Send WhatsApp Business messages with AWS End User Messaging Social

October 2026: This post was reviewed and updated for accuracy.

WhatsApp reaches over 3 billion monthly active users worldwide. More than 2 billion people use it every day, making it one of the most direct channels for customer communication at global scale. AWS End User Messaging Social gives you a managed API to send WhatsApp Business messages without building or maintaining your own WhatsApp Business API integration.

Whether you’re building appointment reminders, order notifications, or interactive customer support flows, with WhatsApp Business messaging, you can meet customers where they already communicate.

This post is for developers and solutions architects looking to integrate WhatsApp messaging into their customer engagement workflows using AWS. By the end, you will know how to send every supported message type using Python and the AWS End User Messaging Social API, from straightforward text and media to templates, interactive menus, and WhatsApp Flows.

Solution overview

This solution uses AWS End User Messaging Social to connect your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) with your AWS workloads so that you can send automated, two-way messages to your customers. When a customer sends a WhatsApp message to your WABA phone number, AWS End User Messaging Social receives the message and publishes an event to an Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) topic. Amazon SNS then invokes an AWS Lambda function. You configure this Lambda function to process the incoming message and send a contextual WhatsApp reply to the customer. The following diagram illustrates this architecture:

Figure 1: How an inbound WhatsApp message flows through AWS End User Messaging Social, Amazon SNS, and AWS Lambda to produce a reply

This post uses Amazon SNS as the message and event destination. AWS End User Messaging Social can also send messages and events directly to an Amazon Connect Customer instance. For details, see Add a message and event destination to AWS End User Messaging Social.

Important: Note that any WhatsApp user can send a message to your WABA number and trigger the workflow. To avoid incurring ongoing charges, complete the steps in the “Clean up” section.

The solution is deployed using the AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM) and includes a sample Lambda function that demonstrates how to handle common message types, send interactive list messages, and respond with templated replies. You can extend this foundation to build more sophisticated workflows, such as invoking AWS Step Functions for multi-step processes or routing messages to container-based workloads running on AWS. AWS End User Messaging Social also provides unified billing within AWS, streamlining cost management for your WhatsApp messaging workloads.

Prerequisites

Before you run any of the examples in this post, complete the following prerequisites:

• A phone number to link a WABA.

• Connect a verified WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) to AWS End User Messaging Social.

• Install the AWS SDK for Python (Boto3).

• Optionally, install the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) for template creation (otherwise you must create the templates on the AWS Management Console or in the WhatsApp Manager from Meta).

• A phone with WhatsApp Messenger app installed to test the solution. Note that the mobile app uses a different phone number than the one that is associated with your WABA.

This walkthrough typically takes 30–45 minutes, though actual time might vary based on your familiarity with AWS services and WhatsApp Business configuration.

If you’re new to AWS End User Messaging Social, see the Getting Started with WhatsApp guide before proceeding.

IAM permissions

To configure AWS End User Messaging Social, you need several types of permissions, depending on what you’re setting up.

Core AWS End User Messaging Social permissions

For basic configuration and management, you need permissions for the following actions:

• social-messaging:AssociateWhatsAppBusinessAccount — to associate a WhatsApp Business Account with your AWS account.

• social-messaging:CreateWhatsAppMessageTemplate — to create WhatsApp message templates.

• social-messaging:ListLinkedWhatsAppBusinessAccounts — to list linked WhatsApp Business Accounts.

• social-messaging:GetWhatsAppMessageTemplate — to retrieve message template details.

• social-messaging:ListWhatsAppMessageTemplates — to list message templates.

For event destinations (SNS integration)

If you’re configuring event destinations with Amazon SNS, your SNS topic must have an access policy that allows the social-messaging.amazonaws.com service principal to publish to it. The following example policy statement also uses the aws:SourceAccount and aws:SourceArn conditions so that only AWS End User Messaging Social in your account can publish to the topic. For detailed setup instructions, see Add a message and event destination to AWS End User Messaging Social in the AWS End User Messaging Social User Guide.

