This page covers the steps for connecting a WhatsApp number to an assistant in the dashboard. What a WhatsApp assistant does is explained on the WhatsApp AI assistant page; here you will find the connection flow and the account conditions it requires.
Two connection paths
Path
Who it's for
Difficulty
Connect with Meta
Most businesses
Selecting the number in Meta's own dialog
Manual connection
Teams running their own Meta app
Entering five technical values and setting the webhook yourself
Both are available in production. When the Meta path is enabled, manual connection sits under an "Advanced" heading.
Only one WhatsApp account can be connected per assistant. If you want to manage two numbers separately you need two assistants.
Connecting with Meta
On this path you do not fill in any technical fields in the dashboard. When you press Connect with WhatsApp, Meta's own dialog opens and you select your business portfolio, your WhatsApp Business account and your number there.
Two conditions before you start:
- You have to select which assistant to connect to in the dashboard first.
- Your Meta Business Manager account must have a payment method on file. Without one the number connects but message sending never begins — this is the single most common reason for an assistant staying silent after a seemingly successful connection.
Once the connection completes, the webhook subscription and the number registration are done automatically; you do not have to enter an address in the Meta console.
If access for an account connected this way breaks, you cannot repair it manually from the dashboard; the fix is to complete the connection flow again.
Manual connection
If you run your own Meta app, you enter five values in the dashboard:
Field
Where to get it
WhatsApp Business account ID
Meta Business Manager
Phone number ID
The WhatsApp settings of your Meta app
Access token
Your Meta app
Display name
A name you choose
Webhook verify token
You can generate a random one in the dashboard
The dashboard then shows you a webhook address and averify token. You have to enter these two values into your Meta app's webhook settingsyourself; automatic subscription only happens on the Meta connection path.
Number registration uses a six-digit PIN that you choose. The WhatsApp Cloud API does not send verification codes by SMS or voice call.
Behaviour after connecting
Conversation history is separate per channel
The assistant's configuration, persona and knowledge base are shared across every channel. Conversation history, however, is kept separately per channel and per person: a conversation running with a customer on WhatsApp does not continue where it left off when the same person opens the widget on your site. The assistant answers with the same knowledge, but it does not remember the earlier conversation.
Voice messages are transcribed
When a customer sends a voice message on WhatsApp, the message is downloaded and transcribed, and the assistant understands its content. But the assistant does not reply with audio: the reply comes back as text. Real-time voice conversation exists only on the web widget, the standalone page and the robot channel.
The incoming audio file is not stored permanently; only its transcript is kept.
Product recommendations do not appear as cards
When the assistant recommends a product from the catalogue there is no card presentation on WhatsApp: an image is sent, with the product name, price and link below it. Card presentation is specific to the web widget and the standalone page. Details: catalogue setup.
If the connection is not working
Check in this order:
- Is a payment method defined in Meta Business Manager? Without one, sending never starts.
- Was number registration completed? On the manual path, PIN registration is a separate step.
- If you used manual connection, were the webhook address and verify token entered on the Meta side?
- Is the assistant active?
- Has the access token expired? On the Meta path the fix is to complete the flow again.
Related pages
- WhatsApp AI assistant — capability overview
- Access channels — a comparison of the channels
- Quick start — the steps for creating an assistant