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# Assistants quickstart

## Overview

Create a voice assistant with a simple prompt, attach a phone number, and make your first call. You’ll also learn how to add tools to take real actions.

**In this quickstart, you’ll:**

* Create an assistant (Dashboard or SDK)
* Attach a phone number
* Make inbound and outbound calls

## Prerequisites

* A Vapi account and API key

## 1) Create an assistant

Go to the [Vapi Dashboard](https://dashboard.vapi.ai) → Assistants → Create Assistant.

```txt title="System Prompt" maxLines=8
You are a friendly phone support assistant. Greet the caller and offer help. Keep responses under 30 words. If a transfer is requested, confirm reason first.
```

Click Publish and then “Talk to Assistant” to validate behavior.

```typescript
import { VapiClient } from "@vapi-ai/server-sdk";

const vapi = new VapiClient({ token: process.env.VAPI_API_KEY! });

const assistant = await vapi.assistants.create({
  name: "Support Assistant",
  firstMessage: "Hello! How can I help you today?",
  model: {
    provider: "openai",
    model: "gpt-4o",
    messages: [
      { role: "system", content: "You are a friendly phone support assistant. Keep responses under 30 words." }
    ]
  }
});
```

## 2) Add a phone number

In the Dashboard, go to Phone Numbers → Create Phone Number → assign your assistant.

```typescript
const number = await vapi.phoneNumbers.create({
  name: "Support Line",
  assistantId: assistant.id
});
```

## 3) Make your first calls

Call the phone number you created. Your assistant will answer with the first message.

```typescript
await vapi.calls.create({
  assistantId: assistant.id,
  customer: { number: "+1234567890" }
});
```

## Next steps

* **Add tools**: [Custom tools](/tools/custom-tools)
* **Tune speech**: [Speech configuration](/customization/speech-configuration)
* **Structure data**: [Structured outputs](/assistants/structured-outputs)
* **Move to multi-assistant**: [Squads](/squads)