WhatsApp

Use the WhatsApp Business API to create and send WhatsApp broadcasts from the platform.

Before you begin:

Obtain Meta approval for your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).
Create and obtain WhatsApp approval for any message templates you plan to use. Approval generally takes 24 hours.
Configure a WABA and at least one sender (a verified phone number) by using one of the setup options below.

The WhatsApp Business API supports automated messaging for central support, call-center, and other enterprise workflows. It does not provide a mobile interface or calling capabilities. You can send session messages and approved message templates; pricing and free messaging eligibility depend on WhatsApp reply patterns.

Review the WhatsApp Business Policy and WhatsApp Commerce Policy before sending messages.

📘
Setting Up WhatsApp
WhatsApp is a messaging broadcast that must be properly configured and enabled before it can be used.
To configure a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and assign phone numbers (senders), we offer two setup options: Partner-Initiated Request and Embedded Sign-Up.
The following table outlines the key differences between these two processes, including how each WABA is created and how phone numbers are managed:

Method Description Adding Phone Number Limitations
Partner-Initiated Process The WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) is created after the customer receives an invitation sent by the their Account Manager. The customer reviews and accepts the invitation, optionally adds a phone number (sender), and confirms. Once accepted, the WABA is created under the customer's Meta Business account and shared with the BSP.
Phone numbers can be added and verified directly within the platform using the WABA Phone Numbers feature, once the WABA is active.
Once your WABA is verified, you can add up to 25 phone numbers per WABA, subject to Meta’s policies and verification status..
Embedded Sign-Up This self-service method allows the customer to create or link their own WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) through the Embedded Sign-Up flow available in the platform. They must authenticate with Meta and complete the entire setup, including assigning a phone number and business profile information.
During the WhatsApp Embedded Sign-Up process, only one phone number can be registered as part of the initial onboarding flow.
Once your WABA is verified, you can add up to 25 phone numbers per WABA, subject to Meta’s policies and verification status..
.

Method	Description	Adding Phone Number Limitations
Partner-Initiated Process	The WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) is created after the customer receives an invitation sent by the their Account Manager. The customer reviews and accepts the invitation, optionally adds a phone number (sender), and confirms. Once accepted, the WABA is created under the customer's Meta Business account and shared with the BSP.	Phone numbers can be added and verified directly within the platform using the WABA Phone Numbers feature, once the WABA is active. Once your WABA is verified, you can add up to 25 phone numbers per WABA, subject to Meta’s policies and verification status..
Embedded Sign-Up	This self-service method allows the customer to create or link their own WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) through the Embedded Sign-Up flow available in the platform. They must authenticate with Meta and complete the entire setup, including assigning a phone number and business profile information.	During the WhatsApp Embedded Sign-Up process, only one phone number can be registered as part of the initial onboarding flow. Once your WABA is verified, you can add up to 25 phone numbers per WABA, subject to Meta’s policies and verification status.. .

See WhatsApp Status to understand outbound message status values and final delivery statuses.

Send a WhatsApp broadcast

Select New Broadcast/Automation, enter a New Broadcast/Automation Name, and select WhatsApp. Complete these steps in the broadcast creator:

Detail
Recipients
Message
Summary

Detail

Complete the Detail step.
In the Sender WhatsApp Business Account dropdown, choose from the list of available WhatsApp senders configured in your Workspace. Each sender is listed by its alias and associated phone number.

Once a sender is selected, a summary panel titled WhatsApp Sender Information will automatically appear below the dropdown. This panel displays real-time information about the selected sender, including:
- Status: Indicates the current connectivity state of the sender with the platform. A status of CONNECTED means the sender is actively linked and can send and receive messages.
- Quality Rating: Reflects the performance level of the sender, based on user engagement and message quality as determined by Meta. A High rating suggests good message delivery performance and user experience.
- Tier: Displays the messaging tier level assigned to the sender, which determines the maximum number of business-initiated conversations allowed per day. For example, a Tier value of 1,000 allows up to 1,000 customer-initiated conversations daily using approved message templates.
Confirm that the selected sender is active and meets Meta’s quality and messaging-volume requirements.\

