Business Messages - WhatsRB Cloud

Access messages through a BusinessAccount object or directly via the client.

Check the 24h conversation window

Before sending a free-form message (text, image, video, etc.), check whether the conversation window is open. The window opens when the contact sends you an inbound message and expires 24 hours later.

account = client.business_accounts.list()[0]

# Simple check
if account.window_open("+33699887766"):
    account.send_text(to="+33699887766", text="Thanks for reaching out!")
else:
    # Window closed — send a template instead
    account.send_template(to="+33699887766", template_name="follow_up", template_language="en_US")

Get detailed window info (last inbound timestamp, expiration):

info = account.window("+33699887766")
info["open"]             # True
info["last_inbound_at"]  # "2026-03-06T10:00:00Z"
info["expires_at"]       # "2026-03-07T10:00:00Z"

Outside the 24h window, Meta only allows template messages. Free-form messages (text, media) will be rejected. Always check the window before sending non-template messages.

Send a text message

account = client.business_accounts.list()[0]

msg = account.send_text(to="+33699887766", text="Hello!")
msg.id      # "msg_01hz..."
msg.status  # "queued"

Send a template message

msg = account.send_template(
    to="+33699887766",
    template_name="order_confirmation",
    template_language="en_US",
)

Send media messages

Within the 24-hour conversation window, you can send images, videos, audio, and documents by URL:

# Image
account.send_image(to="+33699887766", url="https://example.com/photo.jpg")

# Video
account.send_video(to="+33699887766", url="https://example.com/clip.mp4")

# Audio
account.send_audio(to="+33699887766", url="https://example.com/voice.ogg")

# Document
account.send_document(to="+33699887766", url="https://example.com/invoice.pdf")

Media URLs must be publicly accessible. Meta downloads the file once and delivers it natively in the recipient’s WhatsApp chat. Supported formats: JPEG/PNG (image), MP4 (video), OGG/MP3 (audio), PDF/DOCX (document).

Meta file size limits: Image: 5 MB — Video: 16 MB — Audio: 16 MB — Document: 100 MB. Files exceeding these limits will be rejected by Meta.

Send interactive buttons

Send a message with up to 3 reply buttons. The recipient taps a button and you receive the response via webhook.

# With dict buttons (full control over IDs)
account.send_buttons(
    to="+33699887766",
    body="Would you like to proceed?",
    buttons=[
        {"id": "confirm", "title": "Yes, confirm"},
        {"id": "cancel", "title": "No, cancel"},
    ],
)

# With string shortcuts (IDs auto-generated as btn_0, btn_1, ...)
account.send_buttons(
    to="+33699887766",
    body="Rate your experience:",
    buttons=["Great", "OK", "Poor"],
)

Limits: Max 3 buttons per message. Button titles max 20 characters. Interactive messages require an open 24h conversation window (no template fallback).

Using the messages resource directly

messages = client.business_messages(account.id)

msg = messages.create(
    to="+33699887766",
    message_type="text",
    content="Hello!",
)

List messages

result = account.messages().list()
result.data  # list of Message objects
result.meta  # {"total": 42}

Only returns the last 100 messages, ordered newest first.

Retrieve a message

msg = account.messages().retrieve("msg_01hz...")
msg.status        # "delivered"
msg.delivered_at  # datetime(2026, 1, 1, 12, 0, 5)

Message attributes

Attribute	Type	Description
`id`	str	WhatsRB message ID
`direction`	str	`outbound`
`to`	str	Recipient phone number
`message_type`	str	`text`, `template`, `image`, `video`, `audio`, `document`, `interactive`
`content`	str	Message text
`template_name`	str	Template name (if template)
`template_language`	str	Template language (if template)
`status`	str	`queued`, `sent`, `delivered`, `read`, `failed`
`wamid`	str	WhatsApp message ID (set after delivery)
`error_message`	str	Error detail (if failed)
`sent_at`	datetime	When sent to Meta
`delivered_at`	datetime	When delivered to recipient
`read_at`	datetime	When read by recipient

Status helpers

msg.is_queued     # True
msg.is_sent       # False
msg.is_delivered  # False
msg.is_read       # False
msg.is_failed     # False

​Check the 24h conversation window

​Send a text message

​Send a template message

​Send media messages

​Send interactive buttons

​Using the messages resource directly

​List messages

​Retrieve a message

​Message attributes

​Status helpers

Check the 24h conversation window

Send a text message

Send a template message

Send media messages

Send interactive buttons

Using the messages resource directly

List messages

Retrieve a message

Message attributes

Status helpers