> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# WhatsApp

> What the WhatsApp channel gives you, what Meta requires before you can use it, and where each part of it lives in Watx.

Watx connects your business's own WhatsApp number through the official **Meta WhatsApp Cloud API**. Messages arrive in the shared [inbox](/inbox/overview), contacts and conversations are shared with every other channel, and everything below — templates, broadcasts, the catalogue, analytics — runs on that one connection.

## What you get

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Connect your number" icon="plug" href="/whatsapp/connect">
    Meta's Embedded Signup wizard, run from inside Watx, on your own business number.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Message templates" icon="file-lines" href="/whatsapp/templates">
    Build, submit and track the pre-approved messages you need to start a conversation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Broadcasts" icon="tower-broadcast" href="/whatsapp/broadcasts">
    Send an approved template to a tag, a segment or an uploaded list, one message per person.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Catalog and orders" icon="bag-shopping" href="/whatsapp/catalog-and-orders">
    A product catalogue you can send as cards, and the orders customers place from it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="WhatsApp Flows" icon="table-cells" href="/whatsapp/whatsapp-flows">
    Meta's native in-app forms — booking, surveys, lead capture — managed under your account.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Analytics" icon="chart-line" href="/whatsapp/analytics">
    Volume, delivery, read rates, broadcast and template performance, orders and ad clicks.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## The two rules that shape everything

Every WhatsApp feature in Watx is built around the same pair of Meta rules. Read them once and the rest of this section makes sense.

<Card title="The 24-hour messaging window" icon="clock" href="/whatsapp/messaging-window">
  You can send anything you like for 24 hours after a customer's last message. Outside that window, only an approved template will send.
</Card>

<Card title="Message templates" icon="stamp" href="/whatsapp/templates">
  A template is copy Meta has reviewed and approved. It is the only way to open a conversation the customer did not start — and it can be rejected or paused by Meta at any time.
</Card>

## Where things live in the sidebar

Open **WhatsApp** in the channel rail and the panel has three groups.

| Group     | Row                   | What it is                                                            |
| --------- | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Analytics | **Overview**          | [Channel analytics](/whatsapp/analytics) — the channel's default page |
| Analytics | **Click-to-WhatsApp** | [Ad campaigns and their clicks](/whatsapp/click-to-whatsapp)          |
| Analytics | **Orders**            | [Orders placed from your catalogue](/whatsapp/catalog-and-orders)     |
| Action    | **Channel Settings**  | [Connection and credentials](/whatsapp/settings)                      |
| Action    | **Flows**             | The Watx chatbot builder — see [Flows](/flows/overview)               |
| Action    | **Broadcasts**        | [Send a template to many contacts](/whatsapp/broadcasts)              |
| Action    | **Campaigns**         | [Campaign schedules](/whatsapp/campaigns)                             |
| Assets    | **Templates**         | [Your template library](/whatsapp/templates)                          |
| Assets    | **WhatsApp Flows**    | [Meta's native forms](/whatsapp/whatsapp-flows)                       |
| Assets    | **Catalog**           | [Products](/whatsapp/catalog-and-orders)                              |

<Warning>
  **Flows** and **WhatsApp Flows** are two different things and they sit in the same panel. **Flows** (Action) is the Watx chatbot builder — a graph of nodes that sends ordinary WhatsApp messages. **WhatsApp Flows** (Assets) is Meta's own product: form screens that open inside WhatsApp. This documentation always spells out "WhatsApp Flow" for Meta's version.
</Warning>

## What you need before connecting

* A Facebook account that administers your business.
* A business phone number customers will message. You can bring a new number, or connect the number already running on your WhatsApp Business app and keep its chat history.
* A payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account, added in Meta Business Settings. Meta bills you for conversations directly — Watx never sits between you and that bill. Until it is set up you can receive messages, but messages your business starts will fail.

Full walkthrough: [Connect your number](/whatsapp/connect).

## What else uses the connection

* The [inbox composer](/inbox/sending) — text, media, voice notes, reactions, quoted replies, templates, product cards.
* [Automations](/automations/overview) and [flows](/flows/overview), which send through the same number and obey the same window.
* [Payment links](/integrations/razorpay) and [sales documents](/integrations/sales-documents-sending), which fall back to a template when the window is closed.
* [AI agents](/ai-agents/overview), which reply on WhatsApp like any other channel.

If messages are not arriving or not sending, start with [WhatsApp delivery troubleshooting](/troubleshooting/whatsapp).