WhatsApp templates

Outside the 24-hour window, WhatsApp only allows approved templates. A template is submitted to Meta for review, moves through an approval lifecycle, and — once APPROVED — can be sent to opted-in contacts. This page covers creating and tracking templates; see Sending messages for sending an approved one. Read paths need templates:read; create needs templates:write.

Prerequisites

Templates can only be submitted on a dedicated WhatsApp channel whose Meta business account is verified and has a Meta payment method. The shared Wabery sandbox cannot submit templates — they belong to Wabery’s own account. Read why WhatsApp templates need a payment method if Wabery reports NO_PAYMENT_METHOD. Check readiness first:

const channel = await wabery.channels.get("channel_...");
if (!channel.publish_readiness?.can_submit_templates) {
  console.log("Blocked by:", channel.publish_readiness?.blockers);
  // e.g. ["BUSINESS_NOT_VERIFIED", "NO_PAYMENT_METHOD"]
}

Submitting when not ready returns 412 with the same publish_readiness blockers — Wabery rejects it rather than queueing work that Meta will refuse.

Create and submit

One call creates the template and submits it to Meta. category is one of UTILITY, MARKETING, or AUTHENTICATION; components follow Meta’s template component schema (header, body, footer, buttons).

SDK

const template = await wabery.templates.create({
  channelId: "channel_...",
  name: "order_shipped",           // a-z, 0-9, underscores
  language: "en",
  category: "UTILITY",
  components: [
    { type: "BODY", text: "Your order {{1}} has shipped." },
  ],
});

console.log(template.status); // "PENDING" — review has started

curl

curl https://api.wabery.com/v1/templates \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WABERY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "channel_id": "channel_...",
    "name": "order_shipped",
    "language": "en",
    "category": "UTILITY",
    "components": [
      { "type": "BODY", "text": "Your order {{1}} has shipped." }
    ]
  }'

A template response:

{
  "object": "whatsapp_template",
  "id": "tmpl_...",
  "channel_id": "channel_...",
  "meta_template_id": "1234567890",
  "name": "order_shipped",
  "language": "en",
  "category": "UTILITY",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "submitted_at": "2026-06-20T14:00:00Z"
}

Approval lifecycle

Review is asynchronous and can take up to 24 hours. status moves through:

Status	Meaning
PENDING	Submitted to Meta; awaiting review.
APPROVED	Ready to send.
REJECTED	Meta declined it; see rejection_reason.
DISABLED	Previously approved, later disabled (e.g. quality drop).

Track it in one of three ways — prefer the first two in production over blocking a request:

1. Webhook (recommended). Meta status changes arrive as a signed template.status webhook — no polling.

2. On-demand refresh. status(id) forces a live Meta status check:

const latest = await wabery.templates.status("tmpl_..."); // GET with refresh

wabery templates status "tmpl_..."

3. Block until resolved. For scripts and CI, waitUntilApproved polls until APPROVED, throwing if the template is REJECTED/DISABLED or the timeout elapses:

const approved = await wabery.templates.waitUntilApproved("tmpl_...", {
  timeoutMs: 60 * 60 * 1000, // default 24h
  intervalMs: 60_000,
});

wabery templates wait "tmpl_..." --wait=86400

List templates

Filter by channelId and/or status. Requires templates:read.

const { data } = await wabery.templates.list({
  channelId: "channel_...",
  status: "APPROVED",
});

Once a template is APPROVED, send it — including flow-type templates for proactive WhatsApp Flows — from Sending messages.

Next steps

Sending messages

Send an approved template by id, or by name plus language.

WhatsApp Flows

Flow-type templates open a Flow proactively, outside the 24-hour window.

Webhooks & events

Track approval with signed template.status events.