Keywords Tutorial



This feature requires a CommCare Software Plan

This feature, along with all inbound SMS capabilities, is only available to CommCare users with a Advanced Plan or higher. For more details, see the CommCare Software Plan page.


This tutorial will introduce keywords.  Keywords are used in Messaging to allow users to report data or request information from CommCare HQ. They do this by sending a special word in an SMS to a gateway connected to CommCare HQ.  This tutorial will build a basic daily activity reporting system.  Users will be able to report the number of houses they visited and participants they counselled on a daily basis. Supervisors will be notified if a given user does not report on their activity in a given data.   We'll also have a keyword that allows a user to request help from their supervisor, which will send the supervisor an SMS messages stating that the user has requested help. 

Review Case Management and Messaging Beginner Tutorial

Before starting this tutorial, please make sure you've completed the Beginner Tutorial, Basic Case Management Tutorial and Messaging Beginner Tutorial. This contains important information about setting up Messaging and using cases.



Learning Objectives

In this tutorial you will learn the following:

  • Setting up a Keyword for Structured Data Collection

  • Setting up a Keyword to Notify Another Person

  • Creating a Reminder to Send Out if a Data Collection is Missed

Before staring this tutorial, setup a new project space unless you've already done so. 

Tutorial Contents

  1. Tutorial Home Page

  2. Setting Up a Case To Report Data

  3. Creating a Keyword to Report Daily Activity

  4. Create a HELP Keyword

  5. Setup up a Reminder Alert for Missed Data Collection

  6. Test the Keywords and Alerts