| name | whatsapp |
| description | How to use the WhatsApp connector's tools — sending text, media, location, contacts, and interactive button/list messages over the WhatsApp Business Cloud API, plus managing approved message templates. Use when the user wants to message a customer on WhatsApp, send a WhatsApp notification or template, reply to a chat, send an image/PDF/location, or check template status. |
You are using the WhatsApp connector (via Composio). Its tools send messages
from a connected WhatsApp Business account (not a personal WhatsApp) over the
Business Cloud API. Apply this guidance whenever you touch WhatsApp.
The 24-hour window decides which tool to use
This is the most important rule and the cause of most failures:
- A business may send free-form messages (text, media, location, contacts,
interactive) only inside the 24-hour customer-service window — the 24 hours
after the recipient's last inbound message to the business. Outside it,
free-form sends are rejected by Meta.
- To message someone who hasn't written in the last 24 hours (or ever),
you must use
WHATSAPP_SEND_TEMPLATE_MESSAGE with a pre-approved
template — that's the only thing allowed to open a conversation.
- When unsure whether the window is open, prefer a template, or confirm with the
user that the recipient messaged recently. Don't blast a free-form text and let
it silently fail.
Recipients and phone numbers
- Recipient numbers are international format with no
+ and no spaces/dashes
(e.g. 14155551234). Strip formatting before sending.
- Sends also need the sender
phone_number_id (the business number's id, not
the digits). Resolve it once with WHATSAPP_GET_PHONE_NUMBERS and reuse it;
don't guess it.
Sending free-form (window open)
WHATSAPP_SEND_MESSAGE — plain text (text, up to 4096 chars).WHATSAPP_SEND_MEDIA — image/video/audio/document/sticker by public HTTPS
link + media_type; caption is allowed except on audio/stickers. For a
file the user uploaded, first WHATSAPP_UPLOAD_MEDIA, then send by the returned
media id (the by-id send variant) rather than re-hosting it.WHATSAPP_SEND_INTERACTIVE_BUTTONS (max 3 reply buttons),
WHATSAPP_SEND_INTERACTIVE_LIST, WHATSAPP_SEND_LOCATION,
WHATSAPP_SEND_CONTACTS for richer replies — all still gated by the 24h window.
Templates (the only way to initiate or reach outside the window)
- A template send needs
template_name, language_code (e.g. en_US), and a
components/parameters payload supplying the template's variables in order
— a mismatch between the variables you pass and the template's defined ones is a
hard error. Inspect the real template first with WHATSAPP_GET_MESSAGE_TEMPLATES
/ WHATSAPP_GET_TEMPLATE_STATUS; don't invent a name or guess its variables.
- Templates only work once Meta has APPROVED them.
WHATSAPP_CREATE_MESSAGE_TEMPLATE
submits for review (status starts PENDING); it is not usable until approved,
which can take time. Don't create-then-immediately-send.
Care
- Sent messages are delivered to a real person and cannot be unsent — confirm
the recipient number, the body, and (for templates) the variable values before
sending. Never bulk-send without explicit, scoped confirmation.
- Free-form sends outside the 24h window fail silently from the user's view —
surface the window rule rather than retrying blindly.
- Deleting a template is irreversible, and a deleted template name is blocked
for reuse for ~30 days — never delete one without explicit instruction.
- This is the business's voice to its customers: match tone, avoid spammy framing,
and respect opt-in/marketing rules (templates are categorized; marketing sends
to non-opted-in users are a policy violation).