{
    "Effect": "Allow",
    "Principal": {
        "Service": "social-messaging.amazonaws.com"
    },
    "Action": "sns:Publish",
    "Resource": "arn:{PARTITION}:sns:{REGION}:{ACCOUNT_ID}:{TOPIC_NAME}",
    "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
            "aws:SourceAccount": "{ACCOUNT_ID}"
        },
        "ArnLike": {
            "aws:SourceArn": "arn:{PARTITION}:social-messaging:{REGION}:{ACCOUNT_ID}:*"
        }
    }
}

For Amazon Connect Customer integration

If integrating with Amazon Connect Customer (formerly Amazon Connect), the service-linked role (SLR) includes the following permissions:

• social-messaging:SendWhatsAppMessage.

• social-messaging:PostWhatsAppMessageMedia.

• social-messaging:GetWhatsAppMessageMedia.

• social-messaging:GetLinkedWhatsAppBusinessAccountPhoneNumber.

• social-messaging:ListLinkedWhatsAppBusinessAccounts.

• social-messaging:GetWhatsAppMessageTemplate.

• social-messaging:ListWhatsAppMessageTemplates.

For more information, see Use service-linked roles and role permissions for Connect Customer in the Amazon Connect Administrator Guide.

Additional considerations

• If you use encrypted SNS topics with AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS), you need additional AWS KMS permissions for the service to generate and decrypt data keys.

Configuration

Create a config.json file in your project directory with the following structure to store the destination WhatsApp number and the origination phone number ID (for example, phone-number-id-a1b2c3d4######) that we’re sending messages from and receiving the message:

{
    "originationPhoneNumberId": "your-whatsapp-phone-number-id",
    "destinationPhoneNumber": "+1234567890"
}

Security note: The config.json file is intended for local testing only. In production environments, avoid hardcoding phone numbers and credentials. Instead, use AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store, or environment variables to manage sensitive configuration values.

Each example builds a message_data payload and sends it using the following code:

import json
import boto3
import os

config_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'config.json')
with open(config_path, 'r') as f:
    config = json.load(f)

client = boto3.client('socialmessaging')
message_data = { ... }

response = client.send_whatsapp_message(
    message=json.dumps(message_data),
    originationPhoneNumberId=config['originationPhoneNumberId'],
    metaApiVersion="v20.0"
)
print(f"Message sent successfully! Response: {response}")

For production use, wrap the send call with error handling to manage throttling and failures gracefully:

try:
    result = client.send_whatsapp_message(
        message=json.dumps(message_data),
        originationPhoneNumberId=config['originationPhoneNumberId'],
        metaApiVersion="v20.0"
    )
    print(f"Message sent. ID: {result['messageId']}")
except client.exceptions.ThrottlingException as e:
    print(f"Rate limited. Retry after backoff: {e}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Failed to send message: {e}")

The following sections show only the message_data for each message type. To send any of these messages, use the shared sending code from the previous Configuration section—load config.json, create the Boto3 client, and call client.send_whatsapp_message() with the payload.

Text messages

Text messages are plain text communications sent within the 24-hour conversation window. They don’t require Meta template approval and support basic formatting.

Specifications and requirements

Text messages are the foundation of WhatsApp conversations. You can send up to 4,096 characters per message. Text messages don’t require Meta approval and work within an active 24-hour conversation window that opens when a customer messages your business first, or when you initiate contact using an approved template.

• Maximum length: 4,096 characters (including spaces and formatting).

• 24-hour window requirement: Can only be sent within 24 hours of last customer message.

• No WhatsApp template approval required.

WhatsApp message example

The following image is a WhatsApp message example.

Figure 2: A text message delivered in WhatsApp

Code example

The following is a code example for the previous message.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "text",
    "text": {
        "body": "For the Classic T-Shirt, we recommend size Medium based on your measurements. It runs true to size with a regular fit. Size Medium: Chest 38-40 inches, Length 28 inches."
    }
}

Media messages

With Media messages, you can send images, documents, audio, and video files.

Specifications and requirements

• Images: Maximum 5 MB (JPEG, PNG).

• Documents: Maximum 100 MB (PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX).

• Audio: Maximum 16 MB (AAC, MP4, AMR, MP3, OGG).

