Answer customers on WhatsApp

Pilot. WhatsApp works today for a small number of workspaces while we test it. During the pilot, our team connects a WhatsApp number to your agent or workforce for you. To join, email outreach@prodigalai.com.

When a customer messages the WhatsApp number connected to your agent, the agent reads the message and replies on WhatsApp. Each conversation shows up in Tasks with the channel WhatsApp, with its cost and any replies waiting for your approval.

What you need

• A published agent or workforce. WhatsApp always uses the published version. While it is a draft or paused, customers who write get a short note: "We can't reply automatically right now; our team will get back to you."
• A number connected by our team. Open the agent and look for WhatsApp on the Build tab. For a workforce, it is on the Run tab.

If no number is connected yet, the section says "WhatsApp is in pilot. Ask us to connect a number."

See your number

The WhatsApp section shows:

• The number and the business name customers see.
• Answering or Not answering. A number answers when it is switched on, your agent is live and AI work isn't paused.
• Status and quality. Quality is WhatsApp's own rating of how customers react to your messages: High, Medium or Low. Low quality can limit how many people you can message.
• A wa.me link and a QR code. Share the link, or print the QR code at your shop counter, so customers can start a chat in one tap.

How conversations work

• One task per conversation. Messages from the same customer go to the same task while the conversation is active. After 24 hours without a message, the next message starts a new task.
• The agent says it is an AI. Its first reply in each conversation starts with "I'm (agent name), an AI assistant", unless the reply already says so.
• Messages in a row are read together. Messages that arrive while the agent is still writing a reply are answered together in its next reply.
• Photos and PDFs. The agent sees a note such as "The customer sent a photo: image.jpg, image/jpeg, 120 KB", plus any caption. It can't look at the picture yet. Voice messages and videos are noted but not played. Shared locations and contact cards reach the agent as text.
• Read receipts. Each message is marked as read, and the customer sees "typing…" while the agent works on a reply.
• Long replies are sent as several messages, split between paragraphs or sentences. WhatsApp allows up to 4,096 characters in one message.

On the task page, each reply shows WhatsApp's ticks: Sent, Delivered, Read, or Not delivered with the reason.

The 24-hour rule

WhatsApp lets a business reply freely only for 24 hours after the customer's last message. Each new message from the customer starts the 24 hours again.

This matters when replies wait for approval. If Reply to the customer is set to Ask first:

• Approved within 24 hours: the reply goes out as usual.
• Approved later: WhatsApp won't accept it. The approval shows Approved, but failed, and the task is marked Needs a WhatsApp template to reply. The owners and admins of your workspace get an email.

For instant answers, set Reply to the customer to Runs freely. To keep approvals, check Tasks often, or use Ask, then run after N hours with a waiting time well under 24 hours.

Send a template

A template is a message that Meta has approved in advance, such as "Hi {{1}}, your order is ready." Once the 24 hours have passed, a template is the only kind of message you can send.

You need the Owner, Admin or Builder role.

1. Open the task. The WhatsApp card shows whether replies are allowed.
2. Select Send a template.
3. Pick a template and fill in its values. The preview shows what the customer will read.
4. Select Send template.

The template is added to the conversation, marked as sent by your team. If the customer replies, the 24 hours start again and the agent answers as usual.

During the pilot, our team creates templates with you in Meta's WhatsApp Manager, and Meta reviews each one. Templates with a photo, video or document at the top, with a link that changes per message, or for one-time codes can't be sent from the task page yet.

STOP and START

• A customer who replies STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE gets one confirmation and then no more messages from your number: no replies, no approved replies and no templates. The task's WhatsApp card shows Replied STOP.
• If they reply START, they get a confirmation and the agent answers them again.

Other messages that only mention "stop", such as "stop sending the red one", are answered as usual.

What Meta charges for

Meta charges businesses for some WhatsApp messages:

• Templates are charged by category (marketing, utility and authentication) and by the customer's country. Utility templates sent inside the 24 hours are free until 1 October 2026.
• Replies inside the 24 hours are free until 1 October 2026. From that date Meta also charges for them, at a lower rate than marketing templates.
• Nothing is charged for messages that aren't delivered.

These fees are charged in credits with each task, alongside the AI model's cost, at the prices on the pricing page: Meta's fee with our usual margin. Work out a month's cost with the WhatsApp cost calculator.

Limits and safety

• Busy customers. If one person sends a lot of messages in a short time, the extra messages are kept on record but not answered, so a single chat can't run up costs.
• Spending caps and pauses. The per-task cap and the daily cap apply as on every channel. See Limits and costs.
• Privacy. We store customers' WhatsApp numbers encrypted, and our logs never contain message text or full phone numbers. Viewers see "[phone hidden]" when the agent hides contact details. See Data and privacy.

Coming next

• Connect your own WhatsApp Business number from the app, with Meta's sign-up flow, instead of asking us.
• Approve an agent's actions from WhatsApp.

Troubleshooting