Quick Start Guide

Get your WhatsApp Business bot up and running in 30 minutes with this streamlined setup guide.

Prerequisites Checklist

Twilio account with $10+ credit
Meta for Developers account
Meta Business Suite account
Publicly accessible webhook URL (use ngrok for testing)
Basic command line knowledge

30-Minute Setup

Step 1: Buy Twilio Number (5 minutes)

# Log into Twilio Console
# https://console.twilio.com/

# Navigate to: Phone Numbers > Buy a Number
# Select: Voice capability (required!)
# Purchase number
# Example: +553322980098

Tip: Choose a number from your target country for easier verification.

Step 2: Create Meta App (5 minutes)

# Go to Meta for Developers
# https://developers.facebook.com/apps/

# Click: Create App > Business type
# App name: "My WhatsApp Bot"
# Add product: WhatsApp
# Create WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)

Save these values:

WABA ID:          390727550789228
Application ID:   323250907549153
Phone Number ID:  (after verification)

Step 3: Configure Twilio Webhook (5 minutes)

Option A: TwiML Bin (Fastest)

<!-- Create TwiML Bin in Twilio Console -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
  <Gather action="https://twimlets.com/voicemail?Email=your-email@example.com" method="POST">
    <Say voice="alice">Please enter your verification code.</Say>
  </Gather>
</Response>

Option B: ngrok + Node.js (Recommended)

# Install dependencies
npm install express twilio body-parser

# Create server.js

const express = require('express');
const twilio = require('twilio');
const app = express();

app.use(require('body-parser').urlencoded({ extended: false }));

app.post('/twilio/voice', (req, res) => {
  const twiml = new twilio.twiml.VoiceResponse();
  twiml.redirect('https://twimlets.com/voicemail?Email=your-email@example.com');
  res.type('text/xml');
  res.send(twiml.toString());
});

app.listen(3000);

# Start ngrok
ngrok http 3000

# Update Twilio number webhook to:
# https://abc123.ngrok.io/twilio/voice

Step 4: Verify Phone Number (5 minutes)

# In Meta Business Suite:
# 1. WhatsApp Accounts > Add Phone Number
# 2. Enter: +553322980098
# 3. Select: "Phone Call" (NOT SMS!)
# 4. Click: Verify

# Meta will call your Twilio number
# Check your email for the verification code
# Enter code in Meta dashboard

Critical: Select “Phone Call” verification - Twilio numbers don’t support SMS!

Step 5: Get API Credentials (3 minutes)

# In Meta for Developers:
# 1. Your App > WhatsApp > API Setup
# 2. Click: "Temporary Access Token"
# 3. Copy token (starts with EAAQ...)
# 4. Note Phone Number ID from URL

Required credentials:

whatsapp-api-key,EAAQdlso6aM8BOwlhc3yM6bbJkGyibQPGJd87zFDHtfaFoJDJPohMl2c5nXs4yYuuHwoXJWx0rQKo0VXgTwThPYzqLEZArOZBhCWPBUpq7YlkEJXFAgB6ZAb3eoUzZAMgNZCZA1sg11rT2G8e1ZAgzpRVRffU4jmMChc7ybcyIwbtGOPKZAXKcNoMRfUwssoLhDWr
whatsapp-phone-number-id,1158433381968079
whatsapp-business-account-id,390727550789228
whatsapp-webhook-verify-token,4qIogZadggQ.BEoMeciXIdl_MlkV_1DTx8Z_i0bYPxtSJwKSbH0FKlY
whatsapp-application-id,323250907549153
whatsapp-enabled,true

Step 6: Configure Webhook (5 minutes)

# Start your webhook server
node server.js

# In Meta Developers:
# 1. WhatsApp > API Setup > Webhook > Edit
# 2. Webhook URL: https://your-domain.com/webhooks/whatsapp
# 3. Verify Token: 4qIogZadggQ.BEoMeciXIdl_MlkV_1DTx8Z_i0bYPxtSJwKSbH0FKlY
# 4. Click: Verify and Save
# 5. Subscribe to: messages

Step 7: Configure General Bots (2 minutes)

