WhatsApp Interactive Message Builder

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "<RECIPIENT_PHONE_NUMBER>",
  "type": "interactive",
  "interactive": {
    "type": "button",
    "body": {
      "text": "Your order #4821 has shipped and arrives Thursday. What would you like to do?"
    },
    "footer": {
      "text": "Reply any time"
    },
    "action": {
      "buttons": [
        {
          "type": "reply",
          "reply": {
            "id": "track_order",
            "title": "Track my order"
          }
        },
        {
          "type": "reply",
          "reply": {
            "id": "change_address",
            "title": "Change address"
          }
        },
        {
          "type": "reply",
          "reply": {
            "id": "talk_to_agent",
            "title": "Talk to a person"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

POST it to /v26.0/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages with your own access token. Nothing here is sent anywhere.

Reply buttons put up to three choices directly under your message. They suit decisions the customer can make in one tap: confirm or reschedule, yes or no, track the order or talk to a person. Each button carries an ID that comes back to your webhook when it is tapped, which is what makes them better than asking someone to type a number.

List messages fold up to ten options behind one menu button, grouped into titled sections. Use them for anything longer than three: a service menu, delivery speeds, appointment slots, store locations. Each row can have a short description, so you can show a price or a duration without crowding the title.

CTA URL buttons attach one button that opens a web page, which reads far better than a raw link in the text: an invoice, a tracking page, a booking form. Location request messages show a Send location button so the customer can share where they are in a tap, which is how pickup, delivery and nearest-branch flows avoid a typed address.

The set mirrors what a quick reply does on other channels, with WhatsApp's own rules. A no-code WhatsApp chatbot builder produces exactly these payloads when you add a buttons or list step, so you only need to hand-write them if you call the API yourself.

The Cloud API rejects a message that breaks any of these rather than trimming it, usually with a parameter error such as 131008 or 100. Characters are counted as a person reads them, so an emoji uses one.

Product and multi-product messages are not in this builder on purpose: they need a commerce catalog connected to your WhatsApp Business Account and real product retailer IDs, which no standalone tool can supply honestly.

Interactive messages are session messages. Meta accepts them only while the customer service window is open, which means within 24 hours of the customer's last message to you. They need no approval, which is their advantage. Outside the window you need an approved message template, and the attempt to send anything else fails with 131047. To check a template before you submit it, use the WhatsApp template checker.

When the customer taps, your webhook receives a messages event with type interactive. A button tap fills interactive.button_reply with the ID and title; a list choice fills interactive.list_reply with the row's ID, title and description. Branch on the ID. Titles get reworded and translated, IDs should not, so an ID like change_address keeps your handler working through every copy change.

If the webhook never arrives, the problem is upstream of the message: an unverified callback URL or a missing subscription. The webhook verification tester checks the handshake, and the WhatsApp error code directory explains the rest.

• WhatsApp Template Checker›
• WhatsApp Text Formatter›
• Webhook Verification Tester›
• WhatsApp API Limits›
• WhatsApp Chatbot Builder›
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