb3a38b8e12f5477c94e05c5ef6946b80 in /home/customer/www/sirota-consulting.com/public_html/PPLG/cron/twilio-php-main/src/Twilio/Version.php:88

All of the phone numbers are correct and I am getting different errors on the same line. Any suggestions or examples? I just want to create a group message so that all people notified can respond and all people in the message can get it...

Solution:

It looks like you may have a participant bound to a previous covnersation. A participant is uniquely tied to a specific conversation using a unique pairing of their mobile phone number and a Twilio proxy conversation number.

If the participant is already in an existing conversation, then you need to use another Twilio proxy conversation number for this new conversation you want to add them too. This will also create a unique thread on their phone (which only makes sense, since they are separate conversations).

I suggest listing the existing conversations to see which conversation they are already a participant of (using that Twilio Proxy number), and remove them.

I find using the Twilio CLI useful when familiarizing yourself with Twilio Conversations.

Twilio CLI Syntax

list conversations twilio api:conversations:v1:conversations:messages:list --conversation-sid CH44xxx