• Video: Maximum 16 MB (MP4, 3GPP).

Note: Media uploaded to Meta is retained for 30 days. If you reuse media across messages (such as a company logo), use the external URL method or re-upload before sending. The examples in this post use external URLs.

Media (document) message example

The message is presented as a PDF with the provided message body in the following example.

Figure 3: A document message that delivers an invoice PDF

Code example

The following is a code example for the previous message.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "document",
    "document": {
        "link": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/pdfs/social-messaging/latest/userguide/social-ug.pdf",
        "caption": "\U0001F4C4 Your invoice #12345 is ready. Payment due: January 31, 2024. Questions? Reply to this message.",
        "filename": "Invoice-12345.pdf"
    }
}

Media (image) message example

This media message includes an image and a message body. In this example, it shows a laptop available for purchase, with a link in the message body.

Figure 4: An image message with a product photo and caption

Code example

The following is a code example for the previous message.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "image",
    "image": {
            "link": "https://signin.aws.amazon.com/v2/assets/_next/static/media/aws-logo@2x.7c50e6f9.png",
            "caption": "Thanks for reaching out to AnyCompany! Here's the product image for the laptop you inquired about. Feel free to reply if you need more details."
    }
}

Template messages

Template messages enable business-initiated conversations outside the 24-hour window. Templates must be created and approved by Meta before use.

Note: AWS End User Messaging Social supports the Marketing Messages (MM) API from Meta for MARKETING category templates, such as the WhatsApp Flows survey template later in this post. You send these with the same SendWhatsAppMessage API, so no code changes are required. To use the MM API, accept the Meta terms and conditions through the MM API banner on your WABA details page in the AWS End User Messaging Social console.

Text template message creation with parameters

Template creation using CLI

You can create templates directly in the AWS End User Messaging Social console and in the WhatsApp Manager UI. You can also use AWS End User Messaging Social to create templates programmatically with the AWS CLI.

Step 1 — Create a file named order_confirmation_template.json in your working directory with the following template definition.

{
    "name": "order_confirmation_template",
    "language": "en",
    "category": "UTILITY",
    "parameter_format": "named",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "HEADER",
        "format": "TEXT",
        "text": "Order {{order_number}}",
        "example": {
          "header_text_named_params": [
            {"param_name": "order_number", "example": "ORD-2025-001"}
          ]
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "BODY",
        "text": "Hi {{customer_name}},\n\nYour order has been confirmed!\n\nItem: {{item_name}}\nTotal: {{total_amount}}\nEstimated Delivery: {{delivery_date}}\n\nThank you for shopping
  with us!",
        "example": {
          "body_text_named_params": [
            {"param_name": "customer_name", "example": "John Smith"},
            {"param_name": "item_name", "example": "Wireless Headphones"},
            {"param_name": "total_amount", "example": "$179.17"},
            {"param_name": "delivery_date", "example": "November 30, 2025"}
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }

Step 2 — Run the following CLI command to create the template. Note that the –template-definition parameter points to the local JSON file that contains the template structure:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-message-template \

    --region [AWS_REGION] \
    --cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out \
    --id [WABA_ID] \

--template-definition file://order_confirmation_template.json

Template creation using the console

AWS End User Messaging Social also features a built-in template management UI which you can use to create and manage templates directly in the AWS End User Messaging Social console. Choose Business account, choose your WABA, and then on the Message templates tab, choose Create template.

Figure 5: Starting a new template from the Message templates tab

In the first screen, you can set your template name, template language, and template type for your WhatsApp Business Account.

Figure 6: Setting the template name, language, and type

In the second screen, you can set the message content for the template including variables to dynamically populate when sending the message content.

Figure 7: Adding the message content and variables to the template

You can see approved message templates on the Message templates tab, along with their approval status.

Figure 8: Reviewing templates and their approval status

Sending the template message

After your template is approved, you can send it with parameter values populated at send time.

