Connect an existing WhatsApp Business app

Choose this setup when staff need the WhatsApp Business phone app and Wabery on the same number.

Before you connect

• Update the WhatsApp Business app to version 2.24.17 or later.
• Make sure you can sign in to the Meta account that manages the business.
• Add a customer-owned payment method to the WhatsApp Business Account in WhatsApp Manager. Wabery does not attach or share its credit line.
• Open the Wabery project, go to Channels, add WhatsApp, and choose Keep using the Business app.

Complete Meta’s Facebook sign-in and choose the existing app number. Wabery subscribes its webhook and confirms that Meta reports both is_on_biz_app=true and platform_type=CLOUD_API. The number is already registered in the phone app, so Wabery deliberately skips Cloud API registration.

Meta is rolling out a Phone Number First version of signup, so the screens you see can differ by number. If Meta shows this version, you enter and verify your number first. When that number already uses the WhatsApp Business app and is eligible for Coexistence, Meta opens the Coexistence path automatically. The Keep using the Business app choice in Wabery still tells Wabery which setup you want; Meta decides which signup path your number receives.

Initial contacts and history

Keep the phone app open after onboarding. Wabery requests the contact sync and recent 1:1 chat history once, within Meta’s 24-hour onboarding window. A business can decline history sharing in the phone app; in that case, new messages still work but old chat history is not imported. Messages staff send later from the phone app appear in the Wabery inbox.

Keep the connection active

Open the primary app at least every 14 days

Meta can remove Cloud API access when the primary WhatsApp Business app is inactive for about 14 days. Open the app on its primary phone regularly. If Meta removes access for primary inactivity, open the app and reconnect the number from the Wabery project.

Coexistence throughput is fixed by Meta at 20 messages per second. Messages sent inside the phone app remain free. Cloud API messages are billed by Meta, and an in-app send does not open or extend the Cloud API 24-hour customer-service window.

Only 1:1 messages and contacts sync. Groups, calls, catalogs, and broadcast lists do not sync between the phone app and Wabery.

To stop Coexistence, use Settings > Account > Business Platform > Disconnect Account in the WhatsApp Business app. Do not deregister the number through the Cloud API.