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WhatsApp — send template

Start a conversation with a pre-approved template.

What it does

Starts a conversation using a message Meta has already approved. This is how you reach somebody who has not written to you recently — the only way, outside the 24-hour window.

What you need

Access token from WhatsApp (Meta). Meta → WhatsApp → API Setup. The temporary token there expires in 24 hours; generate a System User token for anything you intend to keep running.

It also needs Phone number ID — From Meta → WhatsApp → API Setup. Not the phone number itself. Both halves are entered together.

Connecting it

Credentials belong to one project, not to your workspace and not to you. A system built for one client never runs on another client's account, and a package handed to a business runs on theirs.

  1. Open the project and stay on the Visual Editor tab.
  2. Open the Tools & Integrations rail on the right.
  3. Find this tool, open it, and paste the credential.

To change it later, open the same panel — you can leave the key blank to keep the stored one and change only the other field.

Using it in a step

An Action step runs one tool with the arguments you type, exactly as written, with no model involved — so it costs nothing per run and behaves the same every time. Add one from the canvas toolbar, choose WhatsApp — send template, and fill in:

Field Required What goes in it
to yes The customer's number in international format, no plus sign.
template_name yes Exactly as approved in Meta, including case.
language no The template's language code, e.g. en_US. Must match Meta exactly.
variables no The template's placeholders, in order, comma separated.

Values can carry results forward: {{previous}} is the step before, and {{row:column}} is a column from the row this run is about when the trigger fans out.

Press Try it to run the step on its own before committing to a whole sequence.

This one really sends. Trying it delivers a real message — use your own address or number, never a customer's.

Using it with an agent

Tick WhatsApp — send template on any agent that should be able to call it, and the agent decides when to. Use an agent when the judgement matters and an Action step when the certainty does.

A worked example

A pharmacy sends a refill reminder a week before a prescription runs out. The template was approved once with two variables, the customer's name and the medicine, and every reminder fills those in.

When it goes wrong

Template not found. The name must match Meta's exactly, including language. A template approved for en_US is not the same as en.

Variables come out in the wrong places. They are positional. Count them in Meta's preview before wiring the step.

See also