WhatsApp channel properties

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There are WhatsApp channel-specific properties that can be used when making calls to the Conversation API. These properties can be listed under channel_properties in the message request.

WhatsApp Preview URL

WHATSAPP_PREVIEW_URL allows customers to control whether a message containing a URL will show the URL preview or not.

Supported message types:

Text Messages

Below is the code example for adding the channel specific property WHATSAPP_PREVIEW_URL to a Conversation API call:

{
  "app_id": "{APP_ID}",
  "recipient":
  {
    "contact_id": "{CONTACT_ID}"
  },
  "message":
  {
    "text_message":
    {
      "text": "This is a text message from the Sinch Conversation API. https://www.sinch.com"
    }
  },
  "channel_properties": {
    "WHATSAPP_PREVIEW_URL": "false"
  }
}

WhatsApp Direct Send Category

WHATSAPP_DIRECT_SEND_CATEGORY allows customers to specify the WhatsApp Direct Send Category.

If defined, the request will be sent through the WhatsApp Direct Send API. See WhatsApp Direct API Support for more information.

Below is a text message code sample for adding the channel specific property WHATSAPP_DIRECT_SEND_CATEGORY to a Conversation API call:

{
  "app_id": "{APP_ID}",
  "recipient":
  {
    "contact_id": "{CONTACT_ID}"
  },
  "message":
  {
    "text_message":
    {
      "text": "This is a text message from the Sinch Conversation API. https://www.sinch.com"
    }
  },
  "channel_properties": {
    "WHATSAPP_DIRECT_SEND_CATEGORY": "utility"
  }
}

WhatsApp Marketing Message Bid Multiplier

This property applies only to templates created with max price settings under an enrolled WABA. Using it with a standard template or an unenrolled WABA will cause Meta to reject message delivery.

Use WHATSAPP_TEMPLATE_MESSAGE_BID_MULTIPLIER to increase or decrease a template’s bid_amount for an individual message at send time. This does not change the template’s saved max price settings.

The value must be a positive multiplier:

1.5 increases the maximum price by 50%.
0.5 decreases the maximum price by 50%.
1 keeps the maximum price unchanged. This is the default when the property is omitted.

Include the multiplier as a string in channel_properties:

{
  "app_id": "{APP_ID}",
  "recipient": {
    "identified_by": {
      "channel_identities": [
        {
          "channel": "WHATSAPP",
          "identity": "{PHONE_NUMBER}"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "message": {
    "template_message": {
      "channel_template": {
        "WHATSAPP": {
          "template_id": "{TEMPLATE_ID}",
          "language_code": "en"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "channel_properties": {
    "WHATSAPP_TEMPLATE_MESSAGE_BID_MULTIPLIER": "1.5"
  }
}

Properties table

The relevant WhatsApp channel properties are detailed in the table below:

Property name	Property value
`WHATSAPP_PREVIEW_URL`	Defines whether to include a preview of the URL or not. Possible values: `true`, `false`. Default value: `true`.
`WHATSAPP_DIRECT_SEND_CATEGORY`	If defined, the request is sent through the WhatsApp Direct Send API. Possible values: `utility`, `authentication`. By default, requests are sent through the WhatsApp Cloud API.
`WHATSAPP_TEMPLATE_MESSAGE_BID_MULTIPLIER`	Scales the template’s `bid_amount` for an individual message at send time. Accepts a positive multiplier as a string, such as `"1.5"` to increase the amount by 50%. Only supported for enrolled WABAs and templates created with max price settings.