🚧
IMPORTANT
If the following message is displayed:
“Meta access has been revoked for this number. Please restore the permissions or contact support.”
It means that the platform no longer has permission to access your WhatsApp Business Account in Meta.
In this scenario, the selected sender may still appear in the list, but its information (such as Status, Quality Rating, or Tier) may not load correctly or reflect real-time data.
As a result, the platform cannot validate the sender’s connectivity or allow message delivery.
This situation occurs when access to your WhatsApp account has been removed or modified in your Meta Business Manager.
To resolve this issue, please contact your Account Manager to restore access to your WhatsApp Business account.

📘
NOTE
The ability to proceed with a WhatsApp messaging automation is contingent upon the operational status of the selected sender. If the sender is assigned any of the following statuses — RESTRICTED, PENDING, DISCONNECTED, UNKNOWN, DELETED, or BANNED — it will be considered ineligible for automation execution.
Senders in these states are not authorized to dispatch WhatsApp messages or Message Templates, as they fail to meet the connectivity or compliance requirements established by Meta.
Consequently, the platform will prevent progression to subsequent configuration steps, such as selecting recipients or composing the message, until a sender with a valid status is selected.
For a detailed explanation of Tier levels, Quality Rating values, and Status definitions, please refer to the corresponding documentation section: WhatsApp Sender Quality Rating & Status.

Select Next.

Recipients

New WhatsApp accounts start at Tier 1. Each tier defines how many unique customers you can message in a rolling 24-hour period:

Tier 1: 1,000 customers
Tier 2: 10,000 customers
Tier 3: 100,000 customers
Tier 4: Unlimited customers

📘
NOTE
WhatsApp tiers (also known as messaging limits) apply per phone number (sender), not per WABA.
Although a WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) can have multiple senders (verified phone numbers), each sender has its own independent tier, determined by its reputation and activity level.

Select contacts within the limit for your sender’s current tier. For more information, see Meta’s rate-limit documentation.

Define recipients in one of these ways:

Choose the method that fits your broadcast and WhatsApp engagement requirements. See Define Contacts for detailed instructions.

Select a recipient source from the Contacts list dropdown.
Optional: Apply a filter.
Select Next.

Message

Choose one of these message types based on your conversation with the recipient:

Use a message template for business-initiated conversations.
Send without a message template during an eligible 24-hour customer service window.

Using a Message Template

Use a WhatsApp-approved message template when you initiate a conversation with a customer.

Approved templates appear at the top of the Message screen. Select a template, or use the scroll arrows to view additional approved templates.

📘
NOTE
Approved Carousel Message Templates can also be selected when creating a WhatsApp broadcast. A carousel template displays multiple horizontally scrollable cards, each containing its configured body, card media header, card text, and card buttons.
The carousel structure cannot be modified while configuring the broadcast. The number of cards, card content, button types, and button order are defined in the approved message template. Complete any required media or personalized fields before continuing.

The steps to send a message for this scenario are:

Select a message template. The WhatsApp Message field populates with the template content, and the device preview updates.
If the chosen WhatsApp Media Message Template includes a Header with a media file, upload the required media file based on the media type (image, video, or document) defined in the template. (Editable for multimedia header content only).

For Carousel Message Templates, upload the required media file for each card media header, based on the media type (image or video) defined in the template. (Editable for card multimedia header content only).
📘
NOTE
When preparing to test or send an approved WhatsApp message template with a header that includes a multimedia file, you must upload a media file (image, video, or document) as part of the process. Initially, when choose the message template at the top displays the original media file configured when the message template was created, allowing the user to review what was initially set.
For Media Message Templates, Meta requires you to re-upload the media file. This upload can be either the original file or a different file, depending on the user’s preference. This ensures that the correct media file accompanies each message sent, whether it’s a test message or a live message.
For Carousel Message Templates, which support sending only, Meta requires you to re-upload the media file for each card media header. The required media type (image or video) depends on how the carousel message template was configured. Repeat this process for each card media header, using the media type (image or video) defined in the template.
It is recommended that users read these policies to ensure that all content used in WhatsApp message templates adheres to platform guidelines. Understanding these rules can help avoid rejections and ensure that images, videos, and other media align with WhatsApp’s standards for acceptable, respectful, and compliant content. Understanding these rules can help avoid rejections and ensure that images, videos, and other media align with WhatsApp’s standards for acceptable, respectful, and compliant content.
The Header supports the following multimedia file types and size limits:

