Connect WhatsApp to Your Bot
Connecting WhatsApp puts the bot you already built on a second channel. The knowledge base, the personality, the goal, the workflows and the leads table are the same ones your website widget uses, so there is nothing to rebuild.
Time: about twenty minutes in Chatleadr, plus Meta's verification, which can take a day or several. You need: Growth or above, which is where channel connections start, a WhatsApp Business account, and a number nobody is using on the WhatsApp consumer app.
Choose the Number You Will Connect#
This decision is made before you open Chatleadr, and it is the one that is expensive to change later. Three options:
| The number | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| A new number | Nothing to undo. Put it on your website, your Google Business profile and your invoices from the start |
| An existing business number | It has to be removed from the WhatsApp app first, which deletes that chat history |
| Your personal number | Every enquiry arrives on the device you use for everything else, and getting it back means another migration |
A number already signed in to the ordinary WhatsApp app cannot be connected. Meta allows one or the other, not both.
Connect the Channel#
- Open your bot and go to the Channels tab.
- On the WhatsApp card, select Connect. Chatleadr hands you to Meta.
- Sign in to Meta and authorise the WhatsApp Business account, then choose the number the bot should answer on.
- Meta returns you to the Channels tab. The card shows Connected and the number the bot answers on.
The card reads Pending while Meta is still working. Business verification is Meta's process, so start it before the week you plan to launch.
One connection is one platform on one bot, so a bot answering on both WhatsApp and Instagram uses two of the connections your plan includes. A channel with Bot answers on WhatsApp switched off uses none, and neither does a connection you started and did not finish. See plans and limits.
Check the Bot Is Answering#
- Message the number from a phone that is not signed in to your Chatleadr account.
- Ask something the knowledge base answers, and confirm a reply comes back.
- Send a one-word message, "hi". A workflow that fires on that has a description too loose to keep. See writing a workflow description.
- Open the bot's Leads page and confirm the row that arrives is marked as a WhatsApp conversation.
Switch the Channel Off Without Disconnecting#
Each connected channel carries a switch, Bot answers on WhatsApp. Switching it off stops the bot replying on that number and keeps the authorisation, so switching it back on later does not mean going through Meta again.
Disconnect is the other control, and it releases the account at Meta. Reconnecting after that is the whole authorisation again.
If It Does Not Connect#
Meta refuses the number. It is still registered on the WhatsApp app. Remove it there first, then start the connection again.
The card stays on Pending. Business verification has not finished. Meta reports its progress in your Business account rather than in Chatleadr.
Connect opens an upgrade panel instead of Meta. The plan on this workspace does not include WhatsApp, or every channel connection it includes is in use. To free a connection, switch the channel off on a bot that no longer needs it.
Meta finishes and the next page says the channel was not connected. Every connection on your plan was in use by the time Meta returned you, for example because you were connecting two bots at once. Chatleadr does not keep that number. Free a connection or upgrade, then start the connection again.
Messages arrive and the bot says nothing. The connection is fine and the bot is not answering. Check that the bot is switched on, then work through my workflow is not triggering.
Common Questions#
Can I Use the Number That Is Already on My Phone?#
Only after removing it from the WhatsApp app, which deletes that chat history. Most businesses connect a new number and publish it instead.
Do I Need the WhatsApp Business API?#
Yes. Chatleadr connects through the official WhatsApp Business Platform, which is what allows an assistant to answer at all. The free WhatsApp Business app on a phone cannot be automated this way.
Can Two Bots Share One Number?#
No. A connection binds one channel account to one bot. One number doing two jobs is one bot with two workflows.
What Happens to Leads From WhatsApp?#
They land in the same leads table as every other channel, and each row records the channel of the conversation it came from. See the leads table.