Connect a WhatsApp number

Connecting a WhatsApp Business number lets your AI agent answer customers on WhatsApp and lets you send campaigns and templates from that number. You connect it once through Meta’s sign-up window; Popcorn registers the number and keeps its message limit in sync afterwards.

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Before you start

• A Facebook login with admin access to your business. The sign-up runs in Meta’s own window, so allow pop-ups for Popcorn.
• A phone number that can get a code by text message or call, and your business name as customers will see it. If the number is already in use on the WhatsApp Business app and you want to keep using the app, follow Use Popcorn with the WhatsApp Business app instead.
• A role that can connect integrations. Without it, the page reads “WhatsApp isn’t connected yet” and asks you to “Ask an admin to connect your WhatsApp Business number.” See Team and roles.
• Optional: a catalog for your products. You can also set it up later; see Products in WhatsApp.

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Connect the number

Your agent answers on the number straight away: a number that is attached to no agent is answered by your default agent. To bind it to a specific agent, open the agent, go to its Channels tab and switch the number on; see Connect knowledge, tools and channels. While the number connects, Popcorn registers it with Meta using a two-step verification PIN that it generates and stores, links the number to your workspace and reads its message limit. It then asks Meta whether it can send from the number and whether customers’ messages to it reach Popcorn. The first number you connect becomes the default. A number that is on the WhatsApp Business app is connected as a coexistence number instead.

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If Meta asks to confirm the number

Meta sometimes won’t switch a number on until it is confirmed with a code sent to that phone. Popcorn then shows Confirm your number (“Meta needs to confirm this number before Popcorn AI can use it. Meta sends a 6-digit code to the phone with this number.”) on the page, so you don’t go back to Meta. Under Didn’t get it?, Send a new code asks again and Call me instead or Text me instead changes how it is sent. A wrong code shows “Meta didn’t accept that code. Check it and enter it again, or ask for a new one.” Meta couldn’t send the code means wait a minute and ask again, or ask for a call. Cancel stops without connecting the number.

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If the number connects but needs one more thing

The number is saved and listed under Connected numbers, but the check after connecting found that it can’t do your agent’s work yet. Connected, one thing left says what is wrong and the one fix: When you have made the change, click Check again. If Meta now says the number is ready, the notice turns into WhatsApp is connected. Otherwise a notice says nothing has changed for the number yet, and what is still wrong. The same problems and buttons stay on the number’s row; see Status and what needs you.

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If the connection fails

The page shows what happened, with one next step. For a dropped connection, Popcorn says “Your connection dropped. Checking whether your number connected.” and offers Check again if it can’t tell. More cases are in Channel troubleshooting.

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The Account tab

Connected numbers lists every number in your workspace. The ⋯ menu (More actions) on a row has Make default for a number that is not the default, How to disconnect for a coexistence number, and Delete. Connect another number sits below the table. A badge next to the page title shows the status of the number that needs you most, so a healthy account reads Live.

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Status and what needs you

When the row says the number is offline, that Meta isn’t letting Popcorn AI send from it, or Not receiving, it also has Check again for team members who can edit integrations. Popcorn asks Meta again whether the number can send and whether customers’ messages reach it, then tells you either that Meta says the number is ready (“It can send messages, and customers’ messages reach Popcorn AI.”) or that nothing has changed yet. Popcorn also checks these numbers by itself about every 15 minutes, so the status clears on its own once the fix is made in Meta. The status comes from what Popcorn last learned from Meta, so opening the page never waits on Meta. The Integrations row, the sidebar (“WhatsApp needs a reconnect”, or “WhatsApp messages go to another app”) and the Inbox composer also say when a number needs you.

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Message limits

Meta limits how many customers a number can start a conversation with in a 24-hour period. The limit belongs to your Meta business portfolio, so every number in the same WhatsApp Business account shares it. Popcorn reads it when you connect and refreshes it every 24 hours. The tiers are 250, 1,000, 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited.

• Syncing with Meta means Popcorn has no confirmed limit for this number yet. Campaign messages from it are held and retried every minute; if the limit is still unknown after about an hour, they are marked as failed. If it stays on this for more than a day, connect the number again with Connect another number, which refreshes Popcorn’s access.
• Limit unavailable means Meta returned a temporary error. Popcorn retries by itself, starting 15 minutes later and spacing the tries out to once a day.

Campaign sending stays within the limit; see Delivery and reachability.

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Make a number the default

The default number is preselected as the sender for campaigns and templates, and it is the number the Profile tab opens on. See what the default number means. On the Account tab, open the ⋯ menu of the number and click Make default. You see Default WhatsApp number updated. Campaigns you already created keep their own sender. Make default only appears if your role can edit integrations.

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Delete a number

Open the ⋯ menu of the number and click Delete. The dialog “Delete” followed by the number says:

• Your AI agent stops replying to messages on this number.
• At Meta, the number stops sending and receiving messages until it’s connected again. For a number shared with the WhatsApp Business app, “Nothing changes in your WhatsApp Business app.”
• Connect the same number again later to bring back its templates, AI agent and team label.
• If it was the default, another connected number becomes the default.

Click Delete number to confirm; you see WhatsApp number deleted. A coexistence number can’t be deleted here while Popcorn still has access to it: use How to disconnect and follow disconnecting a coexistence number.

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Settings on the Account tab

Below the numbers, the Account tab holds workspace-wide WhatsApp options. Changing a switch brings up a bar with Save changes and Discard, and you see Settings saved.

• Products in WhatsApp: sync your products to a Meta catalog so customers get product cards and carts. See Products in WhatsApp.
• WhatsApp Business app: appears only when a number is shared with the app. See Use Popcorn with the WhatsApp Business app.

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What customers see while your agent replies

• When your agent is about to reply, the customer’s message is marked as read and WhatsApp shows that you are typing until the reply arrives.
• Stickers and GIFs a customer sends reach your agent as pictures, so it can take them in context, as long as Let the agent handle media messages is on under Settings → General. See Workspace settings.

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