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Received Messages Notifications

When you receive an inboud message, a notification is sent to the Webhook URL you set in the application settings. This document goes over the inbound messages you can receive and provides examples.

Notification Objects

Received messages notifications can contain the following objects:

When you receive a message with media, the WhatsApp Business API client downloads the media. A notification is sent to your Webhook once the media is downloaded. This notification contains information that identifies the media object and enables you to find and retrieve the object. Use the Media endpoint with the media's id to retrieve the media.

Received Messages Examples

Text Message

{
  "contacts": [{
    "profile": {
      "name": "Kerry Fisher"
      },
    "wa_id": "16315551234"
  }],
  "messages":[{
    "from": "16315551234",
    "id": "ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
    "timestamp": "1518694235",
    "text": {
      "body": "Hello this is an answer"
    },
    "type": "text"
  }]
}

Static Location Message

{
  "contacts": [{
    "profile": {
        "name": "Kerry Fisher"
    },
    "wa_id": "16315551234"
  }],
 "messages":[{
   "from":"16315551234",
   "id":"ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
   "location":{
      "address":"Main Street Beach, Santa Cruz, CA",
      "latitude":38.9806263495,
      "longitude":-131.9428612257,
      "name":"Main Street Beach",
      "url":"https://foursquare.com/v/4d7031d35b5df7744"},
   "timestamp":"1521497875",
   "type":"location"
 }]
}

Contacts Message

{
  "contacts": [{
    "profile": {
      "name": "Kerry Fisher"
    },
    "wa_id": "16315551234"
  }],
  "messages": [{
    "contacts": [{
      "addresses": [{
        "city": "Menlo Park",
        "country": "United States",
        "country_code": "us",
        "state": "CA",
        "street": "1 Hacker Way",
        "type": "WORK",
        "zip": "94025"
      }],
      "birthday": "2012-08-18",
      "emails": [{
        "email": "kfish@fb.com",
        "type": "WORK"
      }],
      "ims": [{
        "service": "AIM",
        "user_id": "kfish"
      }],
      "name": {
        "first_name": "Kerry",
        "formatted_name": "Kerry Fisher",
        "last_name": "Fisher"
      },
      "org": {
        "company": "Meta",
 	"department": "WhatsApp"
      },
      "phones": [{
        "phone": "+1 (940) 555-1234",
        "type": "CELL"
        },
        {
          "phone": "+1 (650) 555-1234",
          "type": "WORK",
          "wa_id": "16505551234"
      }],
      "urls": [{
        "url": "https://www.facebook.com",
        "type": "WORK"
      }]
    }],
    "from": "16505551234",
    "id": "ABGGFlA4dSRvAgo6C4Z53hMh1ugR",
    "timestamp": "1537248012",
    "type": "contacts"
  }]
}

The contact_image setting is empty if the consumer client is using an IPhone.

Media Messages

Message containing an image:

{
	"messages": [{
		"from": "16315551234",
		"id": "ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
		"image": {
			"file": "/usr/local/wamedia/shared/b1cf38-8734-4ad3-b4a1-ef0c10d0d683",
			"id": "b1c68f38-8734-4ad3-b4a1-ef0c10d683",
			"mime_type": "image/jpeg",
			"sha256": "29ed500fa64eb55fc19dc4124acb300e5dcc54a0f822a301ae99944db",
			"caption": "Check out my new phone!",
			"status": "downloaded"
		},
		"timestamp": "1521497954",
		"type": "image"
	}]
}

Starting with 2.49.1 version media message webhooks contain the state and id of the received media.

Download states

StateDescription

downloaded

Media was succesfully download

retriable

Media was not downloaded, but the download may be retried using the retry endpoint

undownloaded

Media may not be downloaded

The caption field is optional for media messages. It is only included if the user has set a caption.

