How to connect WhatsApp (Meta Cloud API)
- Go to developers.facebook.com/apps and sign in with the Facebook account that manages your business.about 40 seconds
- Open your app (or press "Create app" and choose "Business"), then add the "WhatsApp" product from the left-hand menu.about 2 min
- Under WhatsApp > API Setup, copy the "Phone number ID". This is a long NUMBER -- it is not your phone number, and the two are easy to confuse.about 40 seconds
- The token shown on that page expires in 24 hours. For a connection that keeps working, go to Business Settings > System users, create a system user, give it your WhatsApp app, and generate a PERMANENT token with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission.about 3 min
- Copy the permanent token immediately -- it is shown once.about 20 seconds
- Paste it into the box below and press "Test connection".about 30 seconds
What Julia will ask you for
Long string from your System UserA number, not the phone number itselfOptionalIf something goes wrong
If messages stop after a day: you pasted the temporary token from the API Setup page instead of a permanent System User token. That page's token always expires in 24 hours.
If it says the phone number ID is invalid: check you copied the ID and not the phone number. The ID is a long number with no country code and no + sign.
If sending fails with "recipient not in allowed list": while your number is unverified, Meta only delivers to numbers you added as test recipients under API Setup.
The key is shown ONCE. If you closed the page without copying it, delete that key and make a new one -- you cannot look the old one up.
If it says the key is wrong: copy it again and check there is no space at the start or end. A key pasted from an email often picks one up.