WhatsApp Web #

Connect your existing WhatsApp account (personal or business) to the platform by pairing your phone — no Meta Business verification required. This works just like linking WhatsApp Web in a browser, but instead of a browser, your WhatsApp conversations flow directly into the app.

What Is WhatsApp Web Integration? #

WhatsApp Web integration lets you connect your existing WhatsApp number to the platform without going through the official WhatsApp Business API setup process. Instead of purchasing a new phone number and completing Meta Business verification, you pair your phone from the app in under a minute.

This is ideal for businesses that want to get started quickly with their existing WhatsApp presence.

WhatsApp Web vs. Business API #

What WhatsApp Web gives you #

• Setup in minutes — you pair your phone, and no Meta Business verification is required.
• Use your existing WhatsApp number, personal or business. (A number rented through the platform can’t be used here — it has no phone behind it, so it connects through the Business API instead.)
• Cost: 50 credits a month per connected number, with no per-message fee.
• Ban risk is low when you message people who opted in. The session runs on a private server with a dedicated proxy; the risk comes from cold-blasting strangers who then report you.
• Standard WhatsApp sending limits, with an automatic warm-up ramp.
• Basic message delivery tracking only.
• Reliability: the session runs on our servers, so your phone can be offline for up to 14 days.
• Best for small businesses, a quick start, and personal numbers.

What the WhatsApp Business API gives you #

• Setup takes hours to days, because Meta Business verification is required.
• The number must not already be registered on WhatsApp — you rent a new one here, or bring an unregistered one.
• Cost: number rent from 50 credits a month (the number’s card shows its exact price), plus Meta template fees passed through at cost. If you have connected your own Anthropic key (BYOK), managed-Twilio WhatsApp messages cost 0.05 credits each, inbound and outbound. On every other account those delivery costs are already covered by your AI credit rate, so there is no separate per-message charge. See WhatsApp Costs & the October 2026 Change for what changes on 1 October 2026.
• Ban risk is low because the channel is Meta-official, but cold outreach to people who report you can still get a number restricted.
• Tiered messaging limits (250 to unlimited, set at portfolio level).
• Full delivery and read receipts.
• Reliability: fully cloud-based, with no phone needed at all.
• Best for high-volume senders, enterprises and regulated industries.

WhatsApp Web and the Business API side by side #

What WhatsApp Web costs: 50 credits a month per connection, no per-message fee #

WhatsApp Web is available on every current plan. Each connected number costs 50 credits a month, and there is no per-message fee on top.

Setting Up WhatsApp Web #

Step 1: Open the Connect Flow #

1. In the left sidebar, click Settings near the bottom.
2. In the Settings left rail, under Channels, click Channels.
3. Find the WhatsApp Web card and click Connect (it shows Add number instead once you already have one paired).

Step 2: Enter the Phone Number and Import Options #

A pop-up titled Connect WhatsApp Web opens.

1. Enter the phone number of the WhatsApp account you want to connect, including the country code.
2. Toggle on Import existing contacts if you want to pull your existing WhatsApp contacts into the inbox on first connection. Turning this on reveals further options:
   • Make contacts private — imported contacts won’t have their messages stored or sent through the platform, and the AI stays off for them. Use this for a phone full of personal chats.
   • Import chat history — also brings in message history for imported contacts (may take a few minutes). Imported messages fill out the conversation in Chats, but they’re left out of your Dashboard numbers and charts, so chats from before you connected can’t skew your stats.
   • Keep AI paused for imported contacts — recommended, and on by default. Leave it on so the AI doesn’t message your existing contacts automatically; switch it off per contact later once you’re ready.
3. Click Get QR code to continue with the default scan flow (Step 3 below), or click Link with phone number instead, just under the button, if you’d rather enter a short code on your phone than scan.

Numbers rented through the platform can’t be paired here. WhatsApp Web links a phone that already runs WhatsApp on the number you enter. A number you bought on the Channels page is a virtual number with no phone behind it, so there is nothing to scan the QR with, and the app will stop you if you try. To put a rented number to work, use Finish setup on the number’s row on the Channels page instead — that connects it through the WhatsApp Business API.

Connecting a number you also use personally? That’s fine, and the modal says so too. Just remember that the AI answers every chat on the number once it’s live. The two toggles that hold it back — Keep AI paused for imported contacts and Make contacts private — only appear once Import existing contacts is on, and they only cover the contacts brought in at that moment. Anyone who messages you after you connect arrives as a brand-new chat with the AI active, so leave your agent switched off until your real contact list is loaded and you’re ready to go live. Note that reconnecting a number later does not remember these choices — set them again on the fresh link.