Important: When sending the template message, you must use the same language and locale that you used when creating the template. For example, a language code of “en” isn’t the same as “en_US”.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
        "name": "order_confirmation_template",
        "language": {"code": "en"},
        "components": [
            {
                "type": "header",
                "parameters": [
                    {"type": "text", "parameter_name": "order_number", "text": "ORD-2025-001"}
                ]
            },
            {
                "type": "body",
                "parameters": [
                    {"type": "text", "parameter_name": "customer_name", "text": "John Smith"},
                    {"type": "text", "parameter_name": "item_name", "text": "Wireless Headphones"},
                    {"type": "text", "parameter_name": "total_amount", "text": "$179.17"},
                    {"type": "text", "parameter_name": "delivery_date", "text": "November 30, 2025"}
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Authentication messages

Authentication messages deliver one-time passwords (OTPs) and verification codes. For example, you can send a sign-in code when a customer logs in to your app. Authentication messages use an AUTHENTICATION category template, and Meta supplies the message text, so you don’t write the body yourself.

Specifications and requirements

• Message text: Fixed by Meta. The code appears in bold, followed by “is your verification code.” You can add an optional security recommendation (“For your security, do not share this code.”)

• Expiration footer: Optional, 1 to 90 minutes.

• Code length: Up to 15 characters.

• Content restrictions: No URLs, media or emojis.

• Button types: Copy code, one-tap autofill or zero-tap. One-tap autofill and zero-tap are Android only and require a handshake between your app and the WhatsApp client.

Create template message with CLI

Step 1: Create a file named verification_code_template.json in your working directory with the following template definition. This example uses a copy code button, which works without any changes to your mobile app:

{
  "name": "verification_code",
  "language": "en",
  "category": "AUTHENTICATION",
  "components": [
    {
      "type": "BODY",
      "add_security_recommendation": true
    },
    {
      "type": "FOOTER",
      "code_expiration_minutes": 10
    },
    {
      "type": "BUTTONS",
      "buttons": [
        {
          "type": "OTP",
          "otp_type": "COPY_CODE",
          "text": "Copy code"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Run the following CLI command to create the template. The –template-definition parameter references the JSON file that you previously created:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-message-template \
    --region [AWS_REGION] \
    --cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out \
    --id [WABA_ID] \
    --template-definition file://verification_code_template.json

Authentication message example

The following image is an example of an authentication message with a copy code button.

Figure 9: An authentication message with a copy code button

Code example

The following is a code example of the previous authentication message example. Your application generates the code and passes it twice, once as the body parameter and once as the button parameter.

otp_code = "482913"

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
        "name": "verification_code",
        "language": {"code": "en"},
        "components": [
            {
                "type": "body",
                "parameters": [
                    {"type": "text", "text": otp_code}
                ]
            },
            {
                "type": "button",
                "sub_type": "url",
                "index": "0",
                "parameters": [
                    {"type": "text", "text": otp_code}
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Note: For one-tap autofill and zero-tap buttons, see Authentication templates in the Meta for Developers documentation.

Location messages

Location messages share geographic coordinates with optional name and address information. For example, you can send a location for a store branch to a customer.

Create template message with CLI

Step 1 — Create a file named store_location_template.json in your working directory with the following template definition:

{
    "name": "store_location",
    "language": "en",
    "category": "UTILITY",
    "parameter_format": "named",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "HEADER",
        "format": "LOCATION"
      },
      {
        "type": "BODY",
        "text": "Visit our {{store_name}} store!\n\nOperating Hours: {{hours}}\n\nSee you soon!",
        "example": {
          "body_text_named_params": [
            {"param_name": "store_name", "example": "Marina Bay Store"},
            {"param_name": "hours", "example": "10 AM - 10 PM"}
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }

Step 2 — Run the following CLI command to create the template. The –template-definition parameter references the JSON file that you previously created:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-message-template \
    --region [AWS_REGION] \
    --cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out \
    --id [WABA_ID] \

--template-definition file://store_location_template.json

Location message example

The following image is an example of a location message.

