WhatsApp Business API Meta Setup

WhatsApp Business API / Meta Setup

This is usually the hardest part of setup. To send and receive real messages, ForgeChat connects to the official Meta WhatsApp Cloud API using your own Meta credentials. You only do this once.

What you need from Meta

From the Meta Business dashboard and Meta for Developers:

Value	Where it comes from
WhatsApp Business account (WABA)	Created in Meta Business — required to use the Cloud API
Display phone number	The business number registered to your WABA
Phone Number ID	WhatsApp → API Setup — the ID of that number (not the number itself)
WABA ID	WhatsApp → API Setup — your WhatsApp Business Account ID
Meta App ID	Your app under Meta for Developers
Access token	A permanent access token for your app / system user (temporary tokens expire after 24 hours)

Where to put each value in ForgeChat

1. Log in to ForgeChat → Settings → WhatsApp Accounts → Add.
2. Paste the Display Phone Number, Phone Number ID, WABA ID, Meta App ID, and access token.
3. Save. ForgeChat stores the access token encrypted (AES-256-GCM).

Set up the webhook

Meta delivers incoming messages to ForgeChat through a webhook. In the Meta dashboard (WhatsApp → Configuration):

• Callback URL: https://<your-domain>/api/webhook/whatsapp
• Verify token: the value of META_WEBHOOK_VERIFY_TOKEN from your backend/.env (the token you saved during installation)
• Subscribe to: messages

Meta requires a public HTTPS URL. On a server, your domain via Caddy provides this automatically. For a local install, expose one with a free Cloudflare Tunnel (see the README) and use that address as the Callback URL.

Send a first test message

1. In ForgeChat go to Settings → Webhooks → Send Test Webhook — the row should show processed.
2. From your phone, send a WhatsApp message to your business number. It should appear in Chats within seconds.
3. Reply from ForgeChat — it should arrive on your phone, and show a delivered status under Settings → Webhooks.

Your compliance responsibilities

ForgeChat connects you to WhatsApp, but it does not exempt you from Meta's rules. You are responsible for following the WhatsApp Business Platform policies, including obtaining opt-in / consent before messaging people, following message template rules, and staying within Meta's messaging limits.

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See also: Configuration & Environment Variables • Using the Dashboard • Troubleshooting