📢 Channels

Here’s complete information about WhatsApp Channels (aka Newsletters) and how to use them.

Features#

Here’s the list of features that are available by 🏭 Engines:

Channels API#

💡 Channels have a special @newsletter prefix, so you can distinguish them from regular chats and groups.

• 123123123@newsletter - channel ID

Get your channels#

You can get list of subscribed or owned channels:

Get all (your and subscribed) channels:

GET /api/{session}/channels

Filter channels by your role:

GET /api/{session}/channels?role=OWNER

• role can be OWNER, ADMIN, SUBSCRIBER

[
  {
    "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "name": "Channel - Owner - Picture",
    "description": "Hi there, I'm new here",
    "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l",
    "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
    "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
    "verified": false,
    "role": "OWNER"
  },
  {
    "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "name": "Channel - Subscriber - No Picture",
    "description": "",
    "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111111111",
    "preview": null,
    "picture": null,
    "verified": false,
    "role": "SUBSCRIBER"
  }
]

Create a new channel#

You can create a new channel:

POST /api/{session}/channels

{
  "name": "Channel Name",
  "description": "Channel Description",
  "picture": {
    "mimetype": "image/jpeg",
    "filename": "filename.jpg",
    "url": "https://github.com/devlikeapro/waha/raw/core/examples/dev.likeapro.jpg"
  }
}

Delete a channel#

You can delete a channel DELETE /api/{session}/channels/123123%40newsletter

DELETE /api/{session}/channels/{ID}

• 👉 Remember to escape @ in chatId and messageId with %40.
• Allowing to delete only channels where you’re OWNER.

Get channel by Id#

You can get a channel by ID

GET /api/{SESSION}/channels/{ID}

• 👉 Remember to escape @ in chatId and messageId with %40.

{
  "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
  "name": "Channel - Owner - Picture",
  "description": "Hi there, I'm new here",
  "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l",
  "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "verified": false,
  "role": "OWNER",
  "subscribersCount": 12323
}

Get channel by Invite Code#

You can get a channel information by Invite Code

GET /api/{session}/channels/{inviteCode}

• inviteCode here is the last part in invite URL https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l - 111111111111111111GdZ60l

💡 To get full picture you need to get channel by ID after you get the invite code.

{
  "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
  "name": "Channel - Owner - Picture",
  "description": "Hi there, I'm new here",
  "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l",
  "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "verified": false,
  "role": "OWNER"
}

Search API#

Search channels by view#

You can search public (not subscribed yet) channels by view:

POST /api/{session}/channels/search/by-view

{
  "view": "RECOMMENDED",
  "countries": [
    "US"
  ],
  "categories": [],
  "limit": 50,
  "startCursor": ""
}

• view - Use value from get available views
• countries - use code from get available countries
• categories - use id from get available categories
• limit - we recommend using default 50 value, it’s the way official clients work
• startCursor - use endCursor from the previous response (if any data available on the next page)

{
  "page": {
    "startCursor": null,
    "endCursor": "base64encodedstring",
    "hasNextPage": true,
    "hasPreviousPage": false
  },
  "channels": [
    {
      "id": "123123123123@newsletter",
      "name": "Channel Name",
      "invite": "https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111111111",
      "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/An&_nc_cat=10",
      "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/An&_nc_cat=10",
      "description": "string",
      "verified": true,
      "subscribersCount": 0
    }
  ]
}

Search channels by text#

You can search public (not subscribed yet) channels by text:

POST /api/{session}/channels/search/by-text

{
  "text": "Donald Trump",
  "categories": [],
  "limit": 50,
  "startCursor": ""
}

• text - search text
• categories - use id from get available categories
• limit - we recommend using default 50 value, it’s the way official clients work
• startCursor - use endCursor from the previous response (if any data available on the next page)

Get Search Views#

List of available views for search:

GET /api/{session}/channels/search/views

[
  {
    "value": "RECOMMENDED",
    "name": "Explore"
  }
]

Get Search Countries#

List of available countries for search (not full one, you can try different code values if you don’t see your country):

GET /api/{session}/channels/search/countries

[
  {
    "code": "US",
    "name": "United States"
  }
]

Get Search Categories#

List of available categories for search:

GET /api/{session}/channels/search/categories

[
  {
    "value": "BUSINESS",
    "name": "Business"
  },
  {
    "value": "ENTERTAINMENT",
    "name": "Entertainment"
  }
]

Get Messages (Preview) for Channel#

You can get latest messages from public channels (not subscribed yet) by invite code (or channel id). Returns only preview messages (one that you’ll see on channel preview).

GET /api/{SESSION}/channels/{INVITE}/messages/preview?downloadMedia=false&limit=100

Query parameters:

• {SESSION} - your session
• {INVITE} - invite code (123123123) or channel id (123132123@newsletter). Invite code is recommended.
• downloadMedia - whether to download media or not
• limit - limit of messages to return. 100 is recommended.

