What you need
- A Meta business portfolio and a Meta app. You can reuse the app you already use for Facebook or Instagram.
- A WhatsApp Business Account with a number registered on the Cloud API. Groups need an Official Business Account (the green tick), and they do not work for a number that also runs in the WhatsApp Business app.
- A group holds at most 8 people, including the business. People join through an invite link.
- Meta bills the messages, and a group message counts once per member it reaches. See Meta’s pricing.
Part 1: Admin setup
Follow the steps in this order. Meta can confirm your webhook only after MagicPost has stored the app’s keys.1
Create the app in Meta
In Meta for Developers, create a Business type app connected to your business portfolio and add the WhatsApp product. Meta’s get started guide walks through it.
2
Copy the app keys
In the app, open App settings → Basic and copy the App ID and the App secret.
3
Open the setup panel
Go to Admin → Publishing → Platforms, click Add credentials on the WhatsApp card and choose Official WhatsApp Cloud API (Meta) under Kind of app.
4
Fill in the fields
- App ID: digits only. It is filled in from your Facebook or Instagram app when one is saved.
- App secret: paste it, or leave it blank to reuse the secret of the app the ID was filled in from.
- Verify token: MagicPost pre-fills a random one. Keep it, or use your own with 16 to 100 letters, digits,
.,_or-. - Shortest gap and Longest gap: keep 5 and 15 seconds, see Pacing.
5
Register the callback in Meta
Under What to register, the panel shows the Callback URL and the Verify token, each with a Copy button:In the Meta app, go to WhatsApp → Configuration, paste both, and choose Verify and save. See Meta’s webhook guide.
6
Subscribe to the webhook fields
Subscribe to
messages, group_lifecycle_update, group_participants_update and group_settings_update.7
Get advanced access and go live
In App Review, request advanced access to
whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management, and switch the app to Live.8
Run the checks and enable it
Click Run checks on the card and fix anything that fails. Then tick Available to users, or use the switch on the card.
Part 2: Connect a number
Every user does this for their own number, and so does the admin for theirs.1
Make a system user token in Meta
In Meta Business settings, add a system user and give it full control of your WhatsApp Business Account and of the app. The connect page shows the app’s ID. Generate a token for the system user that never expires, with
whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management. See Meta’s notes on system user tokens.2
Copy two IDs
In WhatsApp Manager, copy the phone number ID and the WhatsApp Business Account ID.
3
Connect the number
Go to Publishing → Channels and click WhatsApp in the Add a channel card. Paste the Access token, the Phone number ID and the WhatsApp Business Account ID, then click Connect number. MagicPost shows “Waiting for Meta to finish setting up this number” until Meta reports it as working.
4
Create a group
A number with no groups opens the WhatsApp groups page. Click Create group, enter a Group name and an optional Description, and turn on Ask before people join if you want to approve each person. WhatsApp makes the group in a moment, and MagicPost adds it as a channel. That counts against your plan limit. If the number already has groups made from MagicPost, you see Choose where to post instead. Tick the groups you want and click Connect.
5
Invite people
Click Invite link next to the group, then Copy and share the link. If you asked before people join, click Join requests and Approve or Reject each number.
Fallback template for a closed window
A group takes a normal post only while someone in it has written in the last day. The group shows Window open until a time, or Window closed. When it is closed, the post goes out as the group’s Fallback template, or fails if the group has none.1
Get a template approved
Create a message template in WhatsApp Manager and wait for Meta to approve it.
2
Choose it for the group
On the WhatsApp groups page, open Fallback template on the group and pick the template. Pick None to remove it. A template can take a few minutes to show up after Meta approves it.
Check it works
As admin, Run checks shows Meta app (“Meta knows this app as …”) and Webhook. The Webhook row passes when Meta sends the app’s WhatsApp webhooks to your callback URL with all four fields. As a user, open a channel’s actions menu and click Check connection. The rows are Session, Quality, Membership and Messaging window.If something goes wrong
- “Meta did not accept that access token”: generate a new token for your system user and paste it again. If the message says the token was made for another Meta app, generate it for the app whose ID the page shows.
- The Webhook row fails (“This app has no WhatsApp webhook yet”, or “Subscribe the WhatsApp webhook to” followed by field names): register the callback URL and verify token under WhatsApp → Configuration in Meta, and subscribe to all four fields.
- “WhatsApp 24-hour window is closed for this group”: choose a fallback template for the group, or post again once a member writes.
- “That number is not on the WhatsApp Cloud API”: register the number for the Cloud API in WhatsApp Manager first, then connect it.
- Channels show Needs reconnect: Meta no longer accepts the token, or the number was disconnected, banned or restricted. Check the number in WhatsApp Manager, then use Reconnect and paste a new token.