Text messages

You can only send a text 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.

Once you have the WhatsApp ID (wa_id discovered when checking the contact) for the user you want to message, use it to send a text message.

Specify text in the type field. A text message can be a maximum of 4096 characters long.

If the WABA is registered in On-premise API

Send a text message

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

To send a message, use the request URL and the following body parameters.

Request example

{

"recipient_type": "individual",

"to": "wa_id",

"type": "text",

"text": {

"body": "Hello, dear customer!"

}

}

Request Body

Name	Type	Description
recipient_type	string	individual
to*	string	wa_id of the contact you want to message
type	string	text
text	object	contains body field

201

A successful response includes a messages object with an ID for the newly created message.

{
    "messages": [
        {
            "id": "gBGHSRUUIXKJTwIJVQgXRR0rdXiv"
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "api_status": "stable",
        "version": "2.31.5"
    }
}

If the WABA is registered in Cloud API

Send a text message

POST https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/messages

To send a message, use the request URL and the following body parameters.

Request example

{

"messaging_product": "whatsapp",

"recipient_type": "individual",

"to": "PHONE_NUMBER",

"type": "text",

"text": {

"body": "Hello, dear customer!"

}

}

Request Body

Name	Type	Description
recipient_type	string	individual
to	string	wa_idof the contact you want to message
type	string	text
text	object	contains body field
messaging_product	string	Required only for Cloud API. Messaging service used for the request. Use "whatsapp".

201: Created

A successful response includes a messages object with an ID for the newly created message.

{
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "contacts": [
        {
            "input": "16505076520",
            "wa_id": "16505076520"
        }
    ],
    "messages": [
        {
            "id": "wamid.HBgLMTY1MDUwNzY1MjAVAgARGBI5QTNDQTVCM0Q0Q0Q2RTY3RTcA"
        }
    ]
}

Formatting in Text Messages

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';```

Sending URLs in Text Messages

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.

If the WABA is registered in On-premise API

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/"
     }
     

If the WABA is registered in Cloud API

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.