API quickstart
Create an API key, pair WhatsApp, and send your first REST API message.
Use this guide when you are calling WhatsApp Use from your own code. For AI clients, use the MCP quickstart.
Before you begin
You need:
- A WhatsApp Use account and organization.
- A WhatsApp account available on your phone.
- An API key with
whatsapp:readandwhatsapp:write.
1. Set your API key
export WHATSAPP_USE_BASE_URL="https://api.whatsapp-use.com"
export WHATSAPP_USE_API_KEY="pa_live_..."2. Check the key
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $WHATSAPP_USE_API_KEY" \
"$WHATSAPP_USE_BASE_URL/v1/me"The response includes your organization, scopes, connection access, and public endpoint paths.
3. Pair WhatsApp
Start pairing:
curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $WHATSAPP_USE_API_KEY" \
"$WHATSAPP_USE_BASE_URL/v1/whatsapp/pair"Poll pairing state:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $WHATSAPP_USE_API_KEY" \
"$WHATSAPP_USE_BASE_URL/v1/whatsapp/pair/status"Render the returned qr value in your UI, or pair from the WhatsApp Use dashboard.
4. Confirm connection status
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $WHATSAPP_USE_API_KEY" \
"$WHATSAPP_USE_BASE_URL/v1/whatsapp/status"When pairing succeeds, paired is true. When the hosted connection is active, connected is true.
5. Send a text message
curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $WHATSAPP_USE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
"$WHATSAPP_USE_BASE_URL/v1/whatsapp/messages/send" \
-d '{
"contact_id": "14155550123@s.whatsapp.net",
"text": "Hello from WhatsApp Use"
}'Use conversation_id instead of contact_id when sending into an existing conversation returned by GET /v1/whatsapp/conversations or GET /v1/whatsapp/sync.