Figure 10: A location message with a map and address

Code example

The following is a code example of the previous location message example.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
        "name": "store_location",
        "language": {
            "code": "en"
        },
        "components": [
            {
                "type": "header",
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "type": "location",
                        "location": {
                            "latitude": "1.2838",
                            "longitude": "103.8591",
                            "name": "Marina Bay Sands",
                            "address": "10 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018956"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "type": "body",
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "parameter_name": "store_name",
                        "text": "Marina Bay Store"
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "parameter_name": "hours",
                        "text": "10 AM - 10 PM"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Interactive messages

Interactive messages provide pre-defined response options through buttons or lists. These messages must be sent within the 24-hour conversation window.

• Structured responses – Pre-defined options keep data collection consistent.

• Better user experience – One-tap interactions reduce friction and improve completion rates.

• 24-hour window requirement – Must be sent within active conversation windows.

Quick reply buttons message

This example demonstrates collecting guest feedback using quick reply buttons for streamlined response collection.

Technical specifications:

• Maximum three buttons per message.

• Button text limit: 20 characters.

• Buttons appear in a horizontal row on most devices.

Quick reply buttons message example

The following image is an example of the Quick reply buttons message.

Figure 11: A quick reply buttons message for collecting feedback

Code example

The following is a code example of the previous example image.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "recipient_type": "individual",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "interactive",
    "interactive": {
        "type": "button",
        "body": {
            "text": "\U0001F3E8 Thank you for staying with us! How would you rate your experience?"
        },
        "action": {
            "buttons": [
                {
                    "type": "reply",
                    "reply": {
                        "id": "excellent",
                        "title": "\u2B50 \u2B50 \u2B50 \u2B50 \u2B50 Excellent"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "type": "reply",
                    "reply": {
                        "id": "good",
                        "title": "\u2B50 \u2B50 \u2B50 \u2B50 Good"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "type": "reply",
                    "reply": {
                        "id": "needs_improvement",
                        "title": "\u2B50 \u2B50 Needs Work"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

List message

This example shows a restaurant menu using list messages for organized, scrollable content presentation.

Technical specifications:

• Max options: Up to 10 rows total, which can be organized into 10 sections.

• Button text: Maximum 24 characters to open the menu.

• Sections: A list can contain multiple sections (for example, “Starters” and “Mains”).

List message example

The following is an image of a list message example.

Figure 12: A list message that opens a scrollable menu

When the user expands the list, they can select individual items to add to their cart.

Figure 13: Selecting items from the expanded list

Code example

The following is the code example for the previously mentioned example.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "recipient_type": "individual",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "interactive",
    "interactive": {
        "type": "list",
        "body": {
            "text": "\U0001F37D\uFE0F Welcome to Bella Vista! Browse our menu categories in the following list:"
        },
        "action": {
            "button": "View Menu",
            "sections": [
                {
                    "title": "Main Courses",
                    "rows": [
                        {
                            "id": "pasta",
                            "title": "\U0001F35D Pasta Dishes",
                            "description": "Fresh pasta with signature sauces"
                        },
                        {
                            "id": "pizza",
                            "title": "\U0001F355 Wood-Fired Pizza",
                            "description": "Authentic Italian pizza"
                        }
                    ]
                },
                {
                    "title": "Beverages",
                    "rows": [
                        {
                            "id": "wine",
                            "title": "\U0001F377 Wine Selection",
                            "description": "Curated Italian wines"
                        },
                        {
                            "id": "cocktails",
                            "title": "\U0001F378 Signature Cocktails",
                            "description": "Handcrafted cocktails"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

Contact messages

Contact messages share vCard-formatted contact information, useful for sharing business contact details with customers.

Contact message example

The following is an image of an example contact message.

Figure 14: A contact message sharing business contact details

Customers can choose to directly message the contact, save the contact to their contacts list and view details about the contact in a pop up.

