Start a WhatsApp conversation

POST /v1/whatsapp/conversations

Send a person an approved template from one of your WhatsApp numbers — an appointment reminder, a delivery notice — and the number's agent answers when they write back, with the template's words as its own first line and your variables. The conversation waits a day for an answer. A template Meta refuses ends the conversation failed, with Meta's reason in error. Needs whatsapp:write, a live key and an Idempotency-Key.

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
`Idempotency-Key`	header	string	Yes	Your own id for this message. Required.

Body

Sent as JSON. A field this operation does not take is refused, so a typo fails loudly.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`external_id`	string or null	No
`metadata`	object	No	Your own data, returned on every read and event. The agent never sees it.
`sender_id`	string (uuid)	Yes	The WhatsApp number to send from.
`template`	WhatsappTemplateChoice	Yes
`to_number`	string	Yes	The person's WhatsApp number, in international format, like `+966501234567`.
`variables`	object	No	Values for the agent's `{{placeholders}}`, for when the person answers.

Answer

201 with Conversation.

Errors

Every error is a problem document with a stable code.

Status	When
`401`	The key is missing, mistyped, unknown, revoked or expired.
`402`	The organization's credit is used up.
`403`	A test key: there are no WhatsApp test numbers.
`404`	This key reaches no such WhatsApp number.
`409`	The person is on a block list, the number's agent is not published, or the connection is not ready.
`422`	No such approved template, or the wrong number of values.
`429`	Too many requests for this key or its organization; see `Retry-After`.
`500`	Something went wrong on our side. Quote the `request_id` to support.
`501`	This deployment does not run WhatsApp.

Examples

Start a WhatsApp conversation

#!/bin/sh
# Start a WhatsApp conversation. The agent answers when they write back. With a live key.
curl -sS --fail-with-body -X POST "https://api.aigently.ai/v1/whatsapp/conversations" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIGENTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: reminder-4471" \
  --json '{
  "sender_id": "7d9f1b3d-5f7b-4d9f-c1b3-d5f7b9dbfd1f",
  "to_number": "+966501234567",
  "template": {
    "name": "appointment_reminder",
    "language": "en_US",
    "parameters": [
      "Sara",
      "Monday at 10"
    ]
  },
  "variables": {
    "first_name": "Sara"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "booking": "4471"
  }
}'

Try it

Sends this request to the API from your browser, with a test key. Nothing it does rings a phone.