This tutorial guides developers through building an SMS phone verification system using Node.js, Express, and Socket.io. The system uses Twilio's REST API to send SMS messages and verifies users' phone numbers by generating a unique code that must be entered by the user. The application consists of two main parts: the client-side view written in Jade, which includes a registration form and verification process, and the server-side app.js file, which handles socket.io connections, interacts with Twilio's API, and stores data in a database using nstore. When a user registers or verifies their phone number, the system checks for existing records and generates a unique code to be sent via SMS. The application can be run locally by setting environment variables and running the node app command.