The import only runs when the number links fresh. WhatsApp only sends your contacts across the first time a device is linked. If the number was connected before and you reconnect it, WhatsApp recognises the device and skips that step, so the import options have nothing to work with — the connection still succeeds, it just brings in no contacts. To force a fresh link, open WhatsApp on your phone, go to Settings > Linked devices, log out of the Your AI Connector device, then connect the number again with the import options you want.

Clicking Link with phone number instead switches the screen in place: the button becomes Get pairing code, and the link flips to Scan QR code instead so you can switch back.

Step 3: Link Your Phone #

Scanning a QR code (default):

1. A QR code appears with the instruction: open WhatsApp on your phone → Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device, then scan the code shown.
2. Wait a few seconds for the connection to be established. The status updates automatically once paired, and your phone number appears on the Channels page.

Linking with a phone number instead:

1. Click Link with phone number instead.
2. A short code appears with the instruction: on your phone, go to WhatsApp → Linked Devices → Link a Device → “Link with phone number instead”, then enter the code shown.
3. Wait a few seconds. Once linked, the connection completes automatically, just like scanning.

You can switch between the two methods at any point on this screen with Scan QR code instead / Link with phone number instead.

Once connected, your WhatsApp conversations become accessible through the platform, and an AI Agent assigned to this channel can respond to incoming messages.

Session Management #

Checking Connection Status #

Your WhatsApp Web connection status is shown next to the number on the Channels page (Settings → Channels → Channels). Possible statuses include:

Reconnecting #

If your session disconnects (network issues, phone restart, etc.), open Settings → Channels → Channels, find the number in the WhatsApp Web card, and use its reconnect action. The system attempts to restore the previous session automatically; if that fails, a fresh QR code (or pairing code) pop-up opens the same way as first-time setup.

Disconnecting #

To intentionally disconnect, find the number on the Channels page and use its remove/disconnect action. This logs out the session and removes the number from your account. You can reconnect later by pairing again.

Trouble Connecting? Use the Browser Extension #

Sometimes a connection or reconnect won’t go through because WhatsApp adds an extra security step — it asks for a passkey that the normal QR or code connection can’t complete on its own. When that happens, use a small browser extension called Your AI Connector that runs in your own Chrome, where that passkey step works normally.

You only need to do this once. After your number is connected, the extension has done its job and everything runs in the cloud as usual.

Before You Start #

• This currently works in Google Chrome on a desktop or laptop only.
• The extension is a one-time helper — it stays out of the way once you’re connected.

Step-by-Step #

1. On the WhatsApp Web connect screen, choose Trouble connecting? Passkey blocking you? Use the browser extension.
2. Download the extension. It saves to your computer as a compressed (zip) file.
3. Unzip the file — this creates a normal folder.
4. In Chrome, open a new tab and go to chrome://extensions.
5. Turn on Developer mode (top-right corner).
6. Click Load unpacked.
7. Select the folder you unzipped.
8. Back on the connect screen, click Connect. A WhatsApp Web tab opens automatically with your connect code already loaded, so the extension picks it up on its own.
9. Log in to WhatsApp in that tab as usual — because this is your own Chrome, the passkey step works here. It imports automatically and the screen shows Connected.
10. Close the WhatsApp Web tab now that it says Connected. This matters: if you leave WhatsApp Web open in your browser, it keeps a second copy of the same session running that competes with ours, which can knock your number back offline. Your phone stays connected as normal — only the browser tab needs closing.

The Connect button didn’t open WhatsApp Web? Use the Advanced: paste the code manually option instead — open web.whatsapp.com yourself, log in, click the browser extension, paste the connect code shown on the connect screen, and press Import.

One Agent per Number #

Connect two or more WhatsApp Web numbers and each one can have its own AI Agent. On the AI Agents page, the Who Answers New Conversations panel shows a per number block for WhatsApp Web with a picker per connected number: leave a number on Same as WhatsApp Web to follow the channel’s Agent, or pick a different Agent (or No one’s answering) for that number only. A customer who messages your second number gets that number’s Agent, and every reply goes out from the same number they wrote to. Details: Entry Points → One Agent per WhatsApp number.

