Contacts and Location Messages

Use the message node to send contacts or location messages.

You can only send a contact or location message up until 24 hours after receiving a message from the user. If you have not received a message from the user within this time, you will need to start a new conversation by sending a Template message.

If the WABA is registered in On-premise API

See how to send Contacts and Location Messages in the specific Meta documentation.

Check contacts

Before sending a message to a number, you can check contact availability alongside preloading contact information before sending a message to the number. We recommend the preloading of contact information before sending messages in large volumes, for improved performance. You can find more information about this process in the official WhatsApp documentation.

Starting in v2.39 and above, you do not have to call the contacts node before sending a message sending a message.

Starting in v2.43, there will be changes to the behavior of the contacts endpoint.

Responses for status will change.

Regardless of whether a user has WhatsApp, it will always return valid for status in the response and a wa_id. There is no guarantee that the returned wa_id will be valid. These changes are applicable for both direct responses, as well as webhook responses for non-blocking calls Ensure your code avoids relying on status and wa_id returned in the contacts node.

Check Contacts Endpoint

POST https://waba.360dialog.io/v1/contacts

Send an API call to /v1/contacts containing an array of registered phone numbers. The phone numbers can be in any standard telephone number format.

Request Body

Name	Type	Description
blocking	string	no_wait (default), wait
contacts	array	[phone]
force_check	boolean	false (default), true

200

{
  "contacts": [ {
    "input": "[phone]",
    "wa_id": "55123456789", 
    "status": "valid" <- we can send messages to valid contacts only
  }]
}

Example Request

{
  "blocking": "wait",
  "contacts": [
   "[phone]"
  ],
  "force_check": true
}

Example Response

{
    "contacts": [
        {
            "input": "[phone]",
            "status": "valid",
            "wa_id": "55123456789"
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "api_status": "stable",
        "version": "2.35.4"
    }
}

The response will contain a wa_id. You may use this or another valid wa_id when sending messages using the below request(s).

How to block contacts

To block a contact, you must have received a message from them within the last 24 hours.

Submit an API call to /v1/contacts/{phone_number}/block with a reason for blocking another business account.

POST / v1 / contacts /+ 16315551000 / block
 { "reason" : "Optional string(0;60). Freeform block reason. Will be used when another business account is being blocked" }

When successful, the response will have HTTP status 200and will come without the "errors" object. The failed response looks like this:

{ "errors" : [ { "code" : 2048 , "title" : "Not engaged contact" , "details" : "Invalid Request. This contact has not engaged with you in the last 24 hrs." } ] }   

blocking parameters

The following parameters are supported by POST calls to /v1/contacts/{phone_number}/block:

Settings	Description
reason	Optional. Blocking reason in free text format. It will be used during the process of blocking another business account. Must be less than 60 characters.
phone_number	Mandatory. Numbers can be in any phone number format. The recommended format for contact phone numbers includes a plus sign (+) and country code.

How to unblock contacts

To unblock a contact, send an API call to/v1/contacts/{phone_number}/unblock

POST / v1 / contacts /+ 16315551000 / unblock

When successful, the response will have HTTP status 200and will come without the "errors" object.

The failed response looks like this:

{ "errors" : [ { "code" : 1009 , "title" : "Parameter value is not valid" , "details" : "Provided WhatsApp ID is not valid. Please provide a valid WhatsApp ID or a phone number with a country code" } ] }   
     

unblock parameters

The following parameters are supported by POST calls to /v1/contacts/{phone_number}/unblock:

Settings	Description
phone_number	Mandatory. Numbers can be in any phone number format. The recommended format for contact phone numbers includes a plus sign (+) and country code.

How to get a Block List

Here's how to get a list of your blocked contacts.

Send an API call to /v1/contacts/blocklist to receive a paginated list of your blocked contacts.

GET / v1 / contacts / blocklist ? limit = 10 & offset = 0

You will receive a response with a page from your block list and paging information.

{ "contacts" : [ { "wa_id" : "[email protected]" } ], "pagination" : { "limit" : 10 , "offset" : 0 , "total" : 1 } }
    

block list parameters

The following parameters are supported for GET calls to /v1/contacts/blocklist:

Settings	Description
limit	Optional. Accepted range is (0;200]. Default: 100.
offset	Optional. Default: 0.

How to Report a Contact

To report a contact, you must have received a message from them within the last 24 hours.

Send an API call to /v1/contacts/{phone_number}/report including a reason if you are blocking another business account.

POST / v1 / contacts /+ 16315551000 / block
 { "reason" : "Optional string(0;60). Freeform block reason. Will be used when another business account is being blocked" , "block" : "true | false optional boolean with default of false" , "message_id" : "message-id. Optional reported message id" }
 

When successful, the response will have HTTP status 200and will come without the "errors" object.

The failed response looks like this:

{ "errors" : [ { "code" : 2048 , "title" : "Not engaged contact" , "details" : "Invalid Request. This contact has not engaged with you in the last 24 hrs." } ] }  

reporting parameters

The following parameters are supported by POST calls to /v1/contacts/{phone_number}/report:

Settings	Description
reason	Optional. Blocking reason in free text format. It will be used during the process of blocking another business account. Must be less than 60 characters.
block	Optional. The default is False. If you just want to report or also block the contact.
message_id	Optional. The ID of the message to be reported. If not specified, the last 5 messages will be sent to WhatsApp.
phone_number	Mandatory. Numbers can be in any phone number format. The recommended format for contact phone numbers includes a plus sign (+) and country code.

If the WABA is registered in Cloud API

See how to send Contacts and Location Messages in the specific Meta documentation.

Currently, it is not possible to block or unblock contacts in the Cloud API. Please refer to Meta's Support regarding this limitation.