How an AI agent signs itself up for a phone number

An agent can start its own Bland sign up, but the owner approves the plan before it starts. Two paths exist, link based and headless.

Cole BakerNovember 3, 2026Updated November 4, 20268 min read

Your AI agent can start the signup for its own phone number; you finish it by approving the plan. By AI agent we mean an assistant that carries out tasks for you, such as Anthropic's Claude Code or OpenAI's Codex. We're Bland. We sell the Agent Phone Plan, a monthly plan that gives an AI agent its own US number for calls and texts. To start, ask your agent in plain words to sign itself up for Bland's Agent Phone Plan, and give it our phone number API for AI agents page to read. Once it has a number, it can ask Bland to call or text from it.

Bland has two signup flows: two ways to connect your account and approve the plan. In the link-based flow, your agent shows you a web link and you approve in your browser. In the headless flow there is no web page; you approve the payment in the Link app (Stripe's payment wallet), which despite the name has nothing to do with the link-based flow.

If you already have a Bland account, use the link-based flow. If you do not have a Bland account, you can use either flow, provided your agent meets that flow's requirements.

The headless flow needs an agent that can use Link's command-line tool and obtain a supported payment approval. A Link virtual card does not work. Ask your agent to check the wallet signup requirements before choosing that route.

Either way, the plan costs $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner) and $19.99 a month after. That buys one dedicated US number with no per-minute or per-text charge to US and Canada numbers, up to the plan's caps, and the plan can't reach numbers anywhere else. The caps are in the limits table further down. Hourly limits reset on the hour and daily limits at midnight UTC, the international time standard.

How does the link-based flow work?#

Your agent shows you a web link and a short code that goes with it, and the code lasts 15 minutes. You open the link, sign up or sign in, and pick either the Agent Phone Plan or the free option, then approve in your browser. You can try it for free. That try covers outbound calls only, from a shared Bland number: no dedicated number, no texting, no incoming calls. If you pick the plan, that's where your card goes in. Your agent then gets an API key, which works like a password for your Bland account, and a phone number if you chose the plan.

Bland's published instructions for agents say an agent should never ask for your payment details or approve the purchase for you, and in this flow your agent never touches your card at all.

For developers: the link-based flow, step by step#

Your agent calls POST /v1/agent/onboarding/start with no API key needed, optionally passing a client_name and some prefill details about the owner.
Your agent shows the owner the returned verification link and a short code. The code expires in 15 minutes.
The owner opens the link, signs up or signs in, picks the plan or the free option, and approves in the browser.
Your agent polls POST /v1/agent/onboarding/poll and, once approved, receives an api_key and org_id exactly once, plus a phone_number if the plan was selected and provisioning has completed. If polling runs faster than the server's stated interval, it returns a 429 and a new interval to wait for.

How does the headless flow work?#

With your Link wallet ready, your agent gives Bland your phone number and email, and Bland texts you a six-digit code that lasts 10 minutes. You type the code back to your agent in the chat. Then you approve the charge in the Link app, and your agent pays with a single-use payment token, a one-time pass that your Link wallet issues, so nobody types in a card.

The headless flow creates new accounts only. If the payment is declined, nothing is created, and your agent shows you a web link so you can finish the link-based way in your browser. The Link token pays for the first month only, so add a card in your Bland account, the website for your Bland account, for the renewals. Your verified phone number is how you sign in there. If the plan renews with no card on file, it goes past due and drops to pay-as-you-go, a mode billed for usage, and your number stays on your account. The sources here do not establish the resulting rates or which calling and texting actions remain available after that failure. Confirm those details before relying on the number.

The browser code lasts 15 minutes. The wallet signup starts with a 10-minute session, and its first successful code check restarts that window once.

