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 needs a Meta Business account. Business verification is optional, but an unverified business starts at 250 unique contacts per 24 hours.
• 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 at Meta’s rate for the destination country. If you have connected your own Anthropic key (BYOK), managed-Twilio WhatsApp messages cost 0.05 credits each, inbound and outbound, and on every other account those delivery costs are covered by your AI credit rate. From 1 October 2026 every managed number is charged per message instead, inbound and outbound, whether or not you use your own key. 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. If your account is set up by an agency, the agency may set a different price per number; the pairing screen and the number’s card show the one you pay.

If your balance is too low when the monthly fee is due, that month is skipped and tried again about 30 days later. A skipped month is never charged afterwards, topping up does not trigger a charge, and the number stays connected, since it is your own number.

Each number can instead be put on Unlimited AI replies, where the connection costs 250 credits per 30 days and the AI’s work in conversations on that number costs nothing on top for agents on the Max and Mini tiers. Agents on the Pro tier keep paying per reply. You pick the mode when you pair the number and can change it later. See Unlimited AI on a WhatsApp Web number.

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). There is no day limit on our side: everything your phone hands over is imported, so how far back it goes depends on what WhatsApp sends from the phone. With this off, nothing from before the connection is imported. 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. Tick I understand my account will be charged 50 credits/month for this connection. The button below stays greyed out until you do; reconnecting a number that is already paired skips this.
4. 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.

You do not have to go looking for it. When a number is offline, a WhatsApp disconnected bar appears at the top of every page in the app with a Reconnect button that starts the same flow; it shows straight away when WhatsApp has signed the device out (a new QR scan is the only fix) and after a couple of minutes for an ordinary drop that has not healed on its own. You also get a bell notification and an email, so a number that goes quiet overnight is not missed. Until it is back, the AI does not reply on that number.

Reconnect link for whoever has the phone #

The phone behind a number is often not with the person who manages the account: a client, a colleague at the front desk, a shop owner. Give them a reconnect link and they can bring the number back themselves, without logging in.

1. Open Settings → Channels → Channels and click the link icon next to the WhatsApp Web number.
2. Click Create link, then Copy, and send it to whoever has the phone.
3. When the number disconnects, they open the link. The page shows your logo and name, the number (partly hidden) and whether it is connected. They either scan the QR code with WhatsApp (Settings → Linked devices → Link a device), or, on the phone itself, use the 8 character code: Linked devices → Link a device → Link with phone number instead, then type the code.

The link works for that one number only, it does not expire, and it opens on your own domain when you have white label set up. The page can only reconnect the number, never disconnect it or show anything else from your account. The same window shows when the link was last opened and when the number was last reconnected through it. New link replaces it (the old one stops working straight away) and Turn off switches it off.

When a number is down, the WhatsApp disconnected bar also has a Copy reconnect link button, and the disconnect email includes the link once you have created one.

When WhatsApp keeps closing the session #

Now and then WhatsApp keeps cutting a linked device off right after it reconnects. The app first tries to repair the session on its own; if WhatsApp keeps closing it within a few hours, the number is marked as needing a new scan and the disconnected bar, bell notification and email appear as for any sign out. Scan the QR code again (or use the pairing code) to bring it back.

Keep the phone active (WhatsApp’s 14-day rule) #

WhatsApp logs every linked device out when the phone itself has not used WhatsApp for about 14 days. That is WhatsApp’s own rule, and it applies to this connection like any other linked device. It most often hits a phone kept in a drawer, or a phone with two WhatsApp profiles where one profile is never opened. When it happens the number shows as signed out, the disconnected bar appears, and only a fresh QR scan brings it back.

To get ahead of it, Your AI Connector watches for activity from the phone on each connected number (a message typed on the phone, a chat read on the phone). After about 10 days without any, a bar saying Open WhatsApp on your phone appears at the top of every page in the app, and you get a bell notification and an email with the same title. Open WhatsApp on that phone, on the right profile if the phone has more than one, and that is all; the warning is sent once per quiet period. A phone that is online but never touched can get this warning too. Opening WhatsApp once is still the safest move.

Messages people send while a number is logged out stay on your phone. After you reconnect, Your AI Connector imports the ones that arrived while it was offline, so the conversation can continue in the app.

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.