Send Limits & Warm-up #

Each paired WhatsApp Web number has its own Send Limits & Warm-up meters shown directly under its row on the Channels page:

• Messages sent today and new contacts today, each shown against today’s cap.
• A day X of 61 badge while still ramping, or At full capacity once fully warmed up.
• Tomorrow’s cap preview and days remaining until full capacity.
• A Why am I limited? explainer with the reasoning.

New numbers start at a low daily cap (50 messages on day one) that rises automatically over roughly 60 days to protect against bans. This warm-up is normal and important — a brand-new number that sends too much too soon is the fastest way to get banned. See Scaling WhatsApp Outreach Safely for the full ramp formula and how to fast-forward it for numbers with real prior history.

Click Raise daily limit on a number’s meters to open the Daily send limit panel, where you can:

• Advance or dial back the warm-up day (1–60) — moving it forward unlocks higher caps sooner for a number you know has real history; only an increase requires you to check a risk-acknowledgment box.
• Push beyond the automated ramp (only once a number is fully warmed up, day 58+) — set a manual cap from 750 up to 5,000 messages/day, in steps of 250. This carries real ban risk and requires a stronger explicit acknowledgment before it applies.

Note. Newly connected WhatsApp Web numbers have automated follow-ups turned off by default as a safety measure, shown as the Automated follow-ups toggle under each number’s meters. It stays off until three warm-up gates pass (number age, activity ramp, and recent contact engagement, each measured over ~30 days) — the toggle remains usable throughout, but the panel shows you which gates haven’t passed yet. Once your number is warmed up and stable, turn follow-ups back on for it.

Typing Indicators #

WhatsApp Web integration supports typing indicators — the “typing…” bubble that your contacts see when the AI is preparing a response. This is enabled automatically and requires no configuration.

Replying Yourself Pauses the AI #

If you reply to a conversation by hand, the AI is paused for that one contact so it does not talk over you. This happens whether you reply from Chats in the app or straight from WhatsApp on your phone, and the two are easy to mix up: answering a chat on your phone looks like nothing happened in the app, but the AI has quietly stopped answering that person.

The AI stays paused for that contact until someone turns it back on. It does not resume by itself after an hour, a day, or the contact’s next message. Open the conversation in Chats and use the toggle at the top — it reads “AI paused” when the AI is off, and selecting it turns the AI back on.

If your team answers from the phone, check this first. When several people handle the same WhatsApp number, it is normal to end up with most conversations quietly switched to manual without anyone deciding to do that. If the AI seems to have “stopped working”, open a few chats and look at the AI toggle before changing any campaign settings.

Your dashboard’s Inbox panel shows a count of chats you have paused the AI on and are handling yourself, which is the quickest way to spot this across the whole account.

What Gets Copied Into the App (and What Doesn’t) #

Pairing your phone works the same way as linking WhatsApp on a laptop: from the moment the link is live, the one-to-one conversations on that number flow into the app and are stored there, so the AI and your team can work on them. It’s worth knowing exactly what that covers before you connect a number you also use personally.

What comes in:

• Every one-to-one chat on that number from the moment you connect, in both directions — including messages you send yourself from your phone.
• Existing contacts, and optionally their history, but only if you switch on Import existing contacts when you connect (see Step 2 above). Leave it off and nothing from before the connection is copied.

What never comes in:

• Group chats. Group messages are ignored completely — they don’t create a contact, don’t appear in your inbox, aren’t stored, and the AI never replies in a group. Nothing you send from the app goes to a group either. Your groups keep working normally in WhatsApp on your phone; the app simply doesn’t see them.
• Status updates and broadcast lists.
• Chats on other numbers. Only the number you paired is connected.

If you’re connecting a number you also use for personal chats, two options keep those private:

• Turn on Make contacts private during import. Those contacts’ messages aren’t stored or sent through the platform, and the AI stays off for them.
• Or use a different number for business. That is the cleanest separation, and it’s what we’d suggest if your personal chats are sensitive.

Remember that both import options only cover contacts brought in at connection time. Anyone who messages the number after you connect arrives as a normal new chat.

Removing conversations that were copied in #

Everything the connection brought in is ordinary account data, and you remove it the same way you remove anything else:

• One conversation or contact — delete the contact in Contacts. Deleting a contact removes their conversation history immediately.
• Many at once — select them in Contacts or in a list and delete them together, or delete the whole list.
• All of it — disconnect the number on Settings → Channels, then delete the contacts it brought in. Disconnecting stops new messages arriving but does not delete what already came in.

