The WhatsApp plugin connects your WhatsApp Business number to your chatbot. A visitor who sends a WhatsApp message gets the same experience as someone using your website widget: their message opens a chat session, the AI answers it, and your team can step in from the HelpNest inbox.
Open it from WhatsApp in the left-hand menu.
How it works
- An inbound WhatsApp message opens a chat session and gets an AI answer.
- You reply from the HelpNest inbox exactly like any other chat.
- You can connect several WhatsApp numbers. Each number answers with the chatbot you choose.
- Replies are delivered inside WhatsApp's 24-hour window. When the window has closed there is no free-form channel, so HelpNest falls back to an approved template message.
The 24-hour window starts when the visitor last wrote to you. Inside it, answers are free. After it closes, Meta requires a pre-approved template instead of a normal reply.
Before you start
You need a Meta app with the WhatsApp product added to it, and a WhatsApp Business number. From that app you will copy four things: the phone number ID, a permanent access token, the app secret, and an approved fallback template.
- In Meta Developers, open your app and go to WhatsApp → API Setup and copy the Phone number ID (not the display number).
- In Meta Business Settings → System Users, generate a permanent access token with the
whatsapp_business_messagingpermission. Do not use the 24-hour user token from the API Setup screen. - In Meta app → Settings → Basic, copy the App Secret.
- In WhatsApp Manager, create an approved utility template named
helpnest_reply(or your own name) inen_US, with a body of exactly{{1}}. Out-of-window replies fail without it.
Connect a number
- In HelpNest, open WhatsApp and choose the Connect a number tab.
- Pick the Answering chatbot. A chatbot can answer several numbers, but a number belongs to one chatbot.
- Paste the Phone number ID.
- Paste the Permanent access token.
- Paste the App secret.
- Leave the Fallback template name as
helpnest_reply, or type your own if you created a differently named template. - Leave Answer WhatsApp chats ticked and click Connect WhatsApp.
Point Meta at HelpNest
After the number is connected, the Connections tab shows two values for it:
- a Callback URL
- a Verify Token
- In your Meta app, open WhatsApp → Configuration.
- Paste the Callback URL and the Verify Token.
- Subscribe to the messages webhook field.
- Send your WhatsApp number a test message to confirm the AI replies.
Meta must be able to reach your Callback URL over the internet. On a local install, expose your site with a tunnel such as ngrok and register the public URL.
Manage a connection
Each connected number has these controls:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Answering chatbot dropdown | Re-points the number at a different chatbot and clicks Change. |
| Pause / Resume | Stops or restarts replies without removing the connection. |
| Send test message | Sends a message to a number you type, to confirm the token works. |
| Remove | Disconnects the number and deletes its connection. |
Costs
Replies you send inside the 24-hour window are free. Meta bills your account directly for template messages and, from October 2026, for service replies beyond the first 1,000 each month.