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WhatsApp

Setup

Enabling the channel

Please follow the guidance here to setup the WhatsApp channel in Dotdigital prior to attempting to send via the API.

Register template(s)

To initiate a conversation in WhatsApp you may only send a registered and approved templated message, so you should follow this guidance on how to setup a template to ensure you can send your first WhatsApp message via API.

Channel Identifier

In the Omnichannel API this channel can be referenced using: whatsApp

This identifier can be used in the rules array, channelOptions and customBody sections.

Sending an WhatsApp message

Sending an WhatsApp message via the Omnichannel API is simple. You are required to ensure that your channel rules include the whatsApp channel and you specify either a phoneNumber in international format or a profileId with a phone number in the to section of your request. The message itself can be of two different types which are described below:

Message Types

The message type you can send is governed by whether you are in a conversation with a WhatsApp user or not. A conversation on WhatsApp is considered to be occurring for 24 hours after the last inbound message you received from a WhatsApp user.

You may send only template messages outside of a conversation window and either template or session messages within a conversation window. See below for details of each type of message:

Template Messages

If you are not in a conversation with a WhatsApp user then you may only send a pre-approved template based message. You can create and manage your WhatsApp message templates in the WhatsApp manager on Meta and more help on how to do this can be found in this article here .

You will need to note the template id's and the template namespace to use them with the API.

Templates may be defined in multiple languages. Templates can also contain parameters to allow personalization and specifics to be included in the message.

Sending a template message

To use the Omnichannel API to send a template message you will need to include a special message part which is used to identify the template required and pass the parameters required for the template. For more information on using message parts with the Omnichannel API please see Multi part messages.

The MIME type for the message part is whatsapp/template and as only the WhatsApp channel can use this MIME type please include a channel filter using the channels array and include the value whatsApp. The following additional fields are required in the data field of the message part:

FieldDescriptionExample valueRequired
namespaceThe namespace for your template, this in combinaiton with your template name makes it unique throughout WhatsApp. You can find this value in the templates section for your WhatsApp channel.de0464f9_3d87_cb42_b0d7_d7651ab3337aYes
templateNameThe unique name of the template you want to send. You can find this value in the templates section for your WhatsApp channel.dispatch_confirmationYes
languageCodeThe desired language you want the template sent in. You must have pre-registered the language variant of the template prior to using it. Contact your Client Engagement Manager to do this.enYes
parametersThis is the array of parameters to be merged into your template. Ensure the order of the values in the array matches the order you want them merged into the template.

The parameters can be of the following types:
default – A string value
 currency – A currency value that will be localized automatically

- date_time – A date time that will be localized automatically


Each value passed should be a object with a default field and the plain text version of the value required. e.g.{ "default": "A text field" }If you want to use one of the localizable types then you need to pass additional details along with the default value, such as currency code etc... Please see the section below for more details on Localizable Parameters.Include values for all the parameters in the template, ensuring the types match those you registered!		[
{
"default": "Dave"
},
{
"default": "1234"
}
]		No

❗️

Variable ordering is important!

When passing parameters with your template message sends it is critical to order the parameters match those used in your template.

Localizable Parameters

When sending a template with parameters you may want to send values that need adapting depending on the recipients locality, such as currency values or dates. WhatsApp supports localization of currency and date time parameters, but you must pass additional details for these localizable parameters.

All parameters objects must contain a default value, which is used should any issues be encountered trying to localize the parameter and this should be a generic plain text representation of the value.

Currency Values

In order to send a localizable currency value you need to includes the following fields in your parameter object:

FieldDescriptionExample valueRequired
defaultgeneric plain text representation of the currency value which is used should localization not be possible199 USDYes
currencyA currency object to describe the currency value and source currency"currency": {
"currency_code": "USD",
"amount_1000": 100990
}		Yes

currency object

FieldDescriptionExample valueRequired
currency_codeThe ISO currency code your charge is based on.USDYes
amount_1000The amount to charge in one thousandths of the currency. e.g. $9.99 is 9990 , worked out by 9.99 * 10009990Yes
Date Time Values

In order to send a localizable date time value you need to includes the following fields in your parameter object:

FieldDescriptionExample valueRequired
defaultgeneric plain text representation of the date time value which is used should localization not be possible1st January 2019, 14:45Yes
date_timeA date_time object to describe the date and time using individual component parts"date_time": {
"component": {
"day_of_week": 5,
"day_of_month": 25,
"year": 1977,
"month": 2,
"hour": 15,
"minute": 33
}		Yes

date_time object

FieldDescriptionExample valueRequired
componentA component object to describe the date and time using individual component parts"component": {
"day_of_week": 5,
"day_of_month": 25,
"year": 1977,
"month": 2,
"hour": 15,
"minute": 33
}		No

component object

FieldDescriptionExample valueRequired
day_of_weekThe day of the week as an integer with 1 = Monday and 7 = Sunday5No
day_of_the_monthThe day of the month as an integer25No
yearThe year as a 4 digit integer1977No
monthThe month as an integer2No
hourThe hour as an integer based on the 24 hour clock15No
minuteThe minute as an integer33No
calendarThe type of calendar you want to use, defaults to Gregorian. Choose from GREGORIAN or SOLAR_HIJRIGREGORIANNo