Calls #

Every voice or video call on a WhatsApp Web number shows up in that contact’s chat as a small centered line, the way WhatsApp itself shows them: Missed voice call, Voice call · 3:12 for one you answered (with how long it lasted), and Declined voice call. Only calls a contact places to your number are shown: WhatsApp does not pass calls you make from the phone on to linked devices, so those never appear in the chat. A missed call moves the chat to the top of your list, marked unread like a new message, and your AI Agent sees the calls in the conversation, so “you called twice yesterday” is something it knows. Calls can’t be answered, recorded or transcribed from the app: the audio only ever reaches the phone. A caller who rings you gets a contact record the moment the call ends, so they show up in Chats even if they never sent a message.

Text back missed calls #

The simplest way to answer a missed call is the switch on the number itself. On Settings → Channels, each WhatsApp Web number has a Text back missed calls switch under its row. Turn it on, keep or change the message (it starts as “Sorry we missed your call. How can we help? Reply here and we’ll get back to you right away.”), and save. From then on, the moment a call to that number goes unanswered, that text goes out from the same number, and when the caller replies the conversation is handled by the number’s AI Agent, like any new chat. The same switch sits on the SMS via Twilio card if you have connected your own Twilio number for SMS, where the reply goes out as a text and the call can ring a phone of your choice first — see Text back missed calls on your SMS number.

Behind the switch is an ordinary automation named Missed call text-back · your number, so it shows in AI Studio → Automations and each run uses the usual 0.25 credits. Want more, such as a different text during service hours, a specific agent for missed callers, or a follow-up if they don’t reply? Open it in Automations and edit it there; once you have changed its shape, the Channels page shows Customised in Automations and leaves your edits alone, while the switch still turns it on and off.

For anything beyond one text, the Missed call trigger in Automations fires the moment the call ends unanswered, whether the caller hung up or it rang out, with the caller already saved as a contact, so a Send message step can answer them on WhatsApp within seconds and your agent takes the conversation from there. With several numbers connected, the trigger’s Number field limits it to calls to one of them. Calls you pick up or decline don’t count, and calls still can’t be answered from the app itself. Step by step: Example: turn a missed WhatsApp call into a chat.

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.

Every bubble counts. The cap counts messages sent, not conversations, and your AI Agent normally splits one reply into several short bubbles. A reply in 5 bubbles uses 5 of the day’s cap, so on day one, 50 messages can be spent by a handful of conversations. When a number hits its cap, the Daily WhatsApp limit reached banner at the top of the app says so and offers two ways out: Increase limit (the warm-up panel below) and Reply in fewer bubbles, which opens the answering Agent’s Max messages per response setting — set it to 2 or 3, and turn on Enforce max messages if you want that guaranteed. See Response limits. Replies you type yourself from the app count too; messages sent from the phone itself don’t. You also get an email (and a bell alert) the first time a number hits its cap on a given day, at most once per number per day, as part of the WhatsApp Status Changes notification category.

The caps are per number, so connecting more numbers adds room: a broadcast on WhatsApp Web is spread across all your connected numbers and paced against their combined ceiling. See Sending from several WhatsApp Web numbers.

The daily caps are not the only protection on the number. What the message says counts too: if ten near-identical opening messages go out from one number within an hour to contacts who have never written to you, the ones after that are stopped and marked failed in the chat, and you get an email about it. Replies and your AI Agent are never affected. That is why broadcasts on WhatsApp Web ask for message variations before they launch. See Identical openers get numbers restricted for what trips the guard and how to send again after it does.

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 1,500 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.

Numbers that are not on WhatsApp #

A message to a phone number that has no WhatsApp account is not sent. Instead of waiting on one grey tick forever, it is marked failed in the chat with the reason “This number is not on WhatsApp”. The Message failed automation trigger fires for it, so you can react, for example by texting the contact through another channel or tagging them for a person to check the number. The contact is also set to Do Not Disturb on WhatsApp, so follow-ups stop trying a number that cannot receive them.

Unlimited AI on a WhatsApp Web Number #

Every WhatsApp Web number is billed in one of two modes, and a number can move between them at any time.

The mode is offered only on accounts it has been switched on for. If your numbers do not show the choice, your account does not have it yet.

If your account runs the AI on your own API key, Unlimited AI is not offered: replies on your numbers already cost no credits.

