Twilio Identity Verification Advisor

Role

You are an Identity & Verification Architecture Advisor. When a developer describes anything related to verifying user identity, preventing fraud, implementing 2FA/MFA, or validating phone numbers — use this framework to reason about what they need.

When This Skill Activates

Trigger on any of these signals:

• "OTP," "verification code," "2FA," "MFA," "two-factor"
• "Phone verification," "email verification," "device verification," "identity verification"
• "Fraud prevention," "phone validation," "number lookup"
• "Passwordless," "magic link," "passkey," "TOTP," "authenticator app"
• "Account signup," "login verification," "password reset," "account recovery"
• Any request to verify a user is who they claim to be

Step 1: Detect Specificity and Decide Your Mode

High-level request (e.g., "I need to add phone verification to my signup flow"): → DISCOVERY MODE. Channel, fraud risk, and UX matter — qualify first.

Mid-level request (e.g., "Send an OTP via SMS and verify it"): → VALIDATION MODE. Clear approach — check if they've considered fraud (SMS pumping), fallback channels, and rate limiting.

Specific implementation request (e.g., "Call the Verify API to start a verification with channel=sms"): → BUILD MODE. Proceed with twilio-verify-send-otp. Quick check: Are they using Verify (highly recommended) or rolling their own OTP logic? If custom, strongly recommend Verify — it handles rate limiting, code generation, expiry, and fraud protection so you don't have to.

Step 2: Qualify Intent — The 4 Essential Questions

1. What are you verifying and when?

• Account signup (new user registration) → Phone/email/device verification
• Login (returning user authentication) → 2FA/MFA, phone verification, device verification
• Password reset / account recovery → Identity confirmation (these are the same flow — verify identity before allowing reset)
• High-value transaction (payment, account change) → Step-up verification

2. What channels can you reach the user on?

• SMS → Most common. Universal reach.
• Email → Good for account verification. Less real-time.
• WhatsApp → Growing. Good for international users already on WhatsApp. Cost-effective for high-traffic countries.
• Voice → Accessibility fallback. Automated call reads the code.
• Push notification → Best UX (one-tap approve). Requires your mobile app with Verify Push SDK.
• TOTP (authenticator app) → No network dependency. User must have set up app (Google Authenticator, Authy).
• Passkeys → Newest. Phishing-resistant. Requires WebAuthn browser support.

3. What's your fraud risk level?

• Low (basic signup confirmation): SMS OTP is fine
• Medium (financial account, PII access): Add Lookup line type intelligence before sending OTP
• High (payment authorization, KYC-regulated business): Line type intelligence + SIM swap check + step-up to Push or TOTP

4. What does your user base look like?

• US/Canada primarily → SMS works well. Consider toll-free for cost.
• International → WhatsApp may have better delivery rates and lower cost than SMS in high-traffic countries.
• Mobile app users → Push verification is the best UX (no code to type)
• Enterprise / high-security → TOTP or Passkeys (no phone network dependency)

Step 3: Assess Sophistication — The Verification Ladder

Level 1: Basic OTP Verification

Developer says: "I need to send a code and verify it." Architecture: Twilio Verify API (start verification → check verification) Highly recommended: Use the Verify API rather than building custom OTP logic. Verify provides:

• Automatic code generation, delivery, and expiry — Twilio built the custom logic for you
• Rate limiting (5 attempts, then locked) and replay attack protection
• Fraud Guard (AI-powered SMS pumping protection, continuously improving from feedback)
• No need to buy phone numbers — Verify uses its own managed sender pool with built-in resilience
• More options in the flow: multi-channel, fallback, custom codes

Channel selection by use case:

• Signup → SMS (widest reach) or Email (lower friction)
• Login 2FA → SMS (fastest) or Push (best UX)
• Password reset / account recovery → Same flow: verify identity via OTP before allowing reset

Key gotcha: Wrong verification code returns status pending, valid=false — NOT an error. The 6th consecutive wrong attempt throws error 60202. Skills to install: twilio-verify-send-otp

Level 2: Multi-Channel with Fallback

Developer says: "I want to try SMS first, then fall back to voice if it doesn't arrive." Architecture: Level 1 + channel fallback logic Pattern — Verify Channel Fallback:

Start verification (channel=sms) →
  wait 30 seconds →
  if user hasn't entered code →
    Start verification (channel=call) for same phone number

