Send a Message

The 24-hour rule

WhatsApp only allows free-form text within 24 hours of the customer’s last message. Outside that window (or to start a fresh conversation), you must send an approved template. Whatbot follows this automatically — pick the right type.

Send a template

Use this to start a conversation or message outside the 24h window.

curl -X POST https://api.whatbot.in/public/v1/messages \
  -H "X-API-Key: wa_live_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "9876543210",
    "type": "template",
    "template_name": "order_update",
    "language_code": "en",
    "components": [
      { "type": "body", "parameters": [ { "type": "text", "text": "Ravi" } ] }
    ]
  }'

Send a text (inside the 24h window)

curl -X POST https://api.whatbot.in/public/v1/messages \
  -H "X-API-Key: wa_live_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "to": "9876543210", "type": "text", "body": "Thanks! Your order ships today." }'

Send media (image, PDF, video, audio)

Set type to image, document, video, or audio and pass a public media_url — Whatbot hands the link to WhatsApp, which fetches it (no upload step). The file must be reachable over public HTTPS and within WhatsApp’s size limits (image 5 MB, document/video 16 MB, audio 16 MB). Like text, media is a service message — it delivers inside the 24-hour window; outside it, send a template with a media header instead.

Send a PDF (document):

curl -X POST https://api.whatbot.in/public/v1/messages \
  -H "X-API-Key: wa_live_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "9876543210",
    "type": "document",
    "media_url": "https://example.com/invoices/INV-1042.pdf",
    "filename": "Invoice INV-1042.pdf",
    "caption": "Your invoice"
  }'

Send an image:

curl -X POST https://api.whatbot.in/public/v1/messages \
  -H "X-API-Key: wa_live_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "9876543210",
    "type": "image",
    "media_url": "https://example.com/photos/site.jpg",
    "caption": "Site photo"
  }'

type: "video" and type: "audio" work the same way (video takes an optional caption; audio takes neither caption nor filename).

Body fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
to	string	Yes	Destination phone, any format (normalized to E.164).
type	string		`text`, `template`, `image`, `document`, `video`, or `audio`. Defaults to `text`.
body	string		The message text. Required when `type` is `text`.
media_url	string		Public HTTPS URL of the file. Required when `type` is `image`/`document`/`video`/`audio`.
caption	string		Optional caption for `image`/`video`/`document`.
filename	string		Optional display filename for `document` (e.g. `Invoice.pdf`).
template_name	string		The approved template’s name. Required when `type` is `template`.
language_code	string		Template language, e.g. `en`, `en_US`. Defaults to `en`.
components	array		Template variable values (header/body/button parameters), per the WhatsApp template component format.
name	string		Optional contact name to set if this creates a new conversation.

Response

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "messages": [ { "id": "wamid.HBg...", "message_status": "accepted" } ]
}