Connect WhatsApp to Heroshhi
How Heroshhi works with the official WhatsApp Business API: what you need, the values to copy from Meta, the webhook, and the rules that keep your number in good standing.
Setting up for the first time? The step-by-step setup guide walks you through Meta's screens one at a time, with pictures.
How messages travel
Heroshhi uses Meta's Cloud API, so there's no server of yours to run. Everything goes through Meta.
What you send
What they send back, and delivery updates
- The lead is created or updated
- The message is saved in the chat
- Workflows and the AI reply, if switched on
- Drip sequences stop when the lead replies
Message types
| Type | Direction | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Both ways | Ordinary conversation, within 24 hours of the customer's last message |
| Templates | You send | Messages approved by Meta. Needed to start a conversation, or to write after the 24 hours have passed. They can include the lead's details |
| Lists | You send | A menu of choices, such as the welcome menu or catalogue |
| Buttons | You send | One-tap replies in workflows and offers |
| Photos, files, voice, video | Both ways | Brochures and invoices out, documents and photos in |
1. What you need
Before connecting, make sure these are in place in your Meta account:
- A Meta business account
- In Meta Business Suite, ideally verified
- A WhatsApp Business Account
- Created and linked to that business
- A phone number
- Added to WhatsApp Business and verified with a code
- A system user
- Created in Business settings, with permission for your WhatsApp account
2. Three values to copy
| Value | What it is | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number ID | Identifies your WhatsApp number | WhatsApp Manager, then Phone numbers |
| WhatsApp Business Account ID | Identifies your WhatsApp account | Business settings, then WhatsApp accounts |
| Access token | Lets Heroshhi send on your behalf | Business settings, System users, Generate token |
Use a permanent system user token, not a temporary one. Temporary tokens expire within hours, and messages stop sending.
3. Connect Heroshhi
With the three values ready, this part takes a couple of minutes:
- Open WhatsApp settings
In Heroshhi, go to Settings, then WhatsApp.
- Paste the three values
Phone number ID, WhatsApp Business Account ID and access token.
- Connect
Heroshhi checks them with Meta and confirms the connection.
- Sync templates
Pull your approved templates into Heroshhi, ready to use.
4. The webhook
The webhook is how Meta tells Heroshhi about new messages. Set it in your Meta app, under WhatsApp, Configuration, Webhook:
Callback URL https://api.heroshhi.com/api/webhooks/whatsapp
Verify token whatsapp_webhook_verify_token_2025
// then subscribe to this field:
messages // new messages, and delivery and read updatesWhat Heroshhi does with each event
- A new message creates or updates the lead, and saves the message in its chat
- Delivery and read updates show on each message as ticks
- Workflows and the AI answer, if they're switched on
- A reply stops any drip sequence the lead is in
Templates
To start a conversation, or to write to someone more than 24 hours after their last message, WhatsApp requires a template approved by Meta. Create templates in WhatsApp Manager; once approved, bring them in with Settings, WhatsApp, Sync templates.
Filling in the lead's details
| Placeholder | Becomes | For example |
|---|---|---|
{{lead_name}} | The lead's name | Aditi Sharma |
{{appointment_date}} | Their appointment | 25 Feb 2026 at 3:00 p.m. |
{{business_name}} | Your business name | HealthFirst Clinic |
The three kinds Meta allows
- Marketing
- Offers and promotions. The customer must have agreed to receive them
- Utility
- Confirmations and reminders, with nothing promotional in them
- Authentication
- One-time codes and verification only
Coexistence
Coexistence lets your number keep working with another provider while you use Heroshhi, so you don't have to move your number first.
- Partner ID
- Each provider has its own. Heroshhi's default is
heroshhi_default - Message routing
- Messages you send carry your Partner ID, and incoming ones are sorted by provider so nothing clashes
- Filter incoming
- Handle only Heroshhi's messages, or every message whichever provider it came through
- Log other providers
- Optionally keep a record of messages from other providers, for the full picture
To switch it on, go to Settings, WhatsApp, Coexistence, set your Partner ID, and choose how to filter.
Opt-outs
When a contact asks to stop, Heroshhi stops messaging them straight away, keeping you within Meta's rules.
| Language | Words that opt someone out |
|---|---|
| English | STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, QUIT |
| Hindi | रुको, बंद करो |
| Phrases | please stop, stop messages |
What happens next
- The contact is marked as opted out
- Broadcasts and drip sequences leave them out
- Workflows and the AI stop replying to them
- A manual send is refused, with a clear message in Heroshhi
Opting back in
START, SUBSCRIBE, OPT IN, RESUME, YES or शुरू करो add them back. Every opt-out and opt-in stays on record, even after they come back.
Meta's policies
Breaking WhatsApp's rules can limit your messaging or suspend your number. Three things damage your standing fastest:
- Being blocked
- Many customers blocking you is the quickest way to a lower rating
- Spam reports
- Messages people didn't ask for, or don't care about, get reported
- Rejected templates
- Templates rejected again and again signal a policy problem
- Write freely only within 24 hours of the customer's last message; after that, use a template
- Start conversations only with approved templates
- Honour every opt-out, at once and for good
Good habits
- Use the lead's details in every message, and avoid one message for everyone
- Send what the customer actually asked about
- Keep sending hours sensible, such as 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time
- Reply to incoming messages within your deadline, and let the AI handle the instant reply
- Keep drip sequences set to stop on reply, so nobody gets chased after answering