Figure 15: Viewing or saving the shared contact

Code example

The following is a code example for the previously mentioned image example.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "contacts",
    "contacts": [
        {
            "name": {
                "formatted_name": "AnyCompany Customer Support",
                "first_name": "Customer",
                "last_name": "Support"
            },
            "org": {
                "company": "AnyCompany Inc."
            },
            "phones": [
                {
                    "phone": "+1-555-0123",
                    "type": "WORK",
                    "wa_id": "15550123"
                }
            ],
            "emails": [
                {
                    "email": "support@anycompany.com",
                    "type": "WORK"
                }
            ],
            "urls": [
                {
                    "url": "https://www.anycompany.com",
                    "type": "WORK"
                }
            ],
            "addresses": [
                {
                    "street": "123 Business Ave",
                    "city": "Seattle",
                    "state": "WA",
                    "zip": "98101",
                    "country": "United States",
                    "country_code": "US",
                    "type": "WORK"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

WhatsApp Flows

WhatsApp Flows can help power interactive experiences. Note that a verified WhatsApp Business Account is required to use WhatsApp Flows. There are two general types of WhatsApp Flows:

• Without an endpoint — Results are stored, and you can view them directly in WhatsApp Manager. This is the type demonstrated in this post.

• With an endpoint — Results are sent to an API endpoint that you specify for further processing.

WhatsApp Flow – survey

This is an example of a WhatsApp Flow without an endpoint that sends a product survey to customers. Because this flow doesn’t use an endpoint, you can view the results directly in WhatsApp Manager.

Create WhatsApp Flow using Flow Playground

First create a WhatsApp Flow using the Flows Playground on the Meta for Developers website.

Figure 16: Building a WhatsApp Flow in the Flows Playground

You can use the following JSON in the editor to use the example flow that we’re creating.

{"version":"7.2","screens":[{"id":"QUESTION_ONE","title":"Question 1 of 2","data":{},"layout":{"type":"SingleColumnLayout","children":[{"type":"Form","name":"form","children":[{"type":"TextHeading","text":"What product categories interest you?"},{"type":"CheckboxGroup","label":"Choose all that apply:","required":true,"name":"product_categories","data-source":[{"id":"electronics","title":"Electronics"},{"id":"fashion","title":"Fashion"},{"id":"home","title":"Home & Living"},{"id":"beauty","title":"Beauty"}]},{"type":"Footer","label":"Continue","on-click-action":{"name":"navigate","next":{"type":"screen","name":"QUESTION_TWO"},"payload":{"product_categories":"${form.product_categories}"}}}]}]}},{"id":"QUESTION_TWO","title":"Question 2 of 2","data":{"product_categories":{"type":"array","items":{"type":"string"},"__example__":[]}},"terminal":true,"success":true,"layout":{"type":"SingleColumnLayout","children":[{"type":"Form","name":"form","children":[{"type":"TextHeading","text":"What's your typical budget?"},{"type":"RadioButtonsGroup","label":"Choose one:","required":true,"name":"budget_range","data-source":[{"id":"under_50","title":"Under $50"},{"id":"50_150","title":"$50 - $150"},{"id":"over_150","title":"Over $150"}]},{"type":"Footer","label":"Submit","on-click-action":{"name":"complete","payload":{"product_categories":"${data.product_categories}","budget_range":"${form.budget_range}"}}}]}]}}]}

Next, create the template to attach to the flow.

Figure 17: Creating a template for the WhatsApp Flow

Figure 18: Attaching the Flow to the message template

Create WhatsApp template using AWS CLI

Step 1 — Create a file named anycompany_survey_template.json in your working directory with the following template definition. Notice that the Flow JSON is embedded directly in the flow_json field of the button component:

{ "name": "anycompany_survey", "language": "en_US", "category": "MARKETING", "components": [ { "type": "BODY", "text": "Hi! We're AnyCompany and we'd love to personalize your shopping experience. Take our quick 2-question survey!" }, { "type": "BUTTONS", "buttons": [ { "type": "FLOW", "text": "Start Survey", "flow_json": "{"version":"7.2","screens":[{"id":"QUESTION_ONE","title":"Question 1 of 2","data":{},"layout":{"type":"SingleColumnLayout","children":[{"type":"Form","name":"form","children":[{"type":"TextHeading","text":"What product categories interest you?"},{"type":"CheckboxGroup","label":"Choose all that apply:","required":true,"name":"product_categories","data-source":[{"id":"electronics","title":"Electronics"},{"id":"fashion","title":"Fashion"},{"id":"home", "title":"Home & Living"},{"id":"beauty","title":"Beauty"}]},{"type":"Footer","label":"Continue","on-click-action":{"name":"navigate","next":{"type":"screen","name":"QUESTI ON_TWO"},"payload":{"product_categories":"${form.product_categories}"}}}]}]}},{"id":"QUESTION_TWO","title":"Question 2 of 2","data":{"product_categories":{"type":"array","items":{"type":"string"},"__example__":[]}},"terminal":true,"success":true,"layout":{"type":"SingleColumnLayout

