Send a Reaction Message
In this code snippet you learn how to send a WhatsApp reaction message using the Messages API. The WhatsApp reaction message type lets you react, using an emoji, to an inbound message that you have received.
AS well as the to and from numbers, this message type requires two key pieces of information:
- The
message_uuidof the message to be reacted to. This will be present in the body of the inbound message received. - The
emojiused as the reaction. This can be the emoji character itself, for example 😀.
IMPORTANT: If a customer has not messaged you first, then the first time you send a message to a user, WhatsApp requires that the message contains a template. This is explained in more detail in the Understanding WhatsApp topic.
Example
Find the description for all variables used in each code snippet below:
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
JWT | Used to authenticate your request. See Authentication for more information, including how to generate a JWT. |
VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID | The Vonage Application ID. |
VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH | Private key path. |
MESSAGES_API_URL | There are two versions of the API, each with their own endpoints. For production the previous Messages API endpoint was |
WHATSAPP_NUMBER | The WhatsApp number that has been allocated to you by Vonage. For sandbox testing the number is 14157386102. |
TO_NUMBER | Replace with the number you are sending to. E.g. |
MESSAGE_UUID | The UUID of the specific message. |
EMOJI | The emoji to send in the message. |
NOTE: Don't use a leading + or 00 when entering a phone number, start with the country code, for example, 447700900000.
Prerequisites
If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.
Run your code
Save this file to your machine and run it:
Prerequisites
If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.
Add the following to build.gradle:
Create a file named SendWhatsappReaction and add the following code to the main method:
Write the code
Add the following to the main method of the SendWhatsappReaction file:
Run your code
We can use the application plugin for Gradle to simplify the running of our application. Update your build.gradle with the following:
Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.vonage.quickstart.kt.messages.whatsapp with the package containing SendWhatsappReaction:
Prerequisites
If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.
Add the following to build.gradle:
Create a file named SendWhatsappReaction and add the following code to the main method:
VonageClient client = VonageClient.builder()
.applicationId(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID)
.privateKeyPath(VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH)
.build();Write the code
Add the following to the main method of the SendWhatsappReaction file:
var response = client.getMessagesClient().sendMessage(
WhatsappReactionRequest.builder()
.from(WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID).to(MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER)
.contextMessageId(MESSAGES_MESSAGE_ID)
.reaction(MESSAGES_EMOJI).build()
);
System.out.println("Message sent successfully. ID: "+response.getMessageUuid());Run your code
We can use the application plugin for Gradle to simplify the running of our application. Update your build.gradle with the following:
Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.vonage.quickstart.messages.whatsapp with the package containing SendWhatsappReaction:
Prerequisites
If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.
Create a file named send-reaction.php and add the following code:
Run your code
Save this file to your machine and run it:
Try it out
When you run the code a WhatsApp reaction message is sent to the destination number.