Message containing a document:

{
  "messages": [{
    "from": "16315551234",
    "id": "ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
    "timestamp": "1522189546",
    "type": "document",
    "document": {
      "caption": "80skaraokesonglistartist",
			"file": "/usr/local/wamedia/shared/fc233119-733f-49c-bcbd-b2f68f798e33",
			"id": "fc233119-733f-49c-bcbd-b2f68f798e33",
			"mime_type": "application/pdf",
			"sha256": "3b11fa6ef2bde1dd14726e09d3edaf782120919d06f6484f32d5d5caa4b8e",
			"status": "downloaded"
		}
	}]
}

Voice message:

{
    "messages":[{
        "from": "16315551234",
        "id": "ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
        "timestamp": "1521827831",
        "type": "voice",
        "voice": {
            "file": "/usr/local/wamedia/shared/463e/b7ec/ff4e4d9bb1101879cbd411b2",
            "id": "463eb7ec-ff4e-4d9b-b110-1879cbd411b2",
            "mime_type": "audio/ogg; codecs=opus",
            "sha256": "fa9e1807d936b7cebe63654ea3a7912b1fa9479220258d823590521ef53b0710",
            "status": "downloaded"
        }
  }]
}

Message containing a sticker:

{
  "messages":[{
        "from": "16315551234",
        "id": "ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
        "timestamp": "1521827831",
        "type": "sticker",
        "sticker": {
            "id": "b1c68f38-8734-4ad3-b4a1-ef0c10d683",
            "metadata": {
                "sticker-pack-id": "463eb7ec-ff4e-4d9b-b110-1879cbd411b2",
                "sticker-pack-name" : "Happy New Year",
                "sticker-pack-publisher" : "Kerry Fisher",
                "emojis": ["🐥", "😃"],
                "ios-app-store-link" : "https://apps.apple.com/app/id3133333",
                "android-app-store-link" : "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example",
                "is-first-party-sticker" : 0 | 1 # integer 
            },
            "mime_type": "image/webp",
            "sha256": "fa9e1807d936b7cebe63654ea3a7912b1fa9479220258d823590521ef53b0710"
        }  
    }]
}

Message Generated From Ads that Click to WhatsApp

{
   "messages":[{
      "from":"12345678",
      "id":"ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
      "image":{
         "id":"b1c68f38-8734-4ad3-b4a1-ef0c10d683",
         "mime_type":"image/jpeg",
         "sha256":"29ed500fa64eb55fc19dc4124acb300e5dcca0f822a301ae99944db"
         "caption": "Check out my product!",
      },
      "timestamp":"1521497954",
      "type":"image",
      "referral" : {
        "headline": "Our new product",
        "body" : "This is a great product",
        "source_type": "<SOURCE_TYPE>",
        "source_id": "<SOURCE_ID>",
        "source_url": "<SOURCE_URL>", //for the moment, this will always be a Facebook owned domain
        "video": {
          "id": "e144be57-12b1-4035-a520-703fcc87ef45",
        "ctwa_clid": "<CTWA_CLID>",
      }     
    }
  }]
}

See more information about the referral property.

Example: Unsupported Messages

It is possible to receive an unknown callback notification. The following is an example of an unsupported message type received from a customer.

{
  "contacts": [{
		"profile": {
			"name": "Kerry Fisher"
		},
		"wa_id": "16315551234"
	}],
  "messages": [{
		"errors": [{
			"code": 501,
			"details": "Message type is not currently supported",
			"title": "Unknown message type"
		}],
		"from": "16315551234",
		"id": "ABGGFRBzFymPAgo6N9KKs7HsN6eB",
		"timestamp": "1531933468",
		"type": "unknown"
	}]
}

Forwarded Messages

You can see if a message you received has been forwarded or is frequently forwarded. This is a notification for a forwarded message:

{
  "contacts": [{
    "profile": {
      "name": "Kerry Fisher"
    },
    "wa_id": "16315551234"
  }],
  "messages": [{
    "context": {
      "forwarded": true
    },
    "from": "16315558011",
    "id": "ABGGFmkiWVVPAgo-sOGh7pv13wVJ",
    "text": {
      "body": "Party at Dotty's tonight!"
    },
    "timestamp": "1593068329",
    "type": "text"
  }]
}

This is a notification for a frequently forwarded message:

{
  "contacts": [{
    "profile": {
      "name": "Kerry Fisher"
    },
    "wa_id": "16315551234"
  }],
  "messages": [{
    "context": {
      "frequently_forwarded": true
    },
    "from": "16315558011",
    "id": "ABGGFmkiWVVPAgo-sBTHfS3swNIl",
    "timestamp": "1593068225",
    "type": "video",
    "video": {
      "id": "e144be57-12b1-4035-a520-703fcc87ef45",
    "mime_type": "video/mp4",
    "sha256": "02c4e68a4f0d6af5ec6ef02120e20d15f520a4dd473b535abec1aab175c4e8b9"
    }
  }]
}

Security Notification Enabled

If the show_security_notifications parameter is set to true in the application settings, all inbound message notifications include the following information about the user's identity contained inside the identity object:

{
  "contacts": [{
		"profile": {
			"name": "Kerry Fisher"
		},
		"wa_id": "16315551234"
	}],
   "messages": [{
        "from": "16315553601",
        "id": "ABGGFjFVU2AfAgo6V-Hc5eCgK5Gh",
        "identity": {
            "acknowledged": true,
            "created_timestamp": 1602532300000,
            "hash": "Sjvjlx8G6Z0="
        },
        "text": {
            "body": "Hi from new number 3601"
        },
        "timestamp": "1602532300",
        "type": "text"
    }]
}

Message From a Quick Reply Button Click

When your customer clicks on a quick reply button, a response is sent. Below is an example of the callback format. Note: A customer may not click a button and either reply to the interactive template message or just send you a message. Make sure that you are able to support this type of scenario as well. See the Webhooks documentation for more information. 
{
    "contacts": [
        {
            "profile": {
                "name": "Kerry Fisher"
            },
            "wa_id": "16505551234"
        }
    ],
    "messages": [
        {
            "button": {
                "payload": "No-Button-Payload",
                "text": "No"
            },
            "context": {
                "from": "16315558007",
                "id": "gBGGFmkiWVVPAgkgQkwi7IORac0"
            },
            "from": "16505551234",
            "id": "ABGGFmkiWVVPAgo-sKD87hgxPHdF",
            "timestamp": "1591210827",
            "type": "button"
        }
    ]
    # If there are any errors, an errors field (array) will be present        
    "errors": [ { ... } ]
}

Inbound Replies to Sent Messages

Users can respond to a specific message in WhatsApp. For the business to understand the context of a message reply, we include the context object. This context object provides the id of the message to which the customer replied, the WhatsApp ID of the sender of the original message and IDs for any products the customer may be referring to.

Replying to Messages contains more information.

Example: Customer Replied to Your Message

The following is an example of an inbound message that is a reply to a message that you sent. See the context object section below for more information.

{
  "contacts": [ {
    "profile": {
        "name": "Kerry Fisher"
    },
    "wa_id": "16315551234"
  } ],
   "messages":[{
      "context":{
         "from":"16315558011",
         "id":"ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf"
         },
      "from":"16315551234",
      "id":"gBGGFlA5FpafAgkOuJbRq54qwbM",
      "text":{"body":"Yes, count me in!"},
      "timestamp":"1521499915",
      "type":"text"
  }]
}

The text field is optional for media messages. If it exists, the text value is the caption of the sent media or the body of the response, if the response is a text message.

Example: Customer Replied to a List Message

{
   "messages": [ {
      "context": {
        "from": "sender_wa_id_of_context_message",
        "group_id": "group_id_of_context_message",
        "id": "message_id_of_context_message",
        "mentions": [ "wa_id1", "wa_id2" ]
      },
      "from": "sender_wa_id",
      "group_id": "group_id",
      "id": "message_id",
      "timestamp": "message_timestamp",
      "type": "interactive",
      "interactive": {
          "type": "list_reply",
          "list_reply": {
            "title": "row-title-content-here",
            "id": "unique-row-identifier-here",
            "description": "row-description-content-here"
          }
      }
   }

Example: Customer Replied to a Reply Button Message

{
  "messages": [ 
    {
      "context": {
        "from": "sender_wa_id_of_context_message",
        "group_id": "group_id_of_context_message",
        "id": "message_id_of_context_message",
        "mentions": [ "wa_id1", "wa_id2" ]
      },
      "from": "sender_wa_id",
      "group_id": "group_id",
      "id": "message_id",
      "timestamp": "message_timestamp",
      "type": "interactive",
      "interactive": {
        "type": "button_reply",
        "button_reply": {
          "id": "unique-button-identifier",
          "title": "button-text"
        }
      } # end interactive node
    } # end message item
  ] # end messages array
}