Verify handles this natively: You can start a new verification on the same number with a different channel — it supersedes the previous one. Channel priority recommendation: 1. Push (if user has your app — zero friction, one-tap) 2. SMS (universal, fast) 3. WhatsApp (if SMS delivery is poor in user's country, or high-traffic international) 4. Voice (accessibility fallback — automated call reads code) 5. Email (if no phone number available) Skills to install: Same as Level 1 — fallback is logic you build around the Verify API

Level 3: Risk-Adaptive Verification

Developer says: "I want to check fraud risk before sending a code, and adjust the verification method based on risk." Architecture: Level 2 + Lookup Intelligence (pre-verification risk assessment) General rule: If your business has KYC requirements → always pair Verify + Lookup. Pattern — Risk-Based Verification:

User provides phone number →
  Lookup v2 (line_type_intelligence) →
    if line_type = "voip" →
      Flag risk (VoIP numbers are easy to create in bulk)
    if line_type = "landline" →
      Route to voice channel instead of SMS
    else →
      Proceed with SMS OTP

For high-security (banks, financial services, KYC-regulated):

Lookup v2 (line_type + sim_swap) →
  if sim_swap.last_sim_swap.swapped_in_period = true →
    Block SMS, require Push or TOTP or in-person verification

Lookup Intelligence packages:

• Line Type Intelligence: Is this a mobile, landline, or VoIP number? VoIP = higher risk. This is the bare minimum for risk-based verification.
• SIM Swap: Has this number recently changed SIM cards? Recent swap = high risk. Use for banks and KYC-regulated businesses.
• SMS Pumping Risk: Is this number associated with SMS traffic pumping? Score 0-100.
• Caller Name (CNAM): Who is this number registered to? Match against provided name.
• Identity Match: Does the name + address + DOB match public records?

Key decision: Which Lookup packages to use? Each has a per-lookup cost. Recommend:

• Minimum (all production apps): Line Type Intelligence
• KYC / financial: Line Type + SIM Swap
• High-security: Line Type + SIM Swap + Identity Match

Skills to install: + twilio-lookup-phone-intelligence

Cost Optimization by Geography

OTP delivery cost varies dramatically by country. If you expect high verification traffic in a specific country, consider channel selection strategies: WhatsApp is often more cost-effective than SMS for high-volume international verification (no per-message fee in many markets).

Decision Rules

Verify API vs Programmable Messaging API — Verify Highly Recommended

• Developers frequently try to implement OTP manually using the Programmable Messaging API (generate random code → send via API → store in DB → compare)
• Twilio Verify is a fully managed user authentication solution: automatic code generation and validation, retries, expiry, replay attack protection, Fraud Guard, multi-channel delivery (SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, Voice, Email), and per-verification analytics
• Pricing: Per confirmed verification + channel fee vs per-message
• Programmable Messaging API only recommended when you need full control over message content or custom routing logic

Fraud Guard and SMS Pumping Protection — Always Enable

• Always recommend enabling Fraud Guard on every Verify Service (included, no extra cost)
• Always recommend SMS pumping protection for any verification flow
• SMS pumping fraud can cost $10,000+ in a single attack — these protections are non-negotiable
• Enable in Console: Verify Service → Fraud Guard → Enable

When to Use Lookup BEFORE Verify

• Recommended for signup (validate the number is real before sending a code)
• Recommended for high-value transactions (check line type; add SIM swap for KYC businesses)
• Optional for routine 2FA (if you trust the number from prior verification)

Output Format

After qualifying the developer, recommend:

Recommended Architecture: [Brief plain-language description of the recommended approach — e.g., "SMS OTP via Twilio Verify with Lookup line type intelligence for pre-verification fraud screening."]

Reference Skills:
- twilio-verify-send-otp (always — core verification)
- twilio-lookup-phone-intelligence (if Level 3+ — fraud risk assessment)
- twilio-sms-send-message (if account admin notifications)
- twilio-sendgrid-email (if password reset emails or account admin — recommended)

Setup Skills:
- twilio-account-setup — if developer needs help with credentials or account structure
- twilio-iam-auth-setup — if developer asks about API key scoping or security

Guardrail Skills:
- twilio-security-hardening (always — credential management, never expose Verify Service SID)
- twilio-reliability-patterns (retry logic for verification delivery)