Meta Cloud
This tutorial walks you through connecting your qlar agent to a WhatsApp Business number using Meta Cloud (Meta's own WhatsApp Business Platform).
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you have:
- A Meta Business Suite account with a verified business.
- A Meta Developer account at developers.facebook.com.
- A Meta App with the WhatsApp product added.
- A WhatsApp Business Number registered and approved in your Meta App.
- The following values ready from your Meta App dashboard:
- App ID (also called Account ID)
- App Secret
- WhatsApp Number ID
Tip: You can find the App ID and App Secret in your Meta App under Settings → Basic. The WhatsApp Number ID is under WhatsApp → API Setup → Phone Number ID.
Step 1 — Open Channel Settings
- Open the CMS dashboard and select the agent you want to connect.
- In the left sidebar, click Channel.
- Click the WhatsApp tab.
- Choose which configuration to set up: Published Configuration (for live users) or Draft Configuration (for testing). Click the corresponding tab.
Note: You can configure both tabs independently. Start with Draft to test first, then repeat the steps for Published when ready to go live.
Step 2 — Start the Setup Wizard
If no WhatsApp number has been connected yet, a setup wizard appears.
- In the Protocol dropdown, select Meta Cloud.
- In the Phone Number field, enter your WhatsApp Business phone number in international format, for example
+6281234567890. - Click Save (or the confirmation button in the wizard).
The wizard closes and the full configuration form loads.
Step 3 — Enter Account ID and App Secret
In the Basic section of the configuration form:
-
Account ID — Enter the App ID from your Meta App dashboard.
Tip: Click the info icon (ⓘ) next to the Account ID field for a guide image showing exactly where to find this value in Meta's UI.
-
App Secret — Enter the App Secret from Meta App → Settings → Basic. The field is masked by default; click the eye icon to reveal it, or use the copy button if you are pasting from your clipboard.
-
WhatsApp Number ID — Enter the Phone Number ID from Meta App → WhatsApp → API Setup.
-
Access Token — Enter the permanent access token (or a long-lived token) for your WhatsApp Business account.
Step 4 — Configure Webhook in Meta App Dashboard
qlar needs Meta to forward incoming messages to qlar's servers. This is done through a webhook.
- In the qlar form, locate the Webhook Secret field. Click Regenerate to create a secret, then copy it.
- Below the secret field, qlar displays your Webhook URL in a code block. Copy that URL as well.
- Go back to your Meta App dashboard and open WhatsApp → Configuration → Webhook.
- Click Edit and fill in the fields:
- Callback URL — Paste the Webhook URL from qlar.
- Verify Token — Paste the Webhook Secret from qlar.
- Click Verify and Save. Meta will send a verification request to qlar. The form turns green if the verification succeeds.
- Under Webhook Fields, enable at least messages so qlar receives incoming user messages.
Warning: Do not share the Webhook Secret publicly. If the secret is compromised, regenerate it in qlar and update the Verify Token in Meta App immediately.
Step 5 — Save and Verify
Click the Save button at the bottom of the form.
To verify the connection is working:
- Send a test message to your WhatsApp Business number from a personal WhatsApp account.
- The message should appear in your agent's conversation history in the CMS dashboard.
- Your agent should respond automatically based on its configuration.
Tip: If messages are not arriving, double-check that the Webhook URL and Verify Token match exactly between qlar and your Meta App dashboard, and that the messages webhook field is subscribed.
What's Next
- Repeat these steps for the Draft Configuration tab using a separate test number if you want a safe environment for testing changes.
- To go live, make sure your agent is published and the Published Configuration tab is fully saved.
- See Connect WhatsApp for an overview of the dual-config concept and Session Management settings.