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Coexistence lets one phone number work in the WhatsApp Business app and in Popcorn at the same time. Your AI agent answers customers through Popcorn, your team can still reply from the app on their phones, and both sides see the same conversation. Use it when you already run your business on the WhatsApp Business app and do not want to give the number up.

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Before you start

  • The number is active in the WhatsApp Business app.
  • A Meta login that can manage your business.
  • A role with edit access to Integrations.

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Set up coexistence

1

Start the WhatsApp connection

Go to Channels → WhatsApp and click Login with Facebook (or Connect another number on the Account tab). If Popcorn asks Bring your products to WhatsApp?, choose either option; it does not affect coexistence.
2

Choose your WhatsApp Business app number in Meta's window

Meta’s sign-up offers to connect a number that is already on the WhatsApp Business app. Pick that option and follow Meta’s steps for the app. Popcorn also asks Meta directly whether the number is on the app, so a number that is on the app is connected through coexistence even if you took the standard option in Meta’s window.
3

Check the number in Popcorn

After Your WhatsApp Business Account has been set up successfully, the number appears under Connected Numbers with a Coexistence badge next to Live. If you chose the app option but Meta reports that the number is not on the app, the connection fails with The selected sender is not connected to WhatsApp Business App.; if Meta could not answer the check, it fails with Meta could not verify the WhatsApp Business App sender. and you can try again.
4

Connect the number to an agent

Open the agent, go to its Channels tab, click Connect next to the number, and Publish changes. See Connect knowledge, tools and channels.
Right after the connection, Popcorn asks Meta for the number’s contacts and chat history from the app. Imported conversations are placed in the Closed folder of your Inbox with the AI switched off, so old chats do not trigger replies.

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Choose what happens when you reply from the app

Every message your team sends from the WhatsApp Business app also appears in the Popcorn conversation, as an outgoing message labelled via WhatsApp app. If the conversation was closed, it reopens. What the AI does next is a workspace setting on the Account tab, shown only when you have a coexistence number: The setting reads: When someone sends a message from the WhatsApp Business app, hand the conversation over to a human agent instead of letting the AI continue. Toggle it, then click Save changes in the bar that appears. The change applies to messages sent from the app after you save; it does not change conversations already handed over. To give a conversation back to the AI, assign it to AI in the Inbox. See Working with conversations.

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How a coexistence number behaves differently

Messages from the app that Popcorn shows in the Inbox are copies of what your team already sent; Popcorn does not send them again. If you later move the number off the WhatsApp Business app onto the Cloud API and connect it again with Login with Facebook, Popcorn treats it as a standard number from then on: the Coexistence badge disappears, Delete replaces How to disconnect, and campaigns send at the standard speed.

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Disconnect the number

Meta does not allow Popcorn to disconnect a coexistence number, so you do it from the app. On the Account tab, the row menu shows How to disconnect instead of Delete, with these instructions:
1

Open the WhatsApp Business app

Go to Settings > Account > Business Platform and choose Disconnect Account.
2

Let Popcorn catch up

Meta notifies Popcorn, which removes the number from Connected Numbers. Your conversation history in Popcorn is kept. If the number was your default, the most recently updated remaining number becomes the default.
The same happens if the number is removed from Meta’s side for another reason; the number disappears from Connected Numbers without you deleting it. To connect it to Popcorn again, repeat the setup above.
A number can be connected to only one Popcorn workspace. If the connection fails with A WhatsApp sender is already connected to another workspace., disconnect it there first.

Connect a WhatsApp number

The standard connection, connected numbers and message limits.

Inbox overview

Where handed-over conversations go and how to give them back to the AI.

Delivery and reachability

Message statuses, limits and retries for campaigns.

Channel troubleshooting

Number not connecting and messages not delivering.