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
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
| Feature | Support | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Text messages | Yes | The maximum length of a WhatsApp message is 4096 characters and it must be UTF-8 encoded. |
| Media | Yes | Media 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: images | Yes | Maximum file size for an uploaded image is 5 MB. Supported formats: png, jpeg. |
| Media: audio | Yes | Maximum file size for an uploaded audio file is 16 MB. Supported formats: ACC, M4A, MP3, AMR, OGG-OPUS. |
| Media: video | Yes | Maximum file size for an uploaded video file is 16 MB. Supported formats: mpeg4. |
| Media: document | Yes | Maximum file size for an uploaded document file is 100 MB. Supported formats: plaintext, PDF, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel. |
| Interactive messages | Yes | Send 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 messages | Yes | |
| Contact messages | Yes | Send one or more contacts. |
| Catalog messages | Yes | Message containing your entire product catalog. |
| Product messages | Yes | Messages containing a selection of up to 30 items from a business’ inventory. |
| Template messages | Yes | Available 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.
Updated 16 days ago