[
  {
    "reactions": {
      "👍": 10,
      "❤️": 5
    },
    "viewCount": 0,
    "message": {
      "id": "false_11111111111@c.us_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA",
      "timestamp": 1666943582,
      "body": "string",
      "media": {}
    }
  }
]

• reactions - reactions for the message
• viewCount - views count for the message
• message - message object - the same as in payload field message event

How-to#

Send Text to the channel#

You can use regular POST /api/sendText endpoint to send a text message into the channel

👉 Make sure you’re OWNER or ADMIN for the channel

{
  "session": "default",
  "chatId": "12132132130@newsletter",
  "text": "Hi there!"
}

Send Image to the channel#

You can use regular POST /api/sendImage endpoint to send an image into the channel

{
  "session": "default",
  "chatId": "11111111111@newsletter",
  "file": {
    "mimetype": "image/jpeg",
    "url": "https://github.com/devlikeapro/waha/raw/core/examples/dev.likeapro.jpg",
    "filename": "filename.jpeg"
  },
  "caption": "string"
}

Send Video to the channel#

You can use regular POST /api/sendVideo endpoint to send a video message into the channel

{
  "chatId": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
  "file": {
    "mimetype": "video/mp4",
    "filename": "video.mp4",
    "url": "https://github.com/devlikeapro/waha/raw/core/examples/video.mp4"
  },
  "caption": "Just watch at this!",
  "session": "default"
}

Send Reaction to the channel#

PUT /api/reaction

{
  "messageId": "false_11111111111@newsletter_100_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA",
  "reaction": "👍",
  "session": "default"
}

messageId can be in formats:

1. {fromMe}_{id}@newsletter_{serverID}_{clientID} - false_11111111111@newsletter_100_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
2. false_11111111111@newsletter_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - using characters. Works if you’re subscribed to the channel.
3. false_11111111111@newsltter_123 - using server_id. If you’re not subscribed to the channel, you can use this format.

You can find server_id in channel message:

{
  "event": "message.any",
  "payload": {
    ...
    "_data": {
      "Info": {
        "Chat": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
        ...
        "ServerID": 105, # <=== this one
        ...
      },
      ...
    }
  }
}

{
  "event": "message.any",
  "payload": {
    ...
    "_data": {
      "key": {
        "remoteJid": "120363417343416222@newsletter",
        ...
        "server_id": "101" # <=== this one
      },
      ...
    }
  },
  ...
}

Send Poll Vote to the channel#

POST /api/sendPollVote

{
  "chatId": "11111111111@newsletter",
  "pollMessageId": "false_11111111111@newsletter_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA",
  "pollServerId": 123,
  "votes": [
    "Awesome!"
  ],
  "session": "default"
}

You can find server_id in channel message:

{
  "event": "message.any",
  "payload": {
    ...
    "_data": {
      "Info": {
        "Chat": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
        ...
        "ServerID": 105, # <=== this one
        ...
      },
      ...
    }
  }
}

{
  "event": "message.any",
  "payload": {
    ...
    "_data": {
      "key": {
        "remoteJid": "120363417343416222@newsletter",
        ...
        "server_id": "101" # <=== this one
      },
      ...
    }
  },
  ...
}

Get messages from the channel#

You can use regular GET /api/{session}/chats/{chatId}/messages to fetch messages from the channel

GET /api/default/chats/123%40newsletter/messages?downloadMedia=true&limit=100

[
  {
    "id": "true_111111111111111111@newsletter_1111111111111111111111",
    "timestamp": 1720775833,
    "from": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "fromMe": true,
    "body": "Caption",
    "hasMedia": true,
    "media": {
      "mimetype": "image/jpeg",
      "filename": null,
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/api/files/1111111111111111111111.jpeg",
      "error": null
    },
    "mediaUrl": "http://localhost:3000/api/files/1111111111111111111111.jpeg",
    "ack": 0,
    "ackName": "PENDING",
    "_data": {}
  }
]

Receive messages from the channel#

For all incoming messages in your own and subscribed channels you’ll receive

• message event for a message from the channel (send by someone else)
• message.any event for a message from the channel ( including your messages)

{
  "event": "message",
  "session": "default",
  "me": {
    "id": "111111111111@c.us",
    "pushName": "Slovakia WAHA"
  },
  "payload": {
    "id": "false_123123@newsletter_11111111111111111111111111111111",
    "timestamp": 1720776511,
    "from": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "fromMe": false,
    "body": "How are you all?! ❤️",
    "hasMedia": false,
    "ack": null,
    "ackName": "UNKNOWN",
    "_data": {}
  },
  "engine": "NOWEB",
  "environment": {
    "version": "2024.7.4",
    "engine": "NOWEB",
    "tier": "PLUS",
    "browser": "/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable"
  }
}