Set up a WhatsApp channel

This page walks through connecting a WhatsApp Business number to Dromlik so that agents receive and reply to WhatsApp messages in the same client they use for calls. The setup spans three places: the Meta for Developers portal, the Meta Business Suite, and your Dromlik admin console.

Requirements

Limitations

Step 1. Create a Meta app

1. 1

   Open My Apps

   Sign in to the Meta for Developers portal with your developer account and go to My Apps.

2. 2

   Create a Business-type app

   Click Create App and complete the settings. In Business Portfolio, select your business account — apps that need advanced permission access must be attached to a verified business entity.

3. 3

   Add the WhatsApp product

   On the Add products to your app page, find WhatsApp and click Set up. You land on the WhatsApp Quickstart page.

4. 4

   Add your phone number and copy the phone number ID

   Go to WhatsApp → API Setup → Send and receive messages. In the From list choose Add phone number, add your WhatsApp number, then note the Phone number ID shown next to it.

5. 5

   Copy the app secret

   Go to App settings → Basic and note the App secret.

Step 2. Get credentials from Meta Business Suite

Create a system user, grant it access to the app and your WhatsApp Business account, then generate a long-lived access token.

1. 1

   Open Business settings

   From the top-left of the Meta for Developers portal, go to App Dashboard → Business settings. You're redirected to Meta Business Suite.

2. 2

   Create a system user

   Go to Users → System users, click Add, and create a user with the Admin role. Select it, click Add assets, and grant full control of your Meta app.

3. 3

   Grant WhatsApp account access

   Go to Accounts → WhatsApp Accounts, add the system user to your WhatsApp Business account, and give it full control.

4. 4

   Generate the access token

   Back in Users → System users, generate a token with the whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_managementpermissions. The default expiry is 60 days; set it to Never if you don't want to rotate it. Copy the token immediately — it's shown only once.

5. 5

   Copy the WhatsApp Business Account ID

   Under Accounts → WhatsApp accounts, open your account and copy the account ID (WABA ID).

Step 3. Create the channel in Dromlik

1. 1

   Add the channel

   In the Dromlik admin console go to Messaging → Message Channel, click Add, and select WhatsApp.

2. 2

   Fill in the Authentication tab

   • Name — a label that identifies the channel.
   • Webhook URL — generated by Dromlik; note it down for step 4.
   • Verify Token — generated by Dromlik; note it down for step 4.
   • Access Token — the system-user token from step 2.
   • App Secret — the app secret from step 1.
3. 3

   Fill in the Messaging Settings tab

   • Phone Number — in E.164 format, for example +35315551234.
   • Phone Number ID — from step 1.
   • WhatsApp Business Account ID — from step 2. Dromlik then syncs the approved message templates on that account into the channel.
4. 4

   Choose the destination for inbound messages

   Option	Behaviour
   Extension	Only that extension user receives messages sent to the number.
   Message queue	Every agent in the queue sees new sessions, but only the agent who picks a session up receives its follow-up messages.
   Third-party analytics platform (via API)	Inbound messages are forwarded over the API to an integrated platform. Requires the API to be enabled; subscribe to the new-message notification event to be alerted.

5. 5

   Set who can start sessions and how sessions close

   Under Extensions Allowed to Create Messaging Sessions, pick the users who may message customers first. Then decide whether to close sessions automaticallyafter a set number of idle days, and whether to allow duplicate active sessions— when enabled, a user creating a second session with the same contact takes the existing session, and its full history, from the previous handler.

6. 6

   Save

   Click Save to create the channel.

Step 4. Configure the webhook in the Meta app

1. 1

   Open your app

   Back on the Meta for Developers portal, go to My Apps and open the app you created.

2. 2

   Add the webhook

   Go to WhatsApp → Configuration and paste the Webhook URL and Verify Token from the Dromlik channel, then verify.

3. 3

   Subscribe to the messages field

   In Webhook fields, subscribe to messages. Without this subscription the channel connects but no messages ever arrive.

Result

• The channel's Status turns green in Messaging → Message Channel.
• Dromlik counts messages sent and received on the channel. The Total column includes both successful and failed sends, and you can filter the figures by time period.

To confirm end to end, send a WhatsApp message to the number from a personal phone and check that the destination extension or queue agent receives it in the Dromlik app.

Troubleshooting

Webhook verification fails. The verify token must match the one in the Dromlik channel exactly, and your domain certificate must be valid. Underscores in the domain name will also break verification.

Channel connects but no messages arrive. You almost certainly skipped the messages webhook subscription, or the access token has expired.

Sending fails after ~60 days. The system-user token expired. Generate a new one and paste it into the channel's Authentication tab.

Images or PDFs don't reach the customer. Country/region IP access restrictions are blocking WhatsApp from downloading the file, or the file exceeds 100 MB.