> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.dapta.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.dapta.ai/ai-text-agents/channels/connect-your-agent-with-whatsapp.md).
# Connect your Agent with WhatsApp
Connect a WhatsApp Business number to your Text Agent, step by step: from New WhatsApp line in Dapta to Meta's window, then assign the agent and check a real customer gets a reply.
This is the step where your agent stops being a demo and starts answering real people. It takes about five minutes: a few screens in Dapta, then Meta's own window, where you pick your business and your number.
## Before you start
Have these ready. Most failed connections are missing one of them.
* **A Text Agent you have already tested.**
* **Pop-ups allowed for `app.dapta.ai`.** Meta's window opens as a pop-up.
* **Admin access to your business on Meta.** You sign in with the Facebook account that manages your business portfolio.
* **A website or an Instagram Business profile URL.** Meta asks for one to avoid blocking the number.
* **The phone with the number.** If the number is already on the WhatsApp Business app, you scan a QR code with it. If it is not, you receive a verification code on it.
{% content-ref url="/pages/8yBxnycfBbLwmHztlM7I" %}
[Prepare your Meta account](/ai-text-agents/channels/prepare-your-meta-account.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
## Connect the line
### In Dapta
**Step 1:** Go to **Text Agents → Channels → WhatsApp** and click **New WhatsApp line**.
***
**Step 2:** Read the requirements, tick **I confirm I've read this and meet all the requirements to connect to Meta**, and click **Connect**.
***
**Step 3:** Choose how to connect your number, then click **Next**.
* **Use my own number** — a number you already have, including one that is on the WhatsApp Business app today.
* **Use a Dapta number** — a number you bought in **Voice Agents → Phone Numbers**. Select it and continue. If your account already has a WhatsApp account linked, the connection finishes on its own. Otherwise Meta's window opens and you only pick the business and the WhatsApp account, with no number or code to enter.
***
**Step 4:** Fill in your business details and click **Continue**.
* **Display Name** — the name customers see on WhatsApp.
* **Website** — your website or your Instagram Business profile URL.
* **Phone Number** — the country code and the number. It must not be registered with another WhatsApp account.
Meta's window opens.
### In Meta's window
Meta shows its window in the language of your Facebook account. The screens below come from an account set to Spanish; the buttons are in the same place in every language.
**Step 5:** Pick your **Business portfolio**. Under **WhatsApp Business account**, choose **Connect a WhatsApp Business app** to keep using the app on your phone, or **Create a WhatsApp Business account** for a number that is not on WhatsApp yet. Click **Next**.
Meta's window, in Spanish. "Conecta una app de WhatsApp Business" keeps the app on your phone.
***
**Step 6:** Select the country and enter your phone number. Click **Next**.
***
**Step 7:** If the number is on the WhatsApp Business app, Meta explains what connecting means: your team keeps full access to the app, and some account information is shared with Dapta. Click **Next**.
***
**Step 8:** Open the **WhatsApp Business app** on the phone and scan the QR code.
1. In the app, look for a message from the official Facebook Business account and tap **Connect**. If you do not see it, go to **Menu** or **Settings → Account → Business Platform**.
2. Choose whether to share your chat history. Meta can bring in your contacts and up to six months of chats.
3. If you cannot scan, use **Use access code** in Meta's window and type the code the app shows.
The QR code expires after a few minutes. If it does, click **Click to reload the QR code**.
***
**Step 9:** Confirm the **WhatsApp Business account name**, choose your **Time zone**, and click **Next**.
***
**Step 10:** Review what Dapta will be able to do (manage your WhatsApp accounts and their conversations) and click **Confirm**.
***
**Step 11:** Wait for **Your account is connected to Dapta**. Meta reviews your business against its Commerce Policy and tells you within 24 hours if there is a problem.
Click **Add payment method** to set up how Meta charges for delivering your messages, then **Finish**. Without a payment method on your Meta account, Meta stops delivering.
{% hint style="info" %}
Dapta charges for the agent, in credits. Meta charges for delivering each message on WhatsApp, to the payment method on your own Meta account. See [WhatsApp billing and Meta charges](/ai-text-agents/channels/whatsapp-billing-and-meta-charges.md).
{% endhint %}
{% hint style="warning" %}
Do not delete your WhatsApp account or remove the number from Meta to make a connection work. It destroys your chat history and almost never fixes anything. If a number is rejected, ask support what the real reason is first.
{% endhint %}
## Assign the agent
A connected line does not answer anybody until an agent is attached to it. These are two separate steps, and forgetting the second is the most common reason a new line stays silent.
Choose the Text Agent for the line and click **Save assignment**.
Reassigning later changes who answers **new** conversations. It does not move existing chat history, and it does not necessarily switch the agent on conversations already running.
## Check it really works
Connected, assigned and actually delivering are three different things. Do all four checks before you put the number on your website.
| Check | How |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **The right number, the right workspace** | Confirm this is the line customers will message, in the workspace you meant. |
| **Registration finished** | Wait for a connected or online status. "Creating" or "pending" is not ready. |
| **An agent is assigned** | Open the line and confirm the agent is there. |
| **A real reply arrives** | Message the number from a different phone, find the conversation in [Inbox](/ai-text-agents/inbox.md), and confirm the answer comes back to that phone. |
If you kept the WhatsApp Business app, your team can still reply from the phone. Those messages show up in Inbox next to the agent's, as synced messages rather than something the agent wrote.
Also glance at the quality rating and messaging limit in the connection details. They start low on a new number and rise as you send well. A blank value is not the same as unlimited.
## Change or remove a line
Before you move or remove a line: pause any [Sequences](/ai-text-agents/campaigns.md) using it, deal with conversations still waiting on a reply, and tell whoever watches the Inbox.
If your account does not show the action you need, ask support to make the change. Removing a line in Dapta and deleting the registration at Meta are not the same thing — never do the second to achieve the first.
## If something is not working
| What you see | What to try |
| ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Meta's window never opens | Allow pop-ups for `app.dapta.ai` and start again from **New WhatsApp line**. |
| The QR code expired | Click **Click to reload the QR code**, or use **Use access code**. |
| "Number already registered" | The number is connected to WhatsApp somewhere else. Check with support before changing anything. |
| Status stuck on creating | Refresh the connection details. If it stays, send support the number, the time and the status shown. |
| Connected, but no reply | Check the agent is assigned and published, that a human has not taken the conversation over in Inbox, and that you are messaging from a different number than the one connected. |
| Replies work, but messages you start do not | You need an approved template for that line. See [which template type you need](/ai-text-agents/channels/template-types.md). |
| Messages suddenly stop | On your Meta account, check the payment method and your messaging limit in WhatsApp Manager. |
Do not reconnect repeatedly to get around a quality, payment, verification or template restriction — it does not clear them, and it puts the number at risk.
{% content-ref url="/pages/mLlFi104TPasFu4fCFKM" %}
[Which template type do you need](/ai-text-agents/channels/template-types.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
{% content-ref url="/pages/4UzZiIFvS8tHwW343c2h" %}
[WhatsApp billing](/ai-text-agents/channels/whatsapp-billing-and-meta-charges.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
---
# Agent Instructions
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