Example Template Sends

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "channels": [
        "whatsApp"
      ],
      "type": "whatsapp/template",
      "data": {
        "namespace": "de0464f9_3d87_cb42_b0d7_d7651ab3337a",
        "templateName": "dispatch_confirmation",
        "languageCode": "en",
        "parameters": [
          {
            "default": "Dave"
          },
          {
            "default": "1234"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "channels": [
        "whatsApp"
      ],
      "type": "whatsapp/template",
      "data": {
        "namespace": "ce0464f9_3d87_fb42_b0d7_d7651ab3337a",
        "templateName": "dispatch_confirmation",
        "languageCode": "en",
        "parameters": [
          {
            "default": "February 25, 1977",
            "date_time": {
              "component": {
                "day_of_week": 5,
                "day_of_month": 25,
                "month": 2,
                "year": 1977
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "data": "My correlation data"
  }
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "channels": [
        "whatsApp"
      ],
      "type": "whatsapp/template",
      "data": {
        "namespace": "de0464f9_3d87_cb42_b0d7_d7651ab3337a",
        "templateName": "dispatch_confirmation",
        "languageCode": "en",
        "parameters": [
          {
            "default": "$9.99",
            "currency": {
              "currency_code": "USD",
              "amount_1000": 9990
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "data": "My correlation data"
  }
}

Sending Media Templates

If you have chosen to use media in your WhatsApp templates then to pass the additional information you will need to use the custom body option.

The JSON you need to pass in the custom body to use a media template is described in the WhatsApp docs here

Note: We automatically populate the "to" field within the custom body block, so no need to specify it.

The following example is of a call to send a media template with an image header and two parameters in the body:

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "customBody": {
    "whatsApp": {
      "type": "template",
      "template": {
        "namespace": "ce0464f9_3d87_fb42_b0d7_d7651ab3337a",
        "name": "appointment_booked",
        "language": {
          "policy": "deterministic",
          "code": "en"
        },
        "components": [
          {
            "type": "header",
            "parameters": [
              {
                "type": "image",
                "image": {
                  "link": "https://files.readme.io/6102a7e-dotdigital_logo_stacked_reversed_RGB.png"
                }
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "type": "body",
            "parameters": [
              {
                "type": "date_time",
                "date_time": {
                  "fallback_value": "2021-09-02",
                  "day_of_week": 4,
                  "day_of_month": 2,
                  "year": 2021,
                  "month": 9,
                  "hour": 12,
                  "minute": 00
                }
              },
              {
                "type": "text",
                "text": "London"
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Session Messages

Session messages can be sent within a WhatsApp conversation session, which lasts 24 hours from the last inbound you received from a WhatsApp user. Session messages are designed to be used to allow businesses to send the information necessary to answer a WhatsApp users queries and therefore are free format.

To use the Omnichannel API to send a session messages you can use either the standard body field to send text based messages or for multimedia use muli-part messages. For more information on using message parts with the Omnichannel API please see Multi part messages.

The following message types are supported by WhatsApp:

  • Text (with optional URL preview)
  • Image (JPG, JPEG, PNG) with optional text comment
  • Audio (AAC, M4A, AMR, MP3, OGG, OPUS)
  • Documents (PDF, DOC(X), PPT(X), XLS(X))

Text Formatting

WhatsApp supports simple text formatting in text based messages that can be used to help communicate your message more effectively. The following formatting annotations are supported:

FormatAnnotationExample
Bold* (Asterisk)Your order has shipped priority
Italics_ (Underscore)This is an estimated delivery date
~Strike through~~ (Tilde)~Shipping charge £10.00~
Code``` (3 x Back quotes)console.log("test");

Example Session Message Sends

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "body": "A text session message via WhatsApp"
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "body": "A _formatted_ text session message via *WhatsApp*"
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "body": "Check out this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJLcwqgVOKM",
  "channelOptions": {
    "whatsApp": {
      "enableUrlPreview": true
    }
  }
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "type": "image/png",
      "url": "https://files.readme.io/6102a7e-dotdigital_logo_stacked_reversed_RGB.png"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "type": "image/png",
      "url": "https://files.readme.io/6102a7e-dotdigital_logo_stacked_reversed_RGB.png"
    },
    {
      "type": "text/plain",
      "data": "My image caption"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "type": "audio/mp3",
      "url": "https://sample-videos.com/audio/mp3/crowd-cheering.mp3"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "messageParts": [
    {
      "type": "application/pdf",
      "url": "http://cdn.dnky.co/docs/example.pdf",
      "name": "Overview.pdf"
    }
  ]
}

Message Length

The maximum length of a text based WhatsApp message supported is 4096 characters.

