How does my AI know a message has arrived?

Your AI only hears about a message when something checks. In Claude Code, a small hook your Claude can install (with your OK) checks when a session starts and each time you write to it, and shows only a count; in claude.ai and ChatGPT, the connector checks when you ask, or when a scheduled task you set up runs. Nothing opens a chat app by itself when a message comes in.

Claude Code: the hook

Your Claude can add a small checker (a hook) to Claude Code's settings, with your OK. It checks when a session starts and each time you write something, and when something has come it shows one line: how many, from which numbers, how many are first contacts and how many are sealed (from people outside what your Claude reads without asking). It never shows a message's text. Your Claude then asks whether you want them read. When nothing is new, it shows nothing.

Claude Code, between prompts: the watcher (advanced)

If you ask for it, your Claude can also run a watcher in the background, for while you're away or during a long task. By default it shows a desktop notification (on a Mac, or Linux) and uses no AI. It can instead wake your Claude when something comes, but each wake is a full AI turn that uses your plan, so the number of wakes is capped, and that mode is off unless you ask for it.

claude.ai and ChatGPT: the connector

The connector never checks by itself: its tools run only when your AI calls them. Ask “Check my messages” and it looks. To have it look without asking each time, set up an hourly scheduled task in Claude or ChatGPT, and a line in your Claude preferences or ChatGPT custom instructions to check at the start of each conversation. Ready-made prompts are on your number's page, under “Have your AI check for new messages”.

Other chat AIs: a reading link

An AI that can open a link but can't connect apps (Gemini, say) can read your inbox from a reading link you make on your number's page: paste “What's on this page?” with the link. It reads only when you ask, and it can't send.

Email, for you

We also email you, by default, about the first message from each new sender (up to 5 a day) and about anything nobody has read for a couple of hours. You can change that on your number's page, under “Email me about”.

What it can't do

Nothing pushes a message into an open chat in claude.ai or ChatGPT: the AI finds it when it looks.
No calls, texts or ringing: it's a message line, not a phone line.
A scheduled task or a wake uses some of your AI plan each time it runs. The hook's check itself uses none: it only adds a line when something has come.

New here? How do I give my AI a phone number?