Example: Customer Asking For Information About a Specific Product

{
  "contacts": [
    {
      "profile": {
        "name": "customer-name"
      },
      "wa_id": "customer-whatsapp-ID"
    }
  ],
  "messages": [
    {
      "from": "customer-whatsapp-ID",
      "id": "message-ID",
      "text": {
        "body": "Can I get this in another color?"
      },
      "context": {
        "referred_product": {
          "catalog_id": "catalog-ID",
          "product_retailer_id": "product-ID"
        }
      },
      "timestamp": "message-received-timestamp",
      "type": "text"
    }
  ]
}

Example: Customer placed an order after receiving a Multi or Single Product Message

{
   "messages": [ {
      "from": "customer-whatsapp-id",
      "group_id": "group-id",
      "id": "message-ID",
      "timestamp": "message-timestamp",
      "type": "order"
      "order": {
         "catalog_id": "catalog_id",
         "product_items": [
            {
            "product_retailer_id":"product-ID",
            "quantity":"number-of-items",
            "item_price":"unitary-price-of-item",
            "currency":"price-currency"
            },
                 ...
         ],
         "text":"text-message-sent-along-with-the-order"
      }
   }
}

Inbound System Messages

System messages are generated by the system when some event happens.

Example: A User Changed Their Number

If the notify_user_change_number parameter is set to true in the application settings you will receive inbound system messages when a user changes their phone number.

{
    "messages": [
        {
            "from": "16315558889",
            "id": "ABGGFjFVWIifAzNzeXMtMTYzMTU1NTg4ODlAcy53aGF0c2FwcC5uZXQtMTU3NDA4MDEwMjIxMy1jaGFuZ2U",
            "system": {
                "body": "‎User A changed from ‎+1 (631) 555-8889 to ‎+1 (631) 555-8890‎",
                "new_wa_id": "16315558890",
                "type": "user_changed_number"
            },
            "timestamp": "1574080102",
            "type": "system"
        }
    ]
}

Example: A User Potentially Changed

If the show_security_notifications parameter is set to true in the application settings you will receive inbound system messages when a user (in conversation with you) has potentially changed on WhatsApp.

Until this notification is acknowledged using the identity endpoint, all outgoing messages to this user will be blocked. Incoming messages will continue to be received as expected.

{
    "messages": [
        {
            "from": "16315553601",
            "id": "ABGGFjFVU2AfAzVzeXMtMTYzMTU1NTM2MDFAcy53aGF0c2FwcC5uZXQtMTYwMjUzNTM1NjMzMi1pZGVudGl0eQ",
            "system": {
  		"body": "Test security code change",
                "identity": "Rc/eg9Rl0JA=",
                "type": "user_identity_changed",
                "user": "16315553601"
            },
            "timestamp": "1602535356",
            "type": "system"
        }
    ]
}

System Message Types

System Message TypeDescription

user_changed_number

User's phone number changed

user_identity_changed

User has potentially changed on WhatsApp

Mentioning Users in Messages

When you send a message that mentions a particular WhatsApp ID directly and someone replies to that message, you will see the mentioned ID in the context object and in the mentions array. Because more than one phone number can be mentioned, the mentions field is an array of phone numbers, even if only one phone number is mentioned.

Example: Customer Replying to Message

The following is an example of a customer replying to a message that contained mentions. The context object contains the numbers mentioned in the original message. The reply in the text object mentions the same numbers again.

{   
  "messages": [{
    "context": {
      "from": "16315555544",
      "id": "gBGGFlA5FpafAgkOuJbRq54qwbM",
      "mentions": [
        "16315551000",
        "16315551099"
      ]
    },
    "from": "16315551234 ",
    "id": "ABGGFlA5FpafAgo6tHcNmNjXmuSf",
    "timestamp": "1504902988",
    "text": {
      "body": "@16315551000 and @16315551099 are mentioned"
    },
    "type": "text"
  }]
}