What Unlimited AI covers #

On a number switched to Unlimited AI, everything the AI does inside a conversation on that number is free:

• The replies themselves, on the Max and Mini quality tiers.
• The tools the AI uses while replying, such as booking an appointment or fetching something from your knowledge base.
• The check that decides whether a conversation is finished, and the handling when someone writes in mid-reply.
• The tags the AI puts on a contact, the name and email address it picks out of a chat, and the running summaries it keeps of long conversations.
• Transcribing the voice notes and video audio people send you, so the AI can answer them.
• Automated follow-up messages the Agent sends on that number, including broadcast follow-ups, on the Max and Mini tiers.
• Tasks the nightly daily summary creates about a conversation on that number.

Each free reply still appears in your credit usage history as an AI Message at 0 credits, so you can see what the number handled.

It does not cover:

• Replies on the Pro tier, which stay charged per action. Put the answering Agent on Max or Mini to get the free rate.
• Setup work outside a conversation, such as generating tag ideas or follow-up templates in the Agent editor.
• Writing the daily summary itself, which covers your whole account rather than one number.
• Anything billed by WhatsApp or a carrier rather than by us.

Unlimited AI applies to the one number you switched. Your other numbers and your other channels are unaffected.

Choosing the mode #

When you pair a new number, the choice appears before the QR code: Metered or Unlimited AI. The number starts on whichever you pick.

Afterwards the mode sits on the number’s card under Settings → Channels → Channels. Switch it there and a confirmation window shows the exact number of credits that will be taken or returned before you agree.

What a switch costs #

Switching is settled in whole days, so you never pay twice for the same day.

Metered to Unlimited AI. You pay 250 credits, less the whole days of the monthly fee you have already paid for and not used. If your last 50-credit monthly fee was taken 12 days ago, 18 paid days are left, worth 30 credits, so the switch costs 220 credits. A number you have only just paired has nothing to subtract, so it costs the full 250. The 30-day period starts the moment you switch.

Unlimited AI to Metered. The whole days left in your 30-day period come back to your balance, and the normal 50-credit monthly fee is then charged for a fresh month starting that day. Switch back with 9 days left and 75 credits are returned and 50 are taken, leaving you 25 credits better off.

A number can be switched once in each direction per 24 hours. If you have just switched, the card tells you when the next switch is available.

Renewal, and what happens if your balance is short #

An Unlimited AI number renews every 30 days for another 250 credits, taken automatically. The card shows the renewal date. The 30 days run from the moment you switched it on, not by calendar month, and the renewal day cannot be moved (to the 1st of the month, for example).

If auto-recharge is on and the balance is too low for the renewal, we top up first and then renew, even when your balance is still above your recharge threshold. Client accounts of an agency get the same through the agency’s billing when the agency has auto-recharge on for them.

If there are still not enough credits on the day it renews (auto-recharge off, or the top-up failed), the number goes back to Metered, we email you about it, and the normal 50-credit monthly fee takes over from that day. The number stays connected the whole time and keeps sending and receiving: only the AI goes back to costing credits per reply. Top the balance up and switch it back whenever you like.

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 same goes for any other app or device linked to the same WhatsApp account (under Linked devices on the phone): a message it sends to a contact counts as you replying, so the AI pauses in that chat too. The chat tells you when this is why the AI stopped: a line at the top of the conversation and in the contact panel reads “AI paused: a message was sent from the phone or another app linked to this WhatsApp.”, with Resume AI right next to it.

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.

WhatsApp Business greeting and away messages are recognised automatically. If the WhatsApp Business app on the paired phone has Greeting message or Away message switched on (Business tools in the app), that automatic text goes out seconds after a contact’s message. Once the same automatic text has gone to two contacts, it is recognised as an automatic message: the AI stays on for those chats, and a note appears on the number in Settings → Channels. The very first contact it reaches is switched back on at that point too. The contact then gets both your automatic message and the AI Agent’s reply, so if you only want the AI to answer, turn the greeting and away message off and let the AI Agent do the greeting. Chats that were paused before this was recognised can be resumed with Resume AI on the AI paused filter in Chats.

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 agent settings.

Another bot linked to the same WhatsApp pauses the AI everywhere it replies. If a second chatbot or auto-reply tool is linked to the number, every message it sends switches the AI off in that chat. When the same text goes out three times to one chat within a minute, or to many chats within ten minutes, an entry appears in the Error Log (code APP-1115) quoting the repeated text, at most once a day per number. Unlink the other app under Linked devices in WhatsApp, or switch off its automatic replies, then resume the AI in the affected chats.

