Prerequisites:
To get WhatsApp Business API from Meta, you need to ensure these two criterions are met.
- Your Business Manager is verified by Facebook.
- You don’t have active WhatsApp account linked with the number.
Getting the WhatsApp Business API from Meta:
The process to obtain the WhatsApp Business API from Meta is divided into 4 parts:
- Creating an Application on Meta Developer Portal.
- Configuring the phone number of the sender.
- Generating the permanent token from Meta.
- Configuring Meta provider on ReplyCX and setting up the Web-hook URL on Meta.
Create an application:
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Go to the website Meta for Developers: developers.facebook.com.
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On the top right corner, click “log in” and give your Facebook credentials.
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After successful login, click on the “My Apps” option in the top right corner.
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Click on “Create App”.
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Choose “Business” as an option and click “Next”.
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Define following terms:
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App Name:
Give an appropriate name to the Application.
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Contact Email:
Provide your email address linked with Facebook.
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Business Account:
Select the business account which is verified and with which you want the app to be associated.
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Click on “Create App” to create the App.
Under “Add products to your app”, click on “Set up” against “WhatsApp”.
Once the App is created for WhatsApp, you will get a temporary token (expires in 23 hours), sender’s test number, phone number ID, WhatsApp Business ID & template for testing purpose
Adding the phone number of the sender:
To link the API & run the bot on your number, you will then need to configure the sender’s number. You can follow the following steps to configure the same:
- Go to “Getting Started” under “WhatsApp” on the left panel.
- Go to “Step 5: Add a phone number” & click on “Add phone number”.
- Configure the following to fill in your business details:
- Business Name: Mention the name of your business.
- Business Website: Provide the website address of your business.
- Country: Select the country where your business is based.
- Click “Next” to proceed further.
- Configure following to setup WhatsApp Business Profile:
- WhatsApp Business Profile Display Name: The name that will appear to your customers.
- Time-zone: The time-zone in which your business will be operating.
- Category: Choose the category of the business from the available options.
- Business Description: Provide short description about what your business does.
- Click “Next” to proceed further.
- Configure following to add a phone number for WhatsApp:
- Phone Number: Choose the country code and mention the number in the space provided against the country code.
- Choose the verification method: This will send verification code to your phone number. You can either select “Text Message” or “Phone Call” for the verification.
- Click “Next” to verify phone number.
- Verify your phone number using code received and click “Next” to configure phone number.
Generating Permanent Token:
The next step is to generate the permanent token for the API configured with the phone number. You can follow the following steps to generate the permanent token:
- Go to business.facebook.com.
- Click on "Settings" gear against your business account.
- Under "Users" on the left panel, go to "System Users".
- Click on "Add" to create the system user and configure the following:
- System Username: Provide the system username.
- System User Role: Select the role as "Admin".
- Click on "Create System User" to create the system user.
- Once the system user is created, click on "Add Assets" on the "System Users" page & assign assets to created system user & configure the following:
- On the left menu panel in pop-up window, click on "Apps" to select it as the assets type.
- Select the created app under "Select Assets".
- Switch on "Manage App" under "Full Control" under "App".
- Click on "Save Changes" to assign assets to the created user.
- Under "Accounts" on the left panel, go to "WhatsApp Accounts".
- Click on "Add People" & configure following:
- Select the recently created system user under "Select People".
- Switch on "Manage WhatsApp Account" under "Assign Access".
- Click on "Assign" to save the changes.
- Go back to "System Users" under "Users" on the left panel.
- Select recently created system user.
- Click on "Generate New Token" to create permanent token.
- Choose your "WhatsApp Business App".
- Check following two permissions from the list:
- Whatsapp_business_management
- Whatsapp_business_messaging
- Click on "Generate" again to generate the token.
