What you need before you start

A Meta Business portfolio (business.facebook.com) you are an admin of. Meta’s sign-up can create one for you.
A phone number for the WhatsApp Business Platform that can receive a verification code by SMS or call. If the number is in use on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, Meta’s sign-up tells you whether it can be connected as it is or must be removed from the app first.
A display name for the business that follows Meta’s naming rules; Meta reviews it.
A payment method in WhatsApp Manager if you will send template messages: Meta bills your business for them directly, at Meta’s rates.
For the token way in (Way 2, where offered): a system user with the admin role in Meta Business Settings, a permanent token for it, the number’s phone number id and the WhatsApp Business account id.
The owner or admin role in the UniPostudio brand you are connecting, and a free channel slot on your plan.

Connect step by step

Step 1:
Open Channels and select Connect on the WhatsApp card.
The Connect WhatsApp Business dialog opens: “Sign in with Facebook, then choose or create the WhatsApp Business account and phone number to connect.”
Step 2:
Select Continue with Facebook.
Meta’s sign-up opens in a window on facebook.com.
Step 3:
Sign in, then choose or create your business portfolio and WhatsApp Business account.
Meta walks you through it. Use the portfolio your business already has, if it has one.
Step 4:
Choose or add the phone number, and verify it.
Enter the code Meta sends by SMS or call. Meta also asks for the display name customers will see.
Step 5:
Finish in Meta’s window.
The dialog says Finishing with Meta… while UniPostudio completes the set-up, then “WhatsApp connected”. The card says Connected · healthy.

IllustrationThe Connect WhatsApp Business dialog: Continue with Facebook opens Meta’s sign-up.

Way 2: with a System User token (where your workspace offers it)

If the dialog shows Use a System User token instead under the button, you can paste your own token. It takes about five minutes the first time.

Step 1:
In the dialog, select Use a System User token instead.
The form with the steps and three fields opens.
Step 2:
In Meta Business Settings, open System users and create a system user with the Admin role, if you do not have one.
Make sure the system user has your WhatsApp Business account among its assets (Assign assets).
Step 3:
Select Generate new token on that user.
Choose your business app, set expiry to Never, and grant whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management. Copy the token.
Step 4:
In WhatsApp Manager, open Phone numbers and copy the number’s phone number id.
It is the long numeric string under the number. Copy your WhatsApp Business account id from WhatsApp Manager too.
Step 5:
Paste them and select Connect WhatsApp.
Fill Permanent access token, Phone number id and WhatsApp Business account id. The button says Verifying with Meta… while UniPostudio checks them with Meta before saving.

IllustrationAfter Use a System User token instead: the three fields and Connect WhatsApp.

Once it is connected

Messages to the number now arrive in the inbox. WhatsApp’s 24-hour rule applies to replies: you can answer freely within 24 hours of the customer’s last message; after that Meta only lets a business send an approved message template.

New numbers start with a limit on how many customers the business can message first each day; Meta raises it as the number keeps a good quality rating.

What we ask permission for, and why

Meta shows these when you sign up or generate the token. Each one is there for a feature; we do not ask for anything else.

whatsapp_business_management: Read your WhatsApp Business account, its phone numbers and message templates, register the number with the Cloud API, and subscribe it to UniPostudio’s webhooks so messages reach the inbox.
whatsapp_business_messaging: Receive the messages customers send to the number, and send your replies from it.
business_management: Meta’s sign-up may also ask for this, to reach the business portfolio you choose and finish the set-up.

If something goes wrong

“WhatsApp sign-up was closed before it finished.”

Meta’s window was closed early. Select Continue with Facebook again and go through to the end.

“Finish by choosing a phone number”

Meta set up the WhatsApp Business account but no number. Start again and pick or add a number.

“Meta did not accept the WhatsApp sign-up” or “Meta did not send the WhatsApp Business account and number”

Start the connection again. If it repeats, check in Meta Business Settings that your business portfolio is not restricted.

“WhatsApp sign-up is not available yet.”

Meta’s sign-up is not open in your workspace yet (see the badge at the top of this page). Try again later.

“Meta says this access token is invalid or expired.”

Generate a new System User token with expiry Never and both WhatsApp permissions, and paste it again.

“This token cannot access that WhatsApp Business Account.”

Check the WhatsApp Business account id, and that the system user has that account among its assets in Meta Business Settings.

“That phone number id does not belong to this WhatsApp Business Account.”

Copy both ids again from WhatsApp Manager: the phone number id is under the number, not the number itself.

“Could not register the phone number with the WhatsApp Cloud API.”

The number may still be registered on the WhatsApp app, or have two-step verification set elsewhere. Check it in WhatsApp Manager and try again.

A reply was refused after 24 hours

Outside the 24-hour window Meta only allows approved message templates. Wait for the customer to write again, or send a template.

Connect is greyed out

The top of the screen says “Only owners and admins can connect, change or disconnect channels.” Ask an owner or admin of the brand.

What we never do

We never ask for, see or keep your password. You sign in on the platform’s own page (or paste a token the platform issued you), and the platform gives UniPostudio a token, not your password.
Every token is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it is stored, and is never written to our logs.
We ask only for the permissions the features need, and use each one only for what this page says.
We never post or reply unless you or a teammate does, or an automation you turned on (scheduled posts, automatic AI replies) does.
Disconnecting deletes the stored token and what we synced from the account: its messages, comments, feed and analytics.

Disconnect or reconnect

Open the ⋯ menu on the WhatsApp card (More actions for WhatsApp), choose Disconnect and confirm. UniPostudio deletes the stored token and the messages synced from the number.

The access itself belongs to your Meta business, so to end it at Meta as well, delete the system user’s token, or remove UniPostudio’s access to the WhatsApp Business account, in Meta Business Settings. To reconnect, select Connect on the card again.

Still stuck?

Write to us with the channel’s name and the exact words on the card or in the error message: that is usually enough for us to tell what happened. Never send us a password or a token.

support@codezyai.com Every way to reach us