Configuring a WhatsApp channel

The WhatsApp channel allows your agent to hold two-way text conversations with your customers over WhatsApp, including sending and receiving files and media.

Quick setup (shared number)#

By default, you can enable WhatsApp using Compose AI’s shared Twilio WhatsApp sender, without needing your own Twilio account:

• Twilio Account SID: leave as default to use the system-provided account.
• Twilio Auth Token: leave as default to use the system-provided credentials.
• WhatsApp sender number: leave as default to use the shared Compose AI WhatsApp Business number.

Bringing your own Twilio account#

If you want to open the channel up to anyone on WhatsApp (not just your organization’s users), you’ll need to connect your own Twilio account and WhatsApp Business sender:

• Twilio Account SID: your Twilio account identifier.
• Twilio Auth Token: your Twilio auth token.
• WhatsApp sender number: your own Twilio-approved WhatsApp Business number (e.g. +1 415-523-8886).

Who can message your agent#

• Tenant users (default): Only WhatsApp numbers belonging to users in your organization can message the agent.
• Anyone: Any WhatsApp user can message the agent. Only available when using your own Twilio account and sender number.

Talking to a specific agent#

If you have multiple agents connected to the same WhatsApp sender, customers can direct their message to a specific agent by opening with the agent’s name, e.g. @Lola can you check on my order?.

YAML configuration#

channels:
  - name: whatsapp
    credentials:
      authorisation: tenant_users
      twilio_sid: default
      twilio_auth_token: default
      from_whatsapp_number: default

See use cases for more examples on combining channels for customer facing use cases.