For developers: the headless flow, step by step#

Your agent calls POST /v1/agent/onboarding/headless/start with the owner's phone number and email. Bland texts the owner a six-digit code, valid for 10 minutes.
The owner relays that code back to the agent.
Your agent calls POST /v1/agent/onboarding/headless/complete with the code and a payment method: a Stripe Link shared payment token from an agent wallet, or a response to a Machine Payments Protocol 402 challenge. That challenge is a payment request from Bland that tells the agent which amount and seller to approve. A Link virtual card is refused.
On success, the response includes api_key, org_id, phone_number and the plan purchased. The session starts with a 10-minute window, and the first successful code check restarts that window once; requesting another challenge doesn't restart it again. An owner who already has an account gets a 409 ACCOUNT_EXISTS error.

What should you check after setup?#

Before your agent calls or texts anyone, sign in to your Bland account and check whether you bought the plan or took the free option. If you bought the plan, check that your agent's number is on your account. Then have your agent contact only people who have agreed to hear from you.

Before calling, confirm your selected plan or free try, check that a purchased number is on your account, and contact only people who have agreed to hear from you

For developers: can an agent do this from a terminal?#

For an agent running from a terminal, Bland also ships a CLI:

bash

npm install -g bland-cli
bland auth login --device

This wraps the link-based device flow: it displays the link and code, polls for you, and stores the resulting key in the CLI profile once approved.

What are the plan's limits and prices?#

The plan is for self-serve accounts, meaning people who sign up and pay online themselves, so companies on Enterprise or custom billing deals can't buy it.

Caps: What applies: One call at a time, 20 calls an hour, 50 a day, 1,000 incoming and outgoing minutes combined a day, 60 minutes per outbound call, 20 texts an hour and 100 a day
First month: What applies: $9.99, once per account owner's first Agent Phone Plan
Ongoing price: What applies: $19.99 a month, and a second plan for the same owner is $19.99 from its first month
Number: What applies: One dedicated US local number
Destinations: What applies: US and Canada only
Cancellation: What applies: Takes effect immediately, and the number stays on your account
Who can buy it: What applies: Self-serve accounts only, not Enterprise or custom-billed accounts

AgentCall is another company that sells phone numbers to AI agents, with 62 tools for agents to use. Its free tier is a 72-hour live trial with one US or Canada local number, and AgentCall checks a card automatically before that trial starts. Its Pro plan is $19.99 a month plus usage, and ours is $19.99 a month after the first.

With Bland, you approve before the plan's first charge, either in your browser or with a texted code plus a Link approval.

What does that look like in practice?#

Felix and the number below are made up for this example. Felix asks a coding agent he runs on his own computer to get itself a phone number, so it can ask his mechanic about his car and a delivery company about a late package. Felix has no Bland account and has already connected a supported Link wallet to his agent. The agent starts the headless flow with his phone number and email. Felix types back the six-digit code he gets by text and approves the charge in Link. The first month costs $9.99, once per account owner. The agent finishes signup with the payment token, gets its API key and a new number, 555-0133, and Felix sees the charge on his Link payment method afterward.

If you want ideas for errands, read what ChatGPT can do once it's connected. If people will call your agent back, read can your AI agent answer its own phone, and for the caps in more depth, what unlimited means on agent phone plans. Everything about the plan is on the AI phone number plan page.

FAQ#

Can an agent get its own number without me?#

No. Your agent can start the process, but you either approve a request in your browser or pass on a texted code and approve the charge in the Link app before a number is issued.

Who pays for the plan?#

You do. On the link-based flow, you approve the charge yourself in the browser; the agent never handles your payment details. On the headless flow, the agent pays with a wallet token after you confirm a texted code and approve the charge in the Link app. After that the plan renews monthly on the card on file until you cancel, so on the headless flow, add a card in your Bland account.

What does the plan cost on either flow?#

It's $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner), then $19.99 a month, for calls and texts to US and Canada numbers only, up to the plan's caps.

What if I already have a Bland account?#

Use the link-based flow. The headless flow is for people with no account yet and stops if it finds one.

Is there a CLI for this?#

Yes. The bland auth login --device command in Bland's command-line tool, bland-cli, runs the link-based flow from a terminal.

AgentCall checks a card before its 72-hour trial starts. Bland asks you to approve in your browser, or to pass on a texted code and approve in Link, before the plan starts.