","children":[{"type":"Form","name":"form","children":[{"type":"TextHeading","text":"What's your typical budget?"},{"type":"RadioButtonsGroup","label":"Choose one:","required":true,"name":"budget_range","data-source":[{"id":"under_50","title":"Under $50"},{"id":"50_150","title":"$50 - $150"},{"id":"over_150","title":"Over $150"}]},{"type":"Footer","label":"Submit","on-click-action":{"name":"complete","payload":{"product_categories":"${data.product_categories}","budget_range":"${form .budget_range}"}}}]}]}}]}", "flow_action": "navigate" } ] } ] }

Step 2 — Run the following CLI command to create the template. The –template-definition parameter references the JSON file that you previously created:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-message-template \
--region [AWS_REGION] \
--cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out \
--id [WABA_ID] \
--template-definition file://anycompany_survey_template.json

Sending the WhatsApp Flow

After the template and flow are approved, you can send a message with the following code.

message_data = {
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "to": config['destinationPhoneNumber'],
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
        "name": "anycompany_survey",
        "language": {
            "code": "en_US"
        },
        "components": [
            {
                "type": "button",
                "sub_type": "flow",
                "index": "0",
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "type": "action",
                        "action": {
                            "flow_token": "survey-12345",
                            "flow_action_data": {
                                "screen": "QUESTION_ONE"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

WhatsApp Flow survey example

The Flow appears with the specified message body and a link to start the survey.

Figure 19: The Flow message with a link to start the survey

The recipient provides answers on each page of the Flow and submits them at the end.

Figure 20: Answering a survey question in the Flow

After the recipient provides inputs, the Flow shows a completed message.

Figure 21: The confirmation shown after the survey is submitted

Clean up

To avoid incurring future charges, delete the resources that you created during this walkthrough:

1. In the AWS End User Messaging Social console, disassociate (unlink) the WhatsApp Business Account.

2. On the Message templates tab of your WABA, delete any test templates that you created.

3. Delete any WhatsApp Flows you created in the Flow Playground on the Meta for Developers website.

4. Review your Amazon CloudWatch Logs for any log groups created by the service and delete them if no longer needed.

5. (Optional) If you provisioned a phone number in AWS End User Messaging SMS only for WhatsApp, release the phone number in AWS End User Messaging SMS.

For templates created in WhatsApp Manager, you can also delete them directly from the WhatsApp Business Manager interface on the Meta for Developers website.

Conclusion

In this post, you learned how to send various WhatsApp Business message types using AWS End User Messaging Social, including text messages, media messages, template messages, location messages, interactive messages, contact messages, and WhatsApp Flows.

AWS End User Messaging Social provides a managed API that removes the complexity of maintaining your own WhatsApp Business API integration, so you can focus on building engaging customer experiences. The service handles the heavy lifting of managing WhatsApp Business API connections, template approvals, and message delivery, while providing you with a unified, consistent API interface.

Next steps

• Explore advanced template features with dynamic content and media headers.

• Implement webhook handlers for incoming messages and delivery receipts.

• Set up automated message flows for common customer inquiries using Amazon EventBridge.

• Integrate with Amazon Connect Customer for omnichannel customer support experiences.

We’d love to hear about your experience! Share your use cases and implementation approaches in the comments.

Additional resources

• AWS End User Messaging Social Documentation.

• AWS End User Messaging Social API Reference.

• AWS End User Messaging Social User Guide.

• WhatsApp Business Platform API Documentation on the Meta for Developers website.

• WhatsApp Flows Documentation on the Meta for Developers website.

• AWS End User Messaging Social Console.

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