We are making changes to the WhatsApp Business Platform pricing model. See Pricing Updates on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Copy Code Authentication Templates

Copy code authentication templates allow you to send a one-time password or code along with a copy code button to your users. When a WhatsApp user taps the copy code button, the WhatsApp client copies the password or code to the device's clipboard. The user can then switch to your app and paste the password or code into your app.

Copy code button authentication templates consist of:

  • Preset text: <VERIFICATION_CODE> is your verification code.
  • An optional security disclaimer: For your security, do not share this code.
  • An optional expiration warning (optional): This code expires in <NUM_MINUTES> minutes.
  • A copy code button.

Limitations

URLs, media, and emojis are not supported.

Template Creation

Use the WhatsApp Business Account > Message Templates endpoint to create authentication templates.

Request Syntax

POST /<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>/message_templates

Post Body

{
  "name": "<TEMPLATE_NAME>",
  "language": "<TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE>",
  "category": "authentication",
  "message_send_ttl_seconds": <TIME_T0_LIVE>, // Optional
  "components": [
    {
      "type": "body", 
      "add_security_recommendation": <SECURITY_RECOMMENDATION> // Optional
    },
    {
      "type": "footer", 
      "code_expiration_minutes": <CODE_EXPIRATION> // Optional
    },
    { 
      "type": "buttons",
      "buttons": [
        {
          "type": "otp",
          "otp_type": "copy_code",
          "text": "<COPY_CODE_BUTTON_TEXT>"  // Optional
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Note that in your template creation request the button type is designated as OTP, but upon creation the button type will be set to URL. You can confirm this by performing a GET request on a newly created authentication template and analyzing its components.

Properties

PlaceholderDescriptionExample Value

<CODE_EXPIRATION>

Integer

Optional.


Indicates the number of minutes the password or code is valid.


If included, the code expiration warning and this value will be displayed in the delivered message.


If omitted, the code expiration warning will not be displayed in the delivered message.


Minimum 1, maximum 90.

5

<COPY_CODE_BUTTON_TEXT>

String

Optional.


Copy code button label text.


If omitted, the text will default to a pre-set value localized to the template's language. For example, Copy Code for English (US).


Maximum 25 characters.

Copy Code

<SECURITY_RECOMMENDATION>

Boolean

Optional.


Set to true if you want the template to include the string, For your security, do not share this code. Set to false to exclude the string.

true

<TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE>

String

Required.


Template language and locale code.

en_US

<TEMPLATE_NAME>

String

Required.


Template name.


Maximum 512 characters.

verification_code

<TIME_TO_LIVE>

Integer

Optional.


Authentication message time-to-live value, in seconds. See Time-To-Live below.

60

Example Request

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/102290129340398/message_templates' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '
{
  "name": "authentication_code_copy_code_button",
  "language": "en_US",
  "category": "authentication",
  "message_send_ttl_seconds": 60,
  "components": [
    {
      "type": "body",
      "add_security_recommendation": true
    },
    {
      "type": "footer",
      "code_expiration_minutes": 5
    },
    {
      "type": "buttons",
      "buttons": [
        {
          "type": "otp",
          "otp_type": "copy_code",
          "text": "Copy Code"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}'

Example Response

{
  "id": "594425479261596",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "category": "AUTHENTICATION"
}

Sending Authentication Template Messages

Use Cloud API or On-Premises API to send authentication template messages.

Sample App

See our WhatsApp One-Time Password (OTP) Sample App for Android on Github. The sample app demonstrates how to send and receive OTP passwords and codes via the API, how to integrate the one-tap autofill and copy code buttons, how to create a template, and how to spin up a sample server.