Pinecall

Dev Mode

Run dev and production agents on the same phone number, with zero extra Twilio cost.

Pinecall's dev mode solves both. One phone number, many agents in parallel, routed by the caller's phone number. Production handles all calls except yours; your calls go to your dev agent.

How it works#

Every agent has an ID — florencia, mara, support. In dev mode, you give your agent a unique slug — dev-berna-florencia, dev-juan-florencia — and tell Pinecall which phone numbers should route to that slug.

           Incoming call to +13186330963
                      │
             ┌────────┴────────┐
             │                 │
        Caller in          Caller NOT in
        DEV_CALLERS        DEV_CALLERS
             │                 │
   ┌─────────┴─────────┐  ┌───┴─────────┐
   │  dev-berna-       │  │             │
   │  florencia        │  │  florencia  │
   │  (your dev agent) │  │  (prod)     │
   └───────────────────┘  └─────────────┘

Zero extra cost. One number serves prod and every dev simultaneously.

Setup#

1. Make the agent ID environment-aware#

import { Pinecall } from "@pinecall/sdk";
import { userInfo } from "os";

const isDev = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development";
const agentId = isDev ? `dev-${userInfo().username}-florencia` : "florencia";

const pc = new Pinecall({ apiKey: process.env.PINECALL_API_KEY! });
await pc.connect();

const agent = pc.deploy(agentId, {
  prompt: "...",
  model: "gpt-4.1-mini",
  voice: "elevenlabs:abc",
  channels: ["+13186330963"], // shared with prod!
});

os.userInfo().username gives you berna on Berna's machine, juan on Juan's, etc. Each dev automatically gets a unique slug.

2. Tell Pinecall which callers to route to dev#

if (isDev) {
  const callers = process.env.DEV_CALLERS;
  if (callers) {
    agent.routeCallers(callers.split(",").map((s) => s.trim()));
  }
}

3. Each dev gets their own .env.local#

# .env.local — gitignored, each dev sets their own
DEV_CALLERS=+34607827824

Now when Berna calls +13186330963 from her phone (+34607827824), the call routes to dev-berna-florencia. When anyone else calls, it goes to florencia (prod).

Multiple devs at once#

DeveloperAgent IDPhone routing
Bernadev-berna-florenciaCalls from +34607... → Berna's agent
Juandev-juan-florenciaCalls from +34612... → Juan's agent
ProductionflorenciaAll other callers
+13186330963 (shared Twilio number)
    │
    ├── Call from +34607... → dev-berna-florencia
    ├── Call from +34612... → dev-juan-florencia
    └── Call from anyone else → florencia (production)

WhatsApp dev routing#

WhatsApp uses the same sender-based routing. routeCallers() configures both phone and WhatsApp routing in one call:

if (isDev) {
  agent.routeCallers(["+34607827824"]); // routes BOTH phone calls AND WhatsApp messages
}

When Berna sends a WhatsApp message from +34607827824, it lands on dev-berna-florencia. When anyone else sends a message, it lands on prod.

WebRTC & chat dev routing#

WebRTC and chat don't use caller-based routing — there's no "caller number" in a browser. Instead they use slug-based isolation: each browser requests a token for a specific agent ID.

// Dev mode → agent registers as "dev-berna-florencia"
// The browser requests a token for "dev-berna-florencia" specifically
const token = await createToken({
  channel: "webrtc",
  agentId: "dev-berna-florencia",
  apiKey: process.env.PINECALL_API_KEY!,
});

Each dev gets their own slug, their own tokens, their own sessions. Nothing crosses over.

Why this is better than per-dev phone numbers#

Per-dev numbersPinecall dev mode
Cost$1/month/dev + minutes$0 extra
Setup per devBuy number, configure routing, share credsSet DEV_CALLERS=+...
RealismDifferent number = different call origin behaviorSame number, real routing
Cleanup when dev leavesCancel number, update routingDelete from .env.local
Prod isolationManual — easy to leakAutomatic — only your number reaches your agent

What's next#