# Edit .gbot/config.csv

key,value
whatsapp-enabled,true
whatsapp-api-key,EAAQdlso6aM8BOwlhc3yM6bbJkGyibQPGJd87zFDHtfaFoJDJPohMl2c5nXs4yYuuHwoXJWx0rQKo0VXgTwThPYzqLEZArOZBhCWPBUpq7YlkEJXFAgB6ZAb3eoUzZAMgNZCZA1sg11rT2G8e1ZAgzpRVRffU4jmMChc7ybcyIwbtGOPKZAXKcNoMRfUwssoLhDWr
whatsapp-phone-number-id,1158433381968079
whatsapp-business-account-id,390727550789228
whatsapp-webhook-verify-token,4qIogZadggQ.BEoMeciXIdl_MlkV_1DTx8Z_i0bYPxtSJwKSbH0FKlY
whatsapp-application-id,323250907549153

Step 8: Test Your Bot (5 minutes)

# Send test message via API
curl -X POST \
  'https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/1158433381968079/messages' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAQdlso6aM8BOwl...' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": "5511999999999",
    "type": "text",
    "text": {"body": "Hello from General Bots!"}
  }'

# Or use BASIC

REM Test your WhatsApp integration
SEND WHATSAPP TO "+5511999999999" WITH "Hello from General Bots!"

Your First WhatsApp Bot

Create a simple echo bot:

REM Simple WhatsApp Echo Bot
ON WHATSAPP MESSAGE RECEIVED
  LET SENDER$ = GET WHATSAPP SENDER NUMBER
  LET MESSAGE$ = GET WHATSAPP MESSAGE BODY
  
  LOG "Message from " + SENDER$ + ": " + MESSAGE$
  
  REM Echo back with acknowledgment
  SEND WHATSAPP TO SENDER$ WITH "You said: " + MESSAGE$
END ON

❌ Don’t select SMS verification - Use “Phone Call” ❌ Don’t hardcode tokens - Use config.csv ❌ Don’t forget webhook subscriptions - Subscribe to “messages” ❌ Don’t use + in phone numbers - Format: 5511999999999 ❌ Don’t ignore rate limits - Max 1000 messages/second

Next Steps

Create message templates for business-initiated conversations
Set up persistent storage for conversation history
Implement retry logic for failed messages
Add monitoring for webhook health
Review security best practices

Need Help?

Verification Checklist

Twilio number purchased with Voice capability
Meta app created with WhatsApp product
Phone number verified via phone call
Access token generated and saved
Webhook configured and verified
Webhook subscribed to “messages”
config.csv updated with all credentials
Test message sent successfully
Incoming webhook received
Bot replied to test message

✅ All checked? Your WhatsApp bot is live!

Quick Reference: Essential Commands

# Test webhook connectivity
curl -X POST https://your-webhook.com/webhooks/whatsapp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"test":true}'

# Check Meta API status
curl https://developers.facebook.com/status/

# View Twilio call logs
# https://console.twilio.com/us1/develop/monitor/logs/calls

# Test access token
curl -X GET "https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/me" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Monitor bot logs
tail -f .gbot/logs/bot.log

Configuration Template

Copy this template and replace with your values:

# WhatsApp Business Configuration
whatsapp-enabled,true
whatsapp-api-key,YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN_HERE
whatsapp-phone-number-id,YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER_ID_HERE
whatsapp-business-account-id,YOUR_WABA_ID_HERE
whatsapp-webhook-verify-token,YOUR_VERIFY_TOKEN_HERE
whatsapp-application-id,YOUR_APP_ID_HERE
whatsapp-from-number,+553322980098

# Optional: Advanced Settings
whatsapp-webhook-url,https://your-domain.com/webhooks/whatsapp
whatsapp-timeout,30000
whatsapp-retry-attempts,3
whatsapp-rate-limit,50

Time-Saving Tips

💡 Use ngrok for testing - No need to deploy to test webhooks 💡 Save all credentials immediately - Tokens won’t be shown again 💡 Test with your own number first - Verify everything works 💡 Enable debug logging - Troubleshoot issues faster 💡 Set up monitoring early - Catch problems before users do

Estimated total time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
Cost: ~$10/month (Twilio number + usage)

For detailed explanations, advanced configurations, and production deployment, see the complete documentation.

General Bots Documentation