Channel Options

The following additional channel options can be used to control the WhatsApp channels most common options. To use the channel options create a object with your options in the requests channelOptions section in the whatsApp property:

PropertyTypeDescription
phoneNumberstringThe registered WhatsApp phone number to send the message from. Default from channel configuration will be used if not specified.
enableUrlPreviewBooleanIf set to true any URL's sent in a text session message will have a URL preview rendered underneath.
{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "body": "A text session message via WhatsApp",
  "channelOptions": {
    "whatsApp": {
      "phoneNumber": "447860041651"
    }
  }
}

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "body": "Check out this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJLcwqgVOKM",
  "channelOptions": {
    "whatsApp": {
      "enableUrlPreview": true
    }
  }
}

Custom Body

The Omnichannel API automatically creates WhatsApp messages for you if you only define the body property or multi parts when sending a message, but you can override this if you use the customBody property and define a whatsApp object within it This can be useful for accessing features in the channel we don't support in our common message format.

Details of how to create a WhatsApp business message can be found here.

Examples of sends using WhatsApp custom bodies are:

{
  "to": {
    "phoneNumber": "447123123123"
  },
  "rules": [
    "whatsApp"
  ],
  "customBody": {
    "whatsApp": {
      "preview_url": true,
      "text": {
        "body": "You have to check out this amazing messaging service https://www.whatsapp.com/"
      }
    }
  }
}

🚧

Ensure you specify a "to" block still!

When using the customBody option with the SMS channel you still need to specify the phoneNumber in the to block as this will be used for profile identification.

Receipts and Inbounds

To receive feedback or inbound messages from WhatsApp sends please see the following:

Inbound Messages

Allows you to receive messages sent from WhatsApp users to your hosted WhatsApp phone numbers. Messages are delivered to a URL of your choosing using the webhook system. See the Inbound event in the Message Events section for more details.

Receipts

If you need to to know the status of messages you've sent using one of our APIs, you can request that delivery receipts are forwarded to a URL of your choosing using the webhook system. See the events in the Message Events section for more details on the receipt events you can receive.

You can receive the following types of receipts:

  • Sent
  • Delivered
  • Read
  • Expired
  • Failed

Specific Channel Data

The WhatsApp channel carries the following extra channel specific data in the message.sent webhook event which may be of use in your integrations. The channel data can be found in the message.sent webhook events in the payload -> channelData node as illustrated below:

"channelData": {
    "whatsApp": {
      "virtualDeviceNumber": "447123123123",
      "originatorPhoneNumber": "447123123123",
      "isTemplateMessage": true,
      "isWithinConversationWindow": false,
      "phoneNumberCountryCode": "GB"
    }
  }

{
    "eventId": "f10fd498-1f96-4f3b-a0f8-289e34928e15",
    "accountId": 12345,
    "apiSpaceId": "62d1780d-8440-480a-b268-20b1eb50a4ff",
    "name": "message.sent",
    "payload": {
        "id": "c94a82da-55e8-4a29-922c-ba4aed3e5990",
        "details": {
            "channel": "whatsApp",
            "channelStatus": {
                "whatsApp": {
                    "status": "sent",
                    "updatedOn": "2024-10-29T10:08:59.000Z",
                    "details": {
                        "contacts": [
                            {
                                "input": "447001001001",
                                "wa_id": "447001001001"
                            }
                        ],
                        "messages": [
                            {
                                "id": "gBEGTHcVF4YFAgkbt37BX1L-tvg"
                            }
                        ],
                        "meta": {
                            "api_status": "stable",
                            "version": "2.55.1"
                        },
                        "conversation": {
                            "expiration_timestamp": 1730282580,
                            "id": "f9265945b17526717f739e445ed056f2",
                            "origin": {
                                "type": "utility"
                            }
                        },
                        "id": "gBEGTHcVF4YFAgkbt37BX1L-tvg",
                        "message": {
                            "recipient_id": "447001001001"
                        },
                        "pricing": {
                            "billable": true,
                            "category": "utility",
                            "pricing_model": "CBP"
                        },
                        "status": "sent",
                        "timestamp": "1730196539",
                        "type": "message"
                    }
                },
                "fbMessenger": {
                    "status": "pending"
                },
                "email": {
                    "status": "pending"
                }
            }
        },
        "channelData": {
            "whatsApp": {
                "virtualDeviceNumber": "447123123123",
                "originatorPhoneNumber": "447123123123",
                "isTemplateMessage": true,
                "isWithinConversationWindow": false,
                "phoneNumberCountryCode": "GB"
            }
        },
        "updatedOn": "2024-10-29T10:08:59.000Z",
        "_apiSpaceId": "62d1780d-8440-480a-b268-20b1eb50a4ff"
    },
    "revision": 3,
    "etag": "\"2e-EgwZ9mai3uos3CKWlv4t8Dim1gw\"",
    "timestamp": "2024-10-29T10:09:00.072Z"
}

The data is as follows:

PathFieldDescription
whatsAppvirtualDeviceNumberThe WhatsApp phone number assigned to the virtual device that sent the message.
whatsApporiginatorPhoneNumberThe originating phone number used to send the message.
whatsAppisTemplateMessageBoolean indicating whether the message sent was a template based message or not
whatsAppisWithinConversationWindowBoolean indicating whether the message was sent within a conversation window or not.
whatsAppphoneNumberCountryCodeThe two character country code for the phone number you sent to.