whatsapp-api-js

A Whatsapp's Official API helper for Node.js (and others)

Disclaimers

Whatsapp's Official API is now generally available. To get started, you can follow this steps.
This project is a work in progress. Breaking changes are expected from mid-version to mid-version until it hits version 1.0.0.
To know what changes between updates, check out the releases on Github.

Set up

First, you need a Facebook app with the Whatsapp API activated. You can create your first app following this steps. Get the API token, either a temporal or a permanent one.

In your server you can install the module using npm:

npm install whatsapp-api-js

Now you can write code like this:

const { WhatsAppAPI, Handlers, Types } = require("whatsapp-api-js");
const { Text, Media, Contacts } = Types;

const Token = "YOUR_TOKEN";

const Whatsapp = new WhatsAppAPI(Token);

// Assuming post is called on a POST request to your server
function post(e) {
    // The Handlers work with any middleware, as long as you pass the correct data
    return Handlers.post(JSON.parse(e.data), onMessage);
}

function onMessage(phoneID, phone, message, name, raw_data) {
    console.log(`User ${phone} (${name}) sent to bot ${phoneID} ${JSON.stringify(message)}`);

    let promise;

    if (message.type === "text") promise = Whatsapp.sendMessage(phoneID, phone, new Text(`*${name}* said:\n\n${message.text.body}`));

    if (message.type === "image") promise = Whatsapp.sendMessage(phoneID, phone, new Media.Image(message.image.id, true, `Nice photo, ${name}`));

    if (message.type === "document") promise = Whatsapp.sendMessage(phoneID, phone, new Media.Document(message.document.id, true, undefined, "Our document"));

    if (message.type === "contacts") promise = Whatsapp.sendMessage(phoneID, phone, new Contacts.Contacts(
        [
            new Contacts.Name(name, "First name", "Last name"),
            new Contacts.Phone(phone),
            new Contacts.Birthday("2022", "04", "25"),
        ],
        [
            new Contacts.Name("John", "First name", "Last name"),
            new Contacts.Organization("Company", "Department", "Title"),
            new Contacts.Url("https://www.google.com", "WORK"),
        ]
    ));

    if (promise) promise.then(res => res.json()).then(console.log);
    
    Whatsapp.markAsRead(phoneID, message.id);
}

Whatsapp.logSentMessages((phoneID, phone, message, raw_data) => {
    console.log(`Bot ${phoneID} sent to user ${phone} ${JSON.stringify(message)}\n\n${JSON.stringify(raw_data)}`);
});

To recieve the post requests on message, you must setup the webhook at your Facebook app. While setting up, you will be asked a Verify Token. This can be any string you want.

The app also has a GET wizard for the webhook authentication:

const { Handlers } = require("whatsapp-api-js");

// Assuming get is called on a GET request to your server
function get(e) {
    // The Handlers work with any middleware, as long as you pass the correct data
    return Handlers.get(JSON.parse(e.params), "your_verify_token");
}

Once you are done, click administrate, and set the webhook to subscribe to messages only. There might be a future update to support the other types of subscriptions.

And that's it! Now you have a functioning Whatsapp Bot connected to your server.

Running outside of Node.js

Since @0.4.2, the module will check if fetch is available, and fallback to "cross-fetch" if not. This will allow the same script to be run in many different enviroments, such as a web browser, Deno, and maybe even TypeScript, idk about this last one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Personal suggestion, use esm.sh to import the code directly from npm, works flawlessly with Deno.

Some examples:

import { WhatsAppAPI } from "https://esm.sh/whatsapp-api-js";
const Whatsapp = new WhatsAppAPI("YOUR_TOKEN_HERE");

<script type="module">
 import { WhatsAppAPI } from "https://esm.sh/whatsapp-api-js";
 const Whatsapp = new WhatsAppAPI("YOUR_TOKEN_HERE");
 <!-- Please, never use your API tokens in a website, use this method wisely -->
</script>

Documentation

The package documentation is available in whatsappapijs.web.app and secreto31126.github.io/whatsapp-api-js.

Beta releases

Install the latest beta realease with npm install whatsapp-api-js@beta. As any beta, it is 110% likely to break. I also use this tag to test npm releases. Use it at your own risk.

Comments

Even though the code already supports all the message types, there's still a long way to go. I will keep updating it until I like how it works.

Also, if you are interested in Google App Script support, check out Secreto31126/whatsapp-api-google-app-script.