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Connect WhatsApp

Connect your WhatsApp Business number with Meta's wizard. You don't paste any keys or tokens. It takes about 15 minutes, not counting Meta's review.

Before you start
  • Permission: Connecting WhatsApp (Embedded Signup) · Edition: Growth or Enterprise (WhatsApp Channel feature).
  • A Meta Business account with administrator access.
  • A phone number you can register and verify with Meta.

Choose the mode​

If your environment has the 360dialog partner mode, Marketing › Channels › WhatsApp onboarding shows the WhatsApp mode selector. Choose before you connect; the mode decides who pays Meta and which API carries the messages.

ModeWho pays MetaWhich API carries the messagesWhen to use it
Meta directMeta charges the client's card (or our credit line).Our app, Meta Cloud API.The client pays Meta directly.
Meta + 360dialog billing360dialog pays Meta and invoices us.Our app, Meta Cloud API.You want to bill WhatsApp to the client and keep the Meta Cloud API.
All through 360dialog360dialog pays Meta and invoices us.360dialog API.You want to bill WhatsApp to the client and let 360dialog carry the traffic.

Without the partner mode there is no selector: onboarding is always Meta direct. The campaign and brand selectors only appear with the two 360dialog modes.

1. Open the Meta sign-up​

Go to Marketing › Channels › WhatsApp onboarding and click Connect WhatsApp. Meta's wizard opens.

If the button is disabled, you will see "WhatsApp Embedded Signup is not yet configured for this environment". Contact support.

2. Complete Meta's wizard​

  1. Sign in with your Meta Business account.
  2. Choose or create your WhatsApp Business account.
  3. Register the number by following Meta's steps.

If you work for a client, use Copy onboarding link and send it to them. They complete the sign-up without access to your panel. The link keeps the chosen WhatsApp mode. The For campaign (optional) and For brand (optional) selectors only appear if partner mode is active in your environment and you choose a 360dialog mode.

3. Follow the status​

Go back to Marketing › Channels › WhatsApp onboarding. The Status column goes through Pending, Verifying and Active. Click the refresh icon on the row to update it. If you see Error, read Last error.

4. Create the channel​

Go to Marketing › Channels › Channels and click Create New.

  1. Enter a Name and choose Channel › WhatsApp. The type can't be changed later.
  2. Under WhatsApp connection, check that it shows Connected.
  3. Choose the associated Loyalty Programme and leave Active ticked.
  4. Click Save.

Switch between the two 360dialog modes​

A channel on Meta + 360dialog billing can move to All through 360dialog, and back, without onboarding again. Open the channel under Marketing › Channels › Channels. Under WhatsApp connection you see WhatsApp mode, Meta status (messaging tier and Quality) and 360dialog status (API key valid and Webhook points to IncentIA).

  1. Click Check again.
  2. Click Switch to All through 360dialog or Switch to Meta + 360dialog billing. The button is only enabled when the pre-check passes; otherwise the list under it says what is missing.
  3. If it says "Our app is not subscribed to the WABA.", click Subscribe our app in Meta and check again.

While both apps receive messages, each message is processed once. A Meta direct channel cannot switch mode here: onboard it again with a 360dialog mode.

Check that it works​

  • Under Marketing › Channels › WhatsApp onboarding, your number is listed as Active, with Messaging tier and Business verification.
  • Under Marketing › Channels › Channels, the WhatsApp channel appears as active.
  • If Business verification is red, click Complete verification in Meta Business Manager. Without it, Meta limits bulk sends.
Meta can take a while

Business verification can take weeks. Until then, the messaging tier is low.

Next steps​