Skip to the operations

Messaging

WhatsApp Cloud API in a decision flow.

4 WhatsApp Cloud API operations a decision flow can call directly, with the credentials your own contract issued. The response is data the rest of the flow reads, branches on, and keeps in the trace.

Category
Messaging
Type
Integration
Authentication
API key
Test environment
Production host only

Who they are

Meta's hosted API for sending WhatsApp messages at scale.

The WhatsApp Cloud API lets a business send and receive WhatsApp messages from its own systems, hosted by Meta rather than on the business's servers. Messages a business starts must use templates approved in advance; free text is allowed only inside the 24-hour window a person opens by writing first. In Brazil and much of the world it is the channel people actually read.

What a flow can call

4 operations, each one a step you can place on the canvas.

  1. POST/$data.whatsapp_phone_number_id/messages

    Send an approved template message

    The call to use for anything a decision initiates.

  2. POST/$data.whatsapp_phone_number_id/messages

    Send a free-text reply

    Free text, which Meta only delivers inside the 24-hour service window that the person opened by messaging you.

  3. POST/$data.whatsapp_phone_number_id/messages

    Mark an inbound message as read

    Sets the read receipt on a message the applicant sent.

  4. GET/$data.whatsapp_phone_number_id

    Check the sender's status

    Reads the sender's display name, quality rating and messaging limit.

Where it sits in the decision

Messaging calls have a natural place in a flow.

Notifying a person is part of the decision rather than an afterthought to it: the message goes out from the flow, at the point the flow decided it was warranted, carrying the same version and trace as the outcome that triggered it.

Whatever WhatsApp Cloud API returns is part of the run, so it is part of the record. When someone asks months later why an applicant was declined, the answer cites what came back at the time rather than re-fetching from a service whose answer has since changed.

  • 01Add WhatsApp Cloud API as a connection authenticating with an API key.
  • 02WhatsApp Cloud API has one host for both environments, so guard test runs with your own credentials and limits.
  • 03Place a Connection node and pick an operation — “Send an approved template message” is usually the first one a flow needs.
  • 04Map the response into the fields your rules read, then test the whole path before it carries live traffic.

Common questions

Using WhatsApp Cloud API in a flow.

How do I connect WhatsApp Cloud API to a decision flow?

Add WhatsApp Cloud API as a connection in your workspace authenticating with an API key, with the credentials your own contract issued — ArboRule calls the provider as you, and never holds a contract on your behalf. Once the connection exists, any flow in the workspace can place a Connection node and choose one of its operations. The credentials live on the connection, not in the flow, so a policy owner can use WhatsApp Cloud API in a decision without ever seeing the secret.

Can I test WhatsApp Cloud API without touching production?

WhatsApp Cloud API exposes one host for both environments, so there is no separate sandbox to point at. Test runs still execute in Sandbox and are recorded separately in decision history, but the call goes to the same place as production — so guard it with your own test credentials, rate limits, or data.

What can a flow call on WhatsApp Cloud API?

4 operations, including “Send an approved template message”, “Send a free-text reply”, “Mark an inbound message as read”. Each one is a step you place on the canvas and map into the fields your rules read, and most flows start with “Send an approved template message”. The list comes from the same manifest the engine uses to make the call, so this page cannot describe an operation the product does not have.

Where in a decision should WhatsApp Cloud API be called?

Notifying a person is part of the decision rather than an afterthought to it: the message goes out from the flow, at the point the flow decided it was warranted, carrying the same version and trace as the outcome that triggered it.

Also in Messaging

Ready when you are

Wire WhatsApp Cloud API into a real decision.

Build the flow in Sandbox, connect your account, and watch the decision pull what it needs before it answers.

Read the docs