This chapter of our API Documentation is designed for customers who have been granted access to WhatsApp Business API. It is important that you request access to this program via our Channels portal. Without this approval you can not make use of this part of the API.

WhatsApp also comes with a considerable set of 'business rules' that you might have to take into account when using WhatsApp. You can find these in the WhatsApp Business Policy and the WhatsApp Commerce Policy

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Note

since WhatsApp for Business is used for 2-way communication (chat) it is important to also implement the Inbound flow using our API documentation of the incoming messages.

Fact sheet

FeatureSupportRemarks
Text messagesYesThe maximum length of a WhatsApp message is 4096 characters and it must be UTF-8 encoded.
MediaYesMedia name attribute should end in the proper file extension. Only one media file is allowed per message. When the linked media doesn't exist/can't be found, the message will not be sent at all. The text message, if provided, is sent in a separate Instagram message.
Media: imagesYesMaximum file size for an uploaded image is 5 MB. Supported formats: png, jpeg.
Media: audioYesMaximum file size for an uploaded audio file is 16 MB. Supported formats: ACC, M4A, MP3, AMR, OGG-OPUS.
Media: videoYesMaximum file size for an uploaded video file is 16 MB. Supported formats: mpeg4.
Media: documentYesMaximum file size for an uploaded document file is 100 MB. Supported formats: plaintext, PDF, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel.
Interactive messagesYesSend List, Reply buttons, call-to-action (CTA) URL button or Location request messages. List messages can contain 10 options. Reply buttons messages can contain a maximum of 3 reply buttons. Call-to-action URL button messages can contain 1 call-to-action URL button.
Location messagesYes
Contact messagesYesSend one or more contacts.
Catalog messagesYesMessage containing your entire product catalog.
Product messagesYesMessages containing a selection of up to 30 items from a business’ inventory.
Template messagesYesAvailable templates: Media and interactive.

Message encryption

We follow all protocols to ensure data is encrypted based on our GDPR / POPIA compliance, over and above this, WhatsApp also encrypt the data. For more information on WhatsApp's encryption, please go to: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/cloud-api/overview#encryption

Rate limits

There are two types of rate limits for WhatsApp. Capacity limits and messaging limits.

Capacity limit is restriction in maximum throughput, that allows 50 messages per second. When you are sending more than this maximum throughput, messages may fail from being sent.

Messaging limit is a restriction in how many unique users your business can send messages to on a daily basis. More about this can be read here: Messaging Limits

WhatsApp Standard Errors

Read more about Standard Errors WhatsApp here.