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WhatsApp integration, if already using the API

  • Oct 25, 2023 7:12 PM UTC
  • 6 replies
  • 1857 views

We’re looking forward to implementing WhatsApp for Intercom, considering the documentation on integrating the WhatsApp App with Intercom we have some concerns, we hope people who have already done this integration may be able to answer.

We’re currently using the WhatsApp API for custom marketing messaging and authentication, it simple, it only redirect the user to our App, however we would like a way to see if the user reply, and if so, for our customer service team to continue the conversation, note that there’s no third party manager of the account, we call the API ourselves, the WABA is hosted on Meta directly, we hope that can be achieved through this integration, so in concrete these are our concerns:

  • If we integrate WhatsApp, we’ll lose access to manually call the WhatsApp API for authentication OTP and marketing messages?
  • Can the API still create new conversations with new users?
  • Can the integration at Intercom see those message, so the Customer Support team see the entire conversation history?
  • Since no third party is holding our WABA, there’s no migration, nor new creation process involved, what to do here?

Best answer by mateusz.leszkiewicz

​@Matias Brignone It’s Mat from the Support Engineering Team 😀

It is not possible to send initial WhatsApp messages via Rest API, you can only reply to existing conversations via Intercom API.

 

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6 replies

Eden
Employee
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  • EdenEmployee
  • Premier Customer Support Engineer
  • Nov 9, 2023 10:39 PM UTC

Hey @andynadal 👋 Eden from the support engineer team here.

 

Something to keep in mind is that it's not possible to use the WhatsApp mobile app or the WhatsApp Business mobile app with the same phone number that you use with the WhatsApp Intercom integration. This means that once you connect the number to Intercom you will not be able to use it for outside connections. That being said, it is likely here that you will not be able to utilize those outside WhatsApp connections. 

 

There is currently no way to start a new WhatsApp conversation via the REST API. You can reply to WhatsApp conversations via the REST API 'Reply to a conversation' endpoint here but you can't initiate a WhatsApp conversation from the REST API. Once a conversation has been started in your Inbox via the WhatsApp integration, your team will be able to view all of the replies to the conversation within the UI. 

 

In order to migrate your existing WhatsApp phone number, you can follow the instructions in that article here! As a note, before migrating you must ensure that 2FA is disabled. Let me know if you have questions on that. 👍

Hi @Eden ! I just came across this thread trying to figure out how to start a new WhatsApp conversation via the REST API. I couldn't find a way to do it, and it looks like it wasn't possible at the time of your last reply (10 months ago).
Are there any updates on this? Is it possible to do it now?
Thanks!

    mateusz.leszkiewicz
    Intercom Team
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    ​@Matias Brignone It’s Mat from the Support Engineering Team 😀

    It is not possible to send initial WhatsApp messages via Rest API, you can only reply to existing conversations via Intercom API.

     

    Mateusz Leszkiewicz | Technical Support Engineer
    • Dribo
    • New Participant
    • Mar 18, 2025 9:16 AM UTC

    ​@mateusz.leszkiewicz Is there any plan in the roadmap to add this feature in the REST API? The fact that you can only either integrate with Intercom or use the Whatsapp API is quite limiting if there is no option to send templates through the Intecom API…
    Thanks.

    mateusz.leszkiewicz
    Intercom Team
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    ​@Dribo 
    As far as I know there is no plans to implement this at the moment.

    Mateusz Leszkiewicz | Technical Support Engineer
    Tarek Khalil
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    • Tarek Khalil
    • Active User
    • Oct 12, 2026 10:53 AM UTC

    Hey ​@andynadal 

    Coming in late on this one, so this is for anyone seeing it here later.

    On your first worry, you're right. Intercom's connect article says the number gets registered to Intercom's own WhatsApp account, and because Meta only allows one active registration per number, you can't keep calling the Meta API directly on that same number unless you disconnect it first.

    The answers above on starting conversations are a bit dated though. Outbound and Series can send approved templates now (utility, authentication and marketing, per the outbound article and as far as I know) ...

    If you want your own backend to fire OTP and marketing templates and have replies land in the inbox, that's what Octopods does (full disclosure, I'm the co-founder of the company). You give it access to your existing WhatsApp Business Account through Meta's oauth flow, then POST to a template's endpoint with the destination phone and the variables. I'd send everything through that endpoint rather than splitting sends between two places. You can find it by searching for Octopods in the Intercom app store.

    Hope this helps!

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