Deploy an AI assistant to WhatsApp.
Publish to WhatsApp with the Lite plan and above.
Requires Meta Developer and Meta Business accounts.
Publishing an AI assistant to WhatsApp allows your audience to interact with the assistant—and subsequently with live reps—in a WhatsApp thread.
In the assistant's Publish tab, create a WhatsApp channel or select an existing one from the table to open its settings.
Basic Settings
In the Basics accordion, the following options are available:
Name — the internal name of the channel, used to distinguish from any other WhatsApp channels the assistant is published to.
Default chat language — the language used by the AI assistant at the start of a new chat. Available languages are set in the assistant's General settings.
Icon — the channel's avatar seen by live reps in the Inbox dashboard.
Press Save to confirm edits.
Connecting to WhatsApp
In the Configuration accordion, four values are required from your Meta Developer account:
App ID
App secret
User access token
Phone number ID
Then, you'll need to integrate a Proto webhook with Meta Developer.
Follow the guides below for each step.
App ID and App Secret
Meta Developer provides the app ID and secret:
Login to your Meta Developer account.
If you don't already have a Meta app for this connection:
Go to My Apps.
Select Create App.
Fill in the required details and press Create app.
Go to My Apps and select the one you want to connect to Proto AICX.
In its Dashboard tab, scroll down to WhatsApp and select Set up.
Create or choose a Meta Business Account and press Continue. At this stage:
Your App is associated with the Meta Business Account.
A WhatsApp test phone number is made available, to prevent having to register or migrate a real number. Test numbers can send unlimited messages to up to five recipients, anywhere in the world.
In the Settings > Basic tab, copy the App ID and App secret and paste them into Proto's respective WhatsApp configuration fields.
User Account Token
Meta Business provides the user account token:
Login to Meta Business with the same Meta Business account used earlier.
Select the business connected to your Meta App and WhatsApp account.
If there's no System User, select Add to apply an ADMIN system user to the Business Account.
In the System Users screen, ensure the Meta App is listed under Assigned Assets. If not, select Add Assets and add the app for system users.
Select Generate Token and choose the Meta App.
After choosing the app, a list of available permissions appears. Select the following:
whatsapp_business_management
whatsapp_business_messaging
business_management
Press Generate Token, and paste it into Proto's WhatsApp User access token field.
Phone Number ID
Connect a chosen phone number to your WhatsApp account by getting its phone number ID.
Starting in Meta Business:
Login to Meta Business with the same Meta Business account used earlier.
Go to Business Manager and select your business.
Select 三 (3 lines) in the top left corner.
Go to the Engage customers section.
Select WhatsApp Manager.
Select the WhatsApp Business account that you want to set up the phone number for.
Navigate to the left-most menu and select Phone Numbers.
Press Add Phone Number.
In the Business profile section, enter your WhatsApp Business display name and the category of your business, and proceed with Next. Your customers will see the display name when they receive messages from you.
Enter the phone number for your business, choose how you'd like to verify, and proceed with Next.
Enter the verification code.
Add the new phone number to your phone number list. The certificate for this phone number will be provided based on your current business account status:
If verified, your display name is ready and the certificate is available for download immediately.
If unverified, your phone number will be pending review. Once approved, use the View button to see the available certificate for the phone number.
Then, in Meta Developer:
Login to Meta Developer.
Go to My Apps > WhatsApp > Getting Started.
Copy the Phone Number ID, and paste it into Proto's WhatsApp Phone Number ID field.
Proto Webhook
For Proto to send and receive message from WhatsApp, a webhook integration is required.
Login to Meta Developer.
Go to My Apps > WhatsApp > Configuration.
Under Webhooks press Edit, which prompts for the following:
Callback URL — copy in the Webhook URL from Proto's WhatsApp Webhook accordion.
Verify Token: copy in the App secret from Proto's WhatsApp Setup accordion.
Press Verify and Save.
Go back to My Apps > WhatsApp > Configuration.
Under Webhooks press Manage.
In the opened menu, press Subscribe to allow Proto to exchange messages with WhatsApp.
Business must receive opt-in before messaging a person on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Messaging
Incoming messages are unlimited, but there are limits for outgoing messages. See WhatsApp's messaging limits for more information on messaging tiers.
Use WhatsApp's message templates to send business-initiated messages to people who've opted into notifications or customer care messages.
WhatsApp Pricing
Businesses are charged per conversation by Meta, completely independent of Proto.
The first 1,000 conversations each month are free, and credit card must be added to your Meta Business account for more.
Using WhatsApp
Add the WhatsApp account's phone number to your contacts, then start a new WhatsApp chat with that contact. This will begin a thread with the AI assistant.
Last updated