How to connect an AI agent to a phone number

Connect your AI app to a service that places phone calls, then choose a number for those calls to come from. With Bland, you can use a dedicated number on the Agent Phone Plan or try outbound calls from a shared Bland number. Your AI app, such as ChatGPT or Claude, sends Bland the request and reads the answer afterward.

We're Bland. We make AI that talks on the phone. The Agent Phone Plan is a monthly plan that gives an AI agent a number of its own, and it plugs into the agent you already use. Your agent tells Bland what a call is for in plain words. Bland's voice AI then places that call, does the talking, and sends your agent the call summary.

Say you type this to your agent (the shop and its number are made up):

Call Main Street Bikes at (415) 555-0142 and ask whether my repair is ready to pick up.

Your agent passes that task to Bland. Bland's voice AI rings the shop and asks. Your agent tells you what the shop said, something like "It's ready, and they're open until 6."

The connection lets your agent request calls. The number determines where those calls come from. A paid plan starts only after you approve it.

How does your agent reach a phone?#

You add Bland to your AI app as an outside tool. Your app can then request calls and read the call summary. Exact settings differ between apps, so use your app's guide on the setup for agents page.

Your agent also needs permission to use your Bland account. In ChatGPT, Claude, and Claude Code (Anthropic's coding assistant), you sign in with Bland from inside the agent, the way you'd log in to any website, and you approve what the agent may do. Other agents ask for an API key. An API (application programming interface) is how software sends requests to a service, and an API key is a secret code you copy from your Bland account. A full-access key lets the agent use every Bland tool, so sign in with Bland wherever your agent offers it.

If you don't have a Bland account yet, you can sign up on our website or let your agent start the signup.

The MCP server, for developers#

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard for connecting AI apps to outside tools. Bland's MCP server is at api.bland.ai/v1/mcp and uses Streamable HTTP. A client signs in with Bland or sends a full-access API key as a bearer token in the Authorization header. Restricted keys can't connect.

Meta Muse, Meta's personal agent, sends web requests directly to Bland's REST API with an API key. Software you write yourself can use the same interface. The phone number API for AI agents page covers that route in detail.

Where does the number come from?#

The Agent Phone Plan sets up one local US number when you subscribe. Your agent can call and text US and Canadian numbers from it, and people can call it back.

It's $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner) and then $19.99 a month. The price includes calls and texts with no per-minute charge, up to our plan's caps. The AI phone number cost page covers the full pricing. 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.

When does an agent need a number of its own?#

It needs one if you want people to be able to call it back, or if you want it to send texts.

Can your agent set itself up?#

Your agent can start the signup, and you finish it. Bland's signup doesn't need an API key, so your agent can start one before it's connected to Bland. It shows you a signup link and a short code, then waits. The code ties the signup to your agent, and it expires after 15 minutes.

You open the link, sign up in your browser, choose the Agent Phone Plan or the free try, and approve. If you choose the plan, you add a card when you approve, and the plan starts right away. Your agent then receives its API key, and a number too if you subscribed.

After that first approval, the plan renews monthly on the card on file until you cancel. You can cancel in Billing and Plans in your Bland account. Canceling takes effect right away, and the number stays on your account.

Some agents carry a digital wallet that can pay for things once you approve. The wallet works with Link, a payment app, and an agent with one can sign up without sending you to a browser, but only for a new Bland account. You give your agent a one-time code that's sent to your phone by text. Then an agent whose wallet can make the payment pays in the same conversation after you approve the charge in the Link app. That payment covers the first month only; the owner needs a card on file for renewal.

Which route fits which agent?#

Each agent has its own guide, and our setup for agents page links all of them.

In ChatGPT, turn on developer mode in the settings for apps and connectors. Then add Bland as a custom connector, which is ChatGPT's name for an outside service you add yourself, and sign in with Bland. ChatGPT can then place outbound calls and read the results. Because ChatGPT connects by signing in, it can't buy the plan for you, so subscribe on Bland's website. ChatGPT calls any tool that changes something a write action, and placing a call is one, so some ChatGPT plans may not allow it. Check your ChatGPT plan can add a custom connector with write actions before you subscribe.

Grok Bot is an AI agent from SpaceXSI, the company behind the Grok chatbot. Confirm compatibility with your Grok Bot version before buying a plan. Phone with Bland is a ready-made template, but its underlying connection method and compatibility remain unconfirmed. The documented developer routes need a separate compatibility check; a test call alone does not establish template support.

Two more Grok Bot setups, for developers#

For a new Bland account, Grok Bot can set itself up and pays with a Link shared payment token after you approve in the Link app. In the second, you bring your own Bland API key. Both end with a custom MCP connection, so your version of Grok Bot has to accept a server URL and an Authorization header.

How every other agent connects, for developers#

Codex is OpenAI's coding assistant. Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf are code editors, and Gemini CLI is Google's command-line assistant. OpenClaw and Poke are personal agents. Norm is Bland's own AI assistant, and it has a plugin for Claude Desktop.

• Claude app: How it connects: A custom connector under Settings, then Connectors, pointing at Bland's MCP server; How it gets access: Sign in with Bland
• Claude Code: How it connects: One command that adds Bland's MCP server; How it gets access: Sign in with Bland, or an API key
• Claude Desktop: How it connects: The Norm plugin, which stores your key; How it gets access: The stored key, or sign in with Bland
• Codex: How it connects: An entry in ~/.codex/config.toml pointing at Bland's MCP server; How it gets access: An API key in the BLAND_API_KEY environment variable, since sign in isn't available for Codex yet
• Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and Gemini CLI: How it connects: Bland's MCP server, added in each tool; How it gets access: An API key
• Meta Muse: How it connects: Bland's REST API, since Muse doesn't use MCP; How it gets access: An API key
• OpenClaw: How it connects: Bland's MCP server under mcp.servers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json; How it gets access: An API key in the BLAND_API_KEY environment variable
• Poke: How it connects: Bland's MCP server added by URL at poke.com/integrations/new; How it gets access: An API key

When does building on a carrier make sense?#

A carrier is a phone company that sells lines and numbers to developers, and Twilio is one. Bland is an official Twilio partner, so we're happy to say when Twilio suits you better than the Agent Phone Plan: when you want to build your own voice system and control every part of it. With the plan, you don't need an account with a carrier at all.

What does a carrier like Twilio leave you to build?#

A carrier like Twilio sells you the line. The voice AI and the connection to your agent are yours to build or buy. The Agent Phone Plan suits you if you already have an agent and want it to have a phone.

What can't the plan do?#

The Agent Phone Plan is for one agent doing one thing at a time. Its caps are one call at a time across your account, 20 calls an hour, 50 calls a day, 20 texts an hour and 100 texts a day, to US and Canada numbers only. Incoming and outgoing calls share a daily allowance of 1,000 minutes, and each outbound call can last up to 60 minutes. While a call is running, a second outbound request is rejected and another inbound caller hears a busy message. Build is Bland's larger plan for more calls at once. If you need more calls at once, see Build on our pricing page.

To get started, find your agent's guide on the setup for agents page and place your first call.