Clerk | Help Center
Clerk | Help Center
WhatsApp

WhatsApp

WhatsApp for Business is designed specifically for business owners to connect with their customers. Clerk WhatsApp integration provides a variety of features that allow businesses to communicate with their customers in a more efficient and effective way.

Some of the key features of WhatsApp for Business include the ability to create a business profile, send automated messages, and provide quick replies to frequently asked questions. The app also allows businesses to send newsletters, updates, and promotional messages to their customers.

Table of Contents

Onboarding

WhatsApp business numbers must be registered and verified with Meta to be enabled within the Clerk platform. A Meta API key needs to be generated to finalize activation of the phone numbers. The WhatsApp API is part of Meta’s Graph API, so you need to set up a Meta developer account and a Meta developer app.

  1. Register as a Meta Developer by navigating here.
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  1. Create a Meta App:
    1. Go to developers.facebook.com > My Apps > Create App. Select the "Business" type and follow the prompts on your screen.

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Select your Business Account

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  1. From the App Dashboard, click on the app you would like to connect to WhatsApp. Scroll down to find the "WhatsApp" product and click Set up.

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  1. Next, you will see the option to select an existing Business Manager (if you have one) or, if you would like, the onboarding process can create one automatically for you (you can customize your business later, if needed). Make a selection and click Continue.

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  1. Activate App by navigating to Basic section
    1. Add Privacy Policy URL
    2. Add Terms of Service URL
    3. Enable Live
    4. Save
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  1. Create a WhatsApp System User to generate a Token
    1. Sign into the Meta Business Suite.
    2. Locate your business account in the top-left dropdown menu and click its Settings (gear) icon.
    3. Click Business settings.
    4. Navigate to Users > System users.
    5. Click the Add button and create an Admin system user and name it Clerk

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  1. Generate new token
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  1. Select Clerk app and Permanent token
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  1. Enable Permissions
    1. whatsapp_business_messaging
    2. whatsapp_business_management
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  1. Add Clerk App as an Asset
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  1. Configure Webhook
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  1. Callback URL: https://web-api.clerk.chat/whatsapp/incoming-message
  2. Verify token: token
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  1. Set messages Webhook field

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  1. Activate a Phone Number by clicking on Add phone number
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  1. Create a WhatsApp Business profile
    1. Add Profile Display Name
    2. Add Timezone
    3. Select Category
    4. Add Business Description

      5. 💡
      WhatsApp Business Profile Display name MUST match your verified business name or Meta will reject it.

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  1. Add a phone number for WhatsApp
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  1. You can verify it either via a Text message or a Phone call
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  1. Grab the WhatsApp Phone ID
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  1. Add payment method
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💳
Meta provides 1,000 conversations per month free of charge per each phone number.

  1. Send the following pieces of information to Clerk Support Team to finalize your number activation:
    1. Phone Number you are looking to activate
    2. WhatsApp Phone ID from Step 17
    3. Token from Step 7

Additional Numbers

By default Meta limits the amount of phone numbers that you can associate with your account. To increase the limit reach out to the Meta Support team by navigating to https://business.facebook.com/direct-support

  1. Submit a ticket
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Business Profile

As a business you can update the information and logo that will be displayed to the customers.

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💡
Make sure the Display Name matches your verified business name or Meta will reject it.

Message Templates

WhatsApp Business requires the use of message templates when sending outbound messages to customers. These templates must be pre-approved by WhatsApp and can be used for sending notifications, appointment reminders, shipping confirmations, and other types of messages. The use of templates helps ensure that businesses are providing valuable and relevant information to their customers, while also maintaining a high level of trust and security.

Navigate to WhatsApp Manager

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Note: You must create snippets with the exact same name as the Whatsapp Business Template (see below). Clerk does not currently support templates with whatsapp template variables.

Next, create the snippet with the same name as the Whatsapp business template.

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Now you can use this snippet to send the whatsapp template in clerk!

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