# Text Indeed Applicants Automatically, No ATS Required

November 4, 2026. Automatically text Indeed applicants without an ATS.

Canonical: https://textwork.co/changelog/indeed

TextWork can now start a text conversation from an Indeed application email, so you can screen applicants by SMS without an applicant tracking system (ATS). Indeed sends this email when someone applies to a job you posted there.

## How to set it up

- Forward your Indeed application emails to the address on the Indeed card in TextWork.
- Add a screener question to your Indeed job that asks for the applicant's phone number, so it appears in the email.
- Choose the screening script TextWork should use to start the conversation.

## What happens next

- If the email includes a phone number, TextWork starts the script you picked.
- If there's no phone number, TextWork saves the application and doesn't text the applicant.
- If the applicant is already in a conversation, TextWork adds the new application to that thread.
- A resume attached to the email is saved with the application.

## Jobs posted from an ATS

- If SmartRecruiters or Zoho Recruit posts your jobs to Indeed, Indeed applicants reach TextWork through that system, with Indeed saved as the source.

## No Indeed API key

- Indeed's API delivers applicants only to the approved ATS that posted the job, and only that system can hold the key. TextWork works from the email Indeed already sends you, so there is nothing to request from Indeed.
- TextWork is not an Indeed ATS partner and does not post jobs. You keep posting on Indeed the way you do now.

## Why text Indeed applicants

- At one Ohio commercial cleaning company, Indeed was the source on 266 of 348 applications in October 2026.
- Of 2,185 hourly applicants texted minutes after applying, 82% replied, and the median reply came in 42 seconds.

How to use it: [Indeed](https://textwork.co/docs/indeed) (Markdown: https://textwork.co/docs/indeed.md)

## Related

- [266 of 348 applications came from Indeed. The API does not export them](https://textwork.co/blog/indeed-applicant-data) (Markdown: https://textwork.co/blog/indeed-applicant-data.md)
- [Applicant response rate to text messages](https://textwork.co/blog/hiring-follow-up-statistics) (Markdown: https://textwork.co/blog/hiring-follow-up-statistics.md)