Send a WhatsApp Template (MTM)

In this code snippet you will see how to send a WhatsApp Template using the Messages API.

IMPORTANT: If a customer messages you, you have 24 hours to respond to the customer with a free form message. After this period you must use a template message (MTM). If a customer has not messaged you first, then the first time you send a message to a user, WhatsApp requires that the message contains a template. This is explained in more detail in the Understanding WhatsApp topic.

Example

Ensure the following variables are set to your required values using any convenient method:

Key	Description
`NEXMO_APPLICATION_ID`	The ID of the application that you created.
`WHATSAPP_NUMBER`	The WhatsApp number that has been allocated to you by Nexmo.
`TO_NUMBER`	The phone number you are sending the message to.

NOTE: Don't use a leading + or 00 when entering a phone number, start with the country code, for example, 447700900000.

Prerequisites

Create an application

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

Write the code

Add the following to send-mtm.sh:

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curl -X POST \
  https://api.nexmo.com/beta/messages \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer' $JWT \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
   "from":{
      "type":"whatsapp",
      "number":"'$WHATSAPP_NUMBER'"
   },
   "to":{
      "type":"whatsapp",
      "number":"'$TO_NUMBER'"
   },
   "message":{
      "content":{
         "type":"template",
         "template":{
            "name":"WhatsApp_namespace:template_name",
            "parameters":[
               {
                  "default":"Nexmo Verification"
               },
               {
                  "default":"64873"
               },
               {
                  "default":"10"
               }
            ]
         }
      },
      "whatsapp": {
        "policy": "deterministic",
        "locale": "en-GB"
      }
   }
}'

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

bash send-mtm.sh

Try it out

When you run the code a WhatsApp template (MTM) is sent to the destination number.