Messaging
This documentation describes how to send messages using the WhatsApp Business API.
Message API calls are sent to the
/messages endpoint regardless of message type, but the content of the JSON message body differs for each type of message. See the official WhatsApp documentation for information regarding the parameters of each type of message you want to send to assemble your request payload.On-Premise API | Cloud API |
|---|---|
Specify
text in the type field. A text message can be a maximum of 4096 characters long.post
https://waba-v2.360dialog.io
/messages
Send Text Message
post
https://waba.360dialog.io
/v1/messages
Send Text Message
For non template messages, sending a message to a phone number without a WhatsApp account will result in a webhook notification related to the messaging attempt containing a 470 error code.
WhatsApp allows some formatting in messages. To format all or part of a message, use these formatting symbols:
Formatting | Symbol | Example |
|---|---|---|
Bold | Asterisk (*) | Your total is *$10.50*. |
Italics | Underscore (_) | Welcome to _WhatsApp_! |
Strike-through | Tilde (~) | This is ~better~ best! |
Code | Three backticks (```) | ```print 'Hello World';``` |
By default, the mobile WhatsApp application recognizes URLs and makes them clickable. To include a URL preview, include
"preview_url": true and make sure the URL begins with http:// or https://. A hostname is required, IP addresses are not matched.To use
preview-url with the 360dialog On-Premise hosting, it must be sent as a top-level object:Example:
{
"preview_url": true,
"to": "whatsapp-id",
"text": {
"body": "You have to check out this amazing messaging service https://www.whatsapp.com/"
}
When sending preview-url with Cloud API hosting, the
preview-url should be inside the text object. Example:
"text": {// the text object
"preview_url": true,
"body": You have to check out this amazing messaging service https://www.whatsapp.com/"
}
The majority of the time when you send a URL, whether with a preview or not, the receiver of the message will see a URL that they can click on.
URL previews are only rendered after one of the following has happened:
- 1.The business has sent a message template to the user.
- 2.The user initiates a conversation with a "click to chat" link.
- 3.The user adds the business phone number to their address book and initiates a conversation.
If the end user did not initiate the conversation with you - you must use a Template message instead for a free-form message.
Please refer to our documentation on Message Templates, which includes the steps required to get your Templates approved, and the process for creating and deleting them.
We strongly advise uploading media intended to use in template messages and the usage of media ID instead of a URL.
- Each WhatsApp Business Account can have up to 250 message templates (how many is determined by your plan). That means 250 message template names, and each of them can have multiple language translations. For example, a message template called hello_world translated into two languages counts as a single message template in regards to this limit.
- The message template name field is limited to 512 characters.
- The message template content field is limited to 1024 characters.
- There is no limit to the number of parameters allowed in a Message Template.
360dialog stores media files for 14 days after upload. Media files older than 14 days may be deleted by 360dialog without prior notice.
There are two options to send messages in bulk.
- 1.Use an Integration Partner Bulk messaging, sometimes known as group messaging, is deprecated in the native WhatsApp API. But the same functionality is available in many of our Integration Partner Applications. Although Meta has deprecated group management features on WhatsApp with an API, the same functionality has been implemented by our Partners.
- 2.Develop your own solution Code your own solution to send Template messages to a list of contacts.
For a complete overview of API error codes and status messages, please see Official WhatsApp documentation.
- 400: Bad Request Check that you are using the correct data type for Booleans and Strings, and that the JSON-payload is well-formed. Use an online tool (ex. JSON formatter and validator) to validate the payload if you are not sure.
- 402: Message failed to send because there were one or more errors related to your payment This happens when a WhatsApp Business Account is created but no Payment Method is set. If you get this error message - contact our support team.
- 408: Timeout Message failed to send because it was pending for too long. If this happens, we recommend that you implement graceful timeout handling and retry.
- 470: Message failed to send because more than 24 hours have passed since the customer last replied to this number (no open session) Free-form text messages and media messages will result in a failure callback with error 470 when sent outside of the 24h-window. In other words, if it has been more than 24 hours since you last received a user initiated message - the session is closed and you can no longer use free-form messages. To re-initiate a conversation, you must use a Template Message.
- 1000: Failed to generate processed file path This could occur when the file storage is full and files cannot be stored. If you get this error message - contact our support team.
- 1000: Image file format (audio/mpeg) is not supported Make sure that the message type matches the MIME-type of the file (ex. audio files should be sent using "audio", not "image";
audio/mpegis an unsupported combination). Another reason could be that the video file doesn't have an audio track: then the error message contains something likevideo/mp4/h264/NONEwhere NONE is an indicator that the audio track is missing. - 1009: Invalid latitude The valid range is from -90 to 90.
- 1014: Request for .... failed You have provided a URL that seems to be double URL-encoded and the file cannot be delivered because of that, or the file behind the URL doesn't exist.
- 2001: Template name does not exist in the translation Check that you are calling the correct language short code. Example:"language": {"policy": "deterministic","code": "en"}
- 500: structure unavailable: Client could not display the highly structured message (hsm) The Template was not understood by the WhatsApp consumer client. Check the format.
The receive 'double check' on messages sent by the customer appears when the callback with the received status reaches the 360dialog Webhook.
The receive 'double check' on messages sent by the business appears when the customer’s WhatsApp app receives the message.
The read double check on messages sent by the customer appears when the message is marked as read by the business.
The read double check on messages sent by the business appears when the customer’s WhatsApp app is open in the message.
To mark a message as read, follow the instructions below:
The
message_id used in this API call is the id provided in the Webhook Inbound Notification.PUT /v1/messages/message-id
{
"status": "read"
}
ParametersName | Description |
|---|---|
status | Required. Updating status to read is applicable only for incoming messages. |
A successful response returns:
null # or {}
The
message_id used in this API call is the id provided in the Webhook Inbound Notification.POST /messages
{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"status": "read",
"message_id": "MESSAGE_ID"
}'
ParametersName | Description |
|---|---|
messaging_product | Required.
Use whatsapp |
message_id | Required. |
status | Required. Updating status to read is applicable only for incoming messages. |
A successful response returns:
null # or { "success" : true }
Last modified 2mo ago