Deleting here does not touch WhatsApp on your phone: your chats stay where they are in the WhatsApp app. If you want a copy of anything before deleting it, see Download Your Data.

Limitations #

• No group chats. Group messages are ignored in both directions and the AI never replies in a group — see What Gets Copied Into the App above.
• No template messages. You cannot send pre-approved template messages. All messages are free-form. This also means there is no template approval step on WhatsApp Web: broadcasts you send on this channel go straight out as ordinary messages from your own WhatsApp account, with nothing submitted to Meta and nothing to wait for. Template approval belongs to the WhatsApp Business API only.
• Your phone has to come online at least once every 14 days. The WhatsApp Web session itself runs on our servers, so messages keep flowing while your phone is asleep or switched off. But if your phone stays offline for more than 14 days, WhatsApp drops every linked device and you have to pair again.
• Unofficial integration. Not officially supported by Meta; changes on their side can affect this feature.
• Limited delivery tracking. You can still see blue ticks (read receipts) in WhatsApp itself, but delivery status tracking within the app is more limited than with the Business API.
• Account risk. Excessive automation or spam-like behavior can result in temporary or permanent WhatsApp bans. Follow the warm-up and best practices below.
• Single device. Connecting counts as one of your linked devices; WhatsApp allows up to 4.
• No “is this number on WhatsApp” check. The app never asks WhatsApp whether a number is registered, on purpose: bulk lookups from a business number are a pattern WhatsApp treats as scraping, and a fresh number doing it for a few hundred unknown contacts gets restricted fast. A message to a number that is not on WhatsApp shows as sent but never gets delivered, and it still counts toward the number’s daily allowance, so clean your list before you upload it (see Scaling WhatsApp Outreach Safely).

Troubleshooting #

Connect Screen Won’t Load a Code #

• Refresh the page and try again.
• Ensure you have a stable internet connection.
• If the issue persists, disconnect any existing session first and start fresh.

Connection Keeps Dropping #

• Check that your phone has a reliable internet connection (Wi-Fi recommended).
• Make sure your phone’s battery optimization settings are not closing WhatsApp in the background.
• Reconnect the session from the Channels page.

Messages Not Being Sent #

• Verify the connection status shows Connected.
• Check that you have sufficient credits in your account.
• Ensure the recipient’s number is correct and has WhatsApp installed.
• If you recently hit a daily send-limit cap, wait for it to reset or review the warm-up meters.

When a message fails, the app shows the reason on the message in the chat, instead of just “failed.” Common reasons:

• WhatsApp is limiting messages to this contact. The recipient may have blocked your number, or WhatsApp isn’t letting your number start a new conversation with them yet. Repeatedly retrying makes this worse — wait for the contact to message you first, or reach them on another channel.
• Temporary WhatsApp connection issue. A one-off hiccup — the next message to that contact usually goes through.

“Reconnect keeps asking for a passkey” #

That security step can’t be completed by the normal QR or code connection on its own — see Trouble Connecting? Use the Browser Extension above.

Phone Shows “Logged Out” #

Your session was terminated from the phone side. Go to Settings → Channels → Channels, disconnect the existing session, and set up a new connection.

WhatsApp Sent Me a Warning #

Sometimes WhatsApp shows a warning on your phone shortly after you link a new device — often together with logging the linked device out. This is WhatsApp’s automated caution about a fresh connection, and it’s more likely when the number is new, or when messages go out to people who haven’t saved your number or messaged you first. It doesn’t mean you’ve been banned, and it usually isn’t about volume.

What to do:

1. Keep using the number normally in the WhatsApp app on your phone for a few days.
2. Reconnect the session, and for the first week or two let the AI mostly reply to people who message in — hold off on broadcasts and cold first messages.
3. If you do send outbound, space messages out and vary the wording — identical repeated texts are the classic trigger.
4. For regular outbound at volume, use the WhatsApp Business API instead: templates are approved by Meta upfront, so sends don’t put your number at this kind of risk.

If the message you received says your account is actually banned (not just a warning), contact support with a screenshot.

Best Practices #

• Bring your phone online at least once every 14 days — WhatsApp unlinks every linked device after that.
• Use Wi-Fi on your phone for the most stable connection.
• Heed the send-limit meters to protect your WhatsApp account from restrictions.
• Start with low automation volume and gradually increase as you establish a messaging pattern.
• Consider WhatsApp Business API if you need higher volume, template messages, or guaranteed reliability.