Documentation

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What is USSD?

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) applications are the most accessible forms of applications that require no internet and comes at no cost to users. So whether you have a smartphone or a yam (dumb phone), you can still access these kind of applications. Requires no installation process, just dial a short code.

To serve an app using a short code (USSD),

  1. You need to acquire a code from a USSD seller. In Ghana, there are options like (in no particular order) Nalo, Arkesel, AfricasTalking, etc.

  2. These platforms then require you to submit an endpoint where USSD requests will be sent. For example, you provide an endpoint like https://myussdapp.com/handle-session and these platforms will keep hitting this endpoint with requests that describe a session like:

{
  "msisdn": "233247812093",
  "network": "mtn",
  "userInput": "2"
}
  1. You then have to respond to this request in a specified format required by the provider. The provider processes this reponse and renders the result to the user.

That’s how simple the process is.

However, building these applications require different kind of programming paradigms depending on the USSD code seller — and the developer experience is not intuitive.

This is why USSDK exists.

What is USSDK?

USSDK is an online/hosted IDE for building USSD applications without worrying about the USSD platform. It provides an intuitive drag/drop interface for composing your USSD applications.