Send WhatsApp messages from analytics events

You can use your PostHog event data to send WhatsApp messages via the WhatsApp Cloud API (Meta Graph API). Here's everything you need to get started.

Configuring WhatsApp

First, you need a Meta Business account with WhatsApp Cloud API access. Gather the following credentials from the Meta for Developers dashboard:

1. Access token - Generate a WhatsApp Cloud API access token in your Meta app dashboard. This is found under WhatsApp > API Setup.
2. Phone number ID - The ID associated with your WhatsApp Business phone number. Find this in the WhatsApp Manager or your Meta app's WhatsApp > API Setup page.

Configuring PostHog's WhatsApp destination

1. In PostHog, click the Data pipeline tab in the left sidebar.
2. Click the Destinations tab.
3. Click New destination and choose WhatsApp's Create button.

Enter your access token and phone number ID from Meta. The recipient phone number defaults to {{ person.properties.phone }} and supports Liquid templating.

Message types

WhatsApp supports two message types, selectable via the Message type input:

• Text - A free-form message body (max 4,096 characters). Text messages can only be sent within WhatsApp's 24-hour customer service window – i.e., within 24 hours after the recipient last messaged you.
• Template - A pre-approved message template registered in your WhatsApp Manager. Use templates for business-initiated conversations outside the 24-hour window, such as drip campaigns or transactional notifications. You must provide the template name and the language code it was approved in.

Important: If you're sending business-initiated messages (e.g., marketing campaigns or transactional alerts), you must use the Template message type with a pre-approved template. Free-form text messages sent outside the 24-hour window will fail.

# Create a new destination
curl --location 'https://us.i.posthog.com/api/environments/:project_id/hog_functions' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <POSTHOG_PERSONAL_API_KEY>' \
--data '{
    "type": "destination",
    "name": "WhatsApp",
    "inputs": {
        "access_token": {
            "value": ""
        },
        "phone_number_id": {
            "value": ""
        },
        "api_version": {
            "value": "v21.0"
        },
        "to_number": {
            "value": "{{ person.properties.phone }}"
        },
        "message_type": {
            "value": "text"
        },
        "message": {
            "value": "PostHog event {{ event.event }} was triggered"
        },
        "template_language": {
            "value": "en_US"
        }
    },
    "enabled": true,
    "template_id": "template-whatsapp"
}'