File type Supported formats Maximum file size
Image .jpeg, .jpg, .png 5 MB
Video .mp4 16 MB
Document .pdf 100 MB
Audio .aac, .amr, .mp3, .ogg, .m4a 16 MB
NOTES:
- Images must be 8-bit, RGB or RGBA
- Video files must use the H.264 video codec.
- Audio tracks in video files must use the AAC codec.

File type	Supported formats	Maximum file size
Image	`.jpeg`, `.jpg`, `.png`	5 MB
Video	`.mp4`	16 MB
Document	`.pdf`	100 MB
Audio	`.aac`, `.amr`, `.mp3`, `.ogg`, `.m4a`	16 MB

Ensure that every contact includes a value for each field used in the selected message template. For example, the dev_ae_testing_09_03_2 template requires values for [[mobile]], [[placholdermanual]], and [[testname]].

Select Next.

🚧
ON SENDING MESSAGES
Messages are sent only if all the information associated with the personalized fields in the message template are present, otherwise the message will not be sent.

Without a Message Template

Disable Use Message Template only when the customer has contacted your business within the preceding 24 hours. You can then send a session message without a template.

🚧
ON ACCEPTABLE MESSAGES (24-hour window)
WhatsApp's statement on acceptable messages:
“If a person initiates a chat with you, you may continue that conversation via WhatsApp for up to 24 hours after the last message sent to you by that person without charge ("24-hour Window")."
Messages outside the 24-hour window, will not be sent and will result in a FAILED state. We encourage you to review WhatsApp's policy here.

You can send either of these message types:

Text
Multimedia

Text

Create a text message of up to 4,096 characters. You can use platform fields for personalization, add emojis, and include tracked URLs.

Multimedia

Create a multimedia message with text of up to 4,096 characters, personalized platform fields, emojis, attachments, and tracked URLs.

To create a multimedia message:

Enter text in the WhatsApp Message field. You can include emojis.
Optional: Add one or more tracked URLs.
Optional: Add attachments in Add multimedia files.

The details below specify the types of multimedia files that support the platform, along with their maximum file sizes and supported formats:

File type Supported formats Maximum file size
Image .jpeg, .jpg, .png 5 MB
Video .mp4 16 MB
Document .pdf 100 MB
Audio .aac, .amr, .mp3, .ogg, .m4a 16 MB

NOTES:
- Images must be 8-bit, RGB or RGBA
- Video files must use the H.264 video codec.
- Audio tracks in video files must use the AAC codec.
📘
NOTE
It is recommended that users read these policies to ensure that all content used in WhatsApp message templates adheres to platform guidelines. Understanding these rules can help avoid rejections and ensure that images, videos, and other media align with WhatsApp’s standards for acceptable, respectful, and compliant content.
Select Next after you finish composing the message.

File type	Supported formats	Maximum file size
Image	`.jpeg`, `.jpg`, `.png`	5 MB
Video	`.mp4`	16 MB
Document	`.pdf`	100 MB
Audio	`.aac`, `.amr`, `.mp3`, `.ogg`, `.m4a`	16 MB

Summary

In the final Summary step, you can:

Review the broadcast details.
View the configured link-tracking settings.
Set the message-delivery throttle configuration.
Define the delivery schedule, including the date and time.

After you define the delivery schedule, select Submit for approval. This action does not send the broadcast immediately; it changes the broadcast status to For Approval.

An Administrator must approve the broadcast before the platform sends it at the scheduled time. See Broadcast Approval to learn how to review, approve, decline, or reschedule broadcasts.

View message data and analytics in WhatsApp Reports.