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Connect your bot to WhatsApp

Connect your bot to WhatsApp so it answers messages sent to your WhatsApp Business number.

ℹ️

Standard, Pro and Enterprise

The WhatsApp channel is included on the Standard, Pro and Enterprise plans.

Who can do this: team owners and admins.

Setup has three stages: create a Meta app with WhatsApp, connect it to Chat Thing, then prepare it for production with a permanent access token. Meta's screens change often, so the Meta steps below describe what to look for rather than exact button positions.

Video walkthrough, recorded in 2024. Some screens have changed since.

Before you start

  • A Meta business account (Business Manager). You'll need a personal Facebook profile to confirm your identity. Meta's help centre explains how to create a business account.
  • A phone number you can use for testing, with WhatsApp installed.

Create a Meta app with WhatsApp

  1. Go to Meta for Developers and create an app. Choose the options for a Business app and connect it to your business account.
    Meta's Select an app type step with Business selected
    Meta's app details step with the app name, contact email and business account fields
  2. In the app dashboard, add the WhatsApp product.
    The WhatsApp product card with its Set up button in the Meta app dashboard
  3. Open WhatsApp > API Setup and copy the temporary access token. It lasts 24 hours - you'll replace it with a permanent token later.
    API Setup highlighted under WhatsApp in the Meta app sidebar

Keep this page open; you'll come back to it.

Connect the app to Chat Thing

  1. In Chat Thing, open your bot, select the Channels tab and turn on the WhatsApp card. The WhatsApp channel settings page opens.
    The WhatsApp card on the Channels tab, with its toggle switched off
  2. Under Verify token, click Generate secret. Copy the token now and keep it somewhere safe. After you save, only a masked version is shown.
  3. Paste the token from Meta into Access token.
  4. Click Save. The Webhook URL section appears.
  5. In Meta, open WhatsApp > Configuration and edit the webhook. Paste the Webhook URL from Chat Thing as the callback URL and the verify token from step 2 as the verify token. Verify and save.
    Meta's WhatsApp Configuration page with empty Callback URL, Verify token and Webhook fields, and an Edit button
  6. Still in the webhook configuration, manage the webhook fields and subscribe to messages. Without this, your bot never receives messages.
    Meta's Webhook fields dialog with the Subscribe box ticked on the messages row

Send a test message

  1. In Meta, on WhatsApp > API Setup, add your own phone number as a recipient number. WhatsApp sends you a code to confirm it.
    The To field on Meta's API Setup page, where you select or add a recipient phone number
  2. From that phone, send a WhatsApp message to the test business number shown on the same page.
  3. After a short pause, your bot should reply. The conversation also appears in Conversations.
    A WhatsApp conversation in which the bot replies to a test message

Go live

Before real customers can use the bot, Meta requires:

  • A business phone number dedicated to the WhatsApp bot.
  • Business verification of your Meta business account.
  • App review, and your app set to live, following Meta's policies.
  • A permanent access token, because the temporary token expires after 24 hours.

Create a permanent access token

Meta's guide to system user access tokens has the full details. In short:

  1. In Meta Business Suite, open Business settings > Users > System users.
    System users selected under Users in Meta Business settings
  2. Add a system user with the Admin role if you don't have one.
    The Create system user dialog with a system user name and the Admin role selected
  3. Click Add assets, choose Apps, select your WhatsApp app and give the system user full control (Manage app). Save.
    The Assign Assets dialog with Apps selected, the WhatsApp app ticked and Manage app turned on under Full control
  4. Click Generate new token, choose your app, set the token to never expire, and select the whatsapp_business_messaging permission. Generate the token and copy it.
    The Generate token dialog with the WhatsApp app selected and token expiration set to Never
    The token permissions list with whatsapp_business_messaging ticked
  5. In Chat Thing, open the WhatsApp channel settings, replace the old token in Access token and click Save.

Send another test message to confirm the bot still replies.

Check it works

Message your WhatsApp Business number from a phone that isn't on your team. The bot should reply, and the conversation should appear in Conversations.

Troubleshooting

The bot stopped replying after a day

You're still using the temporary access token, which expires after 24 hours. Create a permanent access token and paste it into Access token.

Meta won't verify the webhook

Check you pasted the Webhook URL and verify token from Chat Thing exactly, and that you saved the WhatsApp settings in Chat Thing first. If you've lost the verify token, click Generate new secret, save, and enter the new token in Meta.

Messages arrive but the bot never replies

Check the webhook is subscribed to the messages field, and that the access token has the whatsapp_business_messaging permission.

The bot replies "This bot is currently unavailable"

The WhatsApp channel is turned off. Turn the WhatsApp card back on in the Channels tab.

Related

  • Channels

    Where your bot talks to people - your website, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Telegram, email and the API - and which plans include each channel.

  • Review customer conversations

    Find, filter and read every conversation your bots have with customers, see AI summaries and user details, and share or download transcripts.

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