Overview

The WhatsApp Direct Send Message API simplifies WhatsApp utility messaging by enabling you to send business-initiated messages without creating and managing message templates manually.

Benefits:

Direct Send streamlines the integration process, reduces template management complexity, and provides greater flexibility when template recategorization policies are enforced. This allows you to accelerate deployment of utility messaging use cases while leveraging WhatsApp as a scalable communication channel.

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Note:
The Direct Send Message API feature from Meta is currently on the beta stage. Please contact your Account Manager to enable Direct Send capability for your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).

How Direct Send Works

Direct Send automatically creates templates and matches message content against existing templates before sending.

Flow Diagram:

Message Processing Flow

When a message is submitted:

Meta first checks whether the message content matches an existing template.
If a matching template is found, the message is sent using that template.
If no matching template exists, Meta falls back to predefined onboarding templates to continue message delivery.
Meta then asynchronously creates a new template based on the submitted message content for future use.

Auto Template Creation

During auto template creation:

The message language is detected automatically.
A new template is generated and stored for subsequent matching requests.

Supported Message Types

The WhatsApp Direct Send Message API supports following message categories:

Utility messages
Authentication messages

enabling you to send messages of these categories without requiring pre-approved templates.

The WhatsApp Direct Send Message API support following message types:

Text Message - Send simple text-based messages containing a message body and URLs.

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Notes:

The preview_url is not supported.

The URLs included in the message body will not generate rich link previews.

The request payload must include "category": "utility" or "category": "authentication" in the request payload.

Interactive button messages for Call-to-Action URL or Reply buttons (recommended)- Send interactive messages containing Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons, Reply buttons, or a combination of both.

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Notes:

The message header must be of type text, image, video, or document.

Access to image, video, and document headers may be restricted. Contact your Account Manager to enable these capabilities for your account.

When sending messages with Interactive Button, following Buttons type are supported:

Reply Buttons

The Interactive Reply Button messages allow you to send predefined response options that end users can select directly within WhatsApp.

Supports up to 3 Reply buttons per message.
When an end user selects a button, a webhook notification is triggered containing the selected response.

Mixed Buttons (CTA+Reply)

You can combine Call-to-Action (CTA) URL buttons and Reply buttons with the same message.

Supports up to 10 buttons in total.
Supports a maximum of two CTA URL buttons.
CTA buttons are always displayed before Reply buttons.

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Note:
Include "category": "utility" in the request body to invoke the Direct Send Message API.

The WhatsApp Direct Send Message API V2 has the following topic:

Direct Send Message