ChatFrom
In development

WhatsApp

Your chatbot on your business's WhatsApp number, answering with the same knowledge, tools and workflows as on your website.

Before you start, build your chatbot and make it Live under Deploy: it answers only while it is Live. What works in every app, such as signed-in users and what your users can send, is on the Channels page.

ChatFrom connects through Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API, with a Meta app of your own. The chatbot answers every message sent to your WhatsApp business number. A question with a few options shows as buttons, a longer one as a list.

In Meta for Developers

  1. Open Meta for Developers and press Create App. Give it a name and your email, choose the use case Connect with customers through WhatsApp, pick or create your business portfolio, and press Create app. Meta gives you a test number to start with; you can add your own number later.
  2. On the Quickstart page that opens, press Start using the API. On API Setup, connect or create a WhatsApp Business account, then copy the Phone number ID shown under the From number (not the phone number itself).
  3. Make an access token that does not expire: in Business Settings, create a system user, give it your app and the WhatsApp account, and generate a token with the whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management permissions. The temporary token on the API Setup page stops working after a day.
  4. Copy the App secret from App settings, Basic. Meta signs every message it sends ChatFrom with it.

In ChatFrom, then back in Meta

  1. Under Channels, paste the three values under WhatsApp and press Connect WhatsApp. ChatFrom checks them with Meta and shows a callback URL and a verify token.
  2. In your Meta app, open the WhatsApp use case (Use cases, Connect on WhatsApp), go to Configuration, and under Webhook enter the callback URL and the verify token, then press Verify and save. Then, under Webhook fields, subscribe to messages.
  3. Send a WhatsApp message to your number to try it. With Meta's test number, add your own phone under To on the API Setup page first.

To stop, press Disconnect in ChatFrom, and remove the webhook in your Meta app.

Good to know

  • Before real customers write, Meta asks you to verify your business and add a payment method to the WhatsApp account. Meta sets the prices; see WhatsApp pricing.
  • The chatbot only replies. It answers each message within WhatsApp's 24-hour window, so it never needs Meta's approved message templates.
  • Signed-in users link their account once by sending connect. Channels explains what to add to your product.
  • Commands: new starts a new conversation, disconnect unlinks the account.
  • Text, buttons and lists. The chatbot reads what people type and the buttons and list rows they tap. A photo, voice note or document gets a short line asking for text instead; a reaction gets nothing.
  • If it never answers, the App secret is the usual cause: Meta then signs its messages with a secret ChatFrom does not have, and every one is refused. Paste the App secret again under Channels.