WhatsApp error 131048: Spam rate limit hit

Code 131048 looks like a rate limit but behaves like a quality sanction. Meta has restricted how many messages your phone number may send because recipients have been blocking or reporting your messages at a rate the platform considers harmful. It is tied to the phone number's quality rating and messaging limit, and it does not clear when a time window rolls over the way 130429 does; it clears when your quality improves.

The distinction matters for how you respond. Backing off and retrying, the right answer for 130429, does nothing here except add failed attempts. The right answer is to look at WhatsApp Manager's quality status, find which templates are attracting blocks, and reduce or stop sending them.

131048 is not a ban. The number is still connected and can usually still reply within open service windows. It is a warning that the next step is a messaging limit downgrade or a Flagged status, so it should be treated as urgent.

The error can appear both synchronously and in the statuses webhook, and it usually coincides with a visible change in WhatsApp Manager: the number's quality rating drops or its status moves to Flagged - the states are summarized under quality rating and status. A gotcha that costs teams weeks: the restriction attaches to signals about your traffic, not to the SIM, so migrating the same templates and audience to a fresh phone number usually reproduces the problem within days instead of escaping it. If sanctions escalate from the number to the whole account, the code changes to 368. BSP users are on identical footing: the quality rating lives in Meta's systems, Twilio and 360dialog dashboards merely mirror WhatsApp Manager, and no provider can reset it.

{
  "error": {
    "message": "(#131048) Spam rate limit hit",
    "type": "OAuthException",
    "code": 131048,
    "error_data": {
      "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
      "details": "Message failed to send because there are restrictions on how many messages can be sent from this phone number. This may be because too many previous messages were blocked or flagged as spam."
    },
    "fbtrace_id": "AsPqRt9ZxCvBnM"
  }
}

Monitor quality rating and template quality weekly and act at Medium, not Low. Segment marketing by engagement, cap frequency per contact, honor stop requests instantly, and keep opt-in proof. Separate experimental or high-volume marketing onto its own number so it cannot take your transactional number down with it. See the account restriction recovery guide for the full recovery sequence.