An automatic reply from the contact’s side is not recognised. The two checks above are about automatic messages sent from your own number. When the person you are messaging has an auto-responder of their own (an away message, an out-of-office, another business’s chatbot), nothing marks its message as automatic: the AI treats it like any other message and can answer it, and each reply uses credits as normal. The same is true on the WhatsApp Business API, SMS, Telegram, Instagram and Messenger. If you see two bots going back and forth in a chat, turn the AI off for that chat with the toggle at the top of the conversation. Email is the exception: automated mail is filed and never answered (see Email).

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.

Contacts Whose Number Is Hidden #

WhatsApp does not always reveal a contact’s phone number to a linked device. Instead it hands over a long internal id (a 14 or 15 digit code) and shares the real number later, sometimes only when the contact writes again or you save them in the phone’s address book. Until then the app has no number to show for that contact.

Such a contact shows Number hidden where the phone number would normally be: in the chat header, the chat list, the contact card and the Contacts table. The conversation itself works as usual: messages arrive, the AI replies, follow-ups go out, because WhatsApp routes them on that internal id. Only the number is missing, so there is nothing to call or copy yet.

As soon as WhatsApp shares the real number, the contact updates on its own: the number appears everywhere the label was, and the messages already in the chat are kept. You can also open Edit contact and type the number yourself if the contact has given it to you in the chat; the phone field is empty for a hidden-number contact, not filled with the internal code, and saving without a number leaves the contact as it is.

Over the API and in a contacts export, a hidden number stays hidden. The API returns phone_number as null for such a contact, with number_hidden set to true and WhatsApp’s internal id under whatsapp_lid; every other contact carries number_hidden: false. The CSV export leaves the Phone Number column empty and fills the Number Hidden and WhatsApp LID columns instead. To match the contact from another system, use whatsapp_lid: passing it as the phone number to the contact lookup finds the contact.

Shared Locations #

A location the contact shares (a pin, a saved place or a live location) reaches the AI as text in the conversation: the place name and address when WhatsApp sends them, plus the coordinates, in the form [THE CONTACT SHARED A LOCATION] Playa Delfines, Cancún (21.1619, -86.8515). The agent can use the address in its reply, follow instructions that depend on where the contact is, or hand the latitude and longitude to a custom function or webhook. A live location arrives once, with the position at the moment it was shared; the app does not follow the moving pin. The WhatsApp Business API delivers the same shape.

In Chats you see it as a card, not as that line of text: a pin with the place name and address, and an Open in Google Maps link that opens the exact spot in a new tab. A caption the contact typed with it shows underneath. The chat list shows a pin and the place name as the latest message.

Limitations #

• Some contacts arrive without a phone number. WhatsApp can withhold a contact’s number from a linked device and share it later; the contact shows Number hidden until then and fills in by itself. See Contacts Whose Number Is Hidden.
• 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.
• Delivery tracking follows WhatsApp’s own ticks. A message shows a small clock until WhatsApp confirms it has taken it (normally under a second), then one tick once WhatsApp has accepted it, two ticks once it is delivered to the contact’s phone, and the hover detail under the message shows when it was read. If WhatsApp never confirms a message within 10 minutes — usually a connection that dropped at the wrong moment — it is marked Not delivered with a red ! so you can send it again. A message to a number that is not on WhatsApp is not sent at all: it is marked failed with “This number is not on WhatsApp” (see Numbers that are not on WhatsApp). A contact who blocked your number still shows one tick.
• 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.

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.

Number Disconnects Within a Minute of Connecting #

If a number shows Connected and drops again within a minute or so, every time you link it, WhatsApp itself is removing the linked device from that account; nothing in the app deleted it. WhatsApp does not say why, but linking, deleting and re-adding the same number many times in a short period can trigger it. On that phone, open WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices and log out the old sessions, update WhatsApp, wait a few hours, then connect the number once and leave it connected. If WhatsApp shows a warning on the phone, wait until it clears before linking again.

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. If nobody touched the phone, see Keep the phone active above: WhatsApp logs linked devices out after about 14 days without the phone using WhatsApp, and the day-10 warning email is the sign to open it.

The AI Stopped Replying in Some Chats #

Open one of those chats. If it says “AI paused: a message was sent from the phone or another app linked to this WhatsApp.”, someone replied from the phone, or another app linked to the number sent a message, and the AI stepped back for that contact. Click Resume AI to switch it back on. If many chats are affected at once, check Settings → Error Log for an APP-1115 entry: that points to another app linked to the number that keeps sending the same message. See Replying Yourself Pauses the AI.

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.