Send a Text Message

In this code snippet you learn how to send a WhatsApp message using the Messages API. For WhatsApp the maximum text size is 4096 characters, including Unicode.

For a step-by-step guide to this topic, you can read our tutorial Sending WhatsApp messages with the Messages API.

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.

It is possible to format selected text inside the message using formatting characters. The \n character can also be used to insert new lines. The formatting options are summarized in the following table:

Formatting	Example
Italicize	Italicize `_this_` text.
Bold	Bold `this` text.
~~Strikethrough~~	Strikethrough `~this~` text.
`Monospace`	Monospace ```this``` text.
New line	Use `\n` to insert a new line.

Example

Find the description for all variables used in each code snippet below:

Key	Description
`VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID`	The Vonage Application ID.
`VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH`	Private key path.
`VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH`	Private key path.
`BASE_URL`	For production use the base URL is `https://api.nexmo.com/`. For sandbox testing the base URL is `https://messages-sandbox.nexmo.com/`.
`MESSAGES_API_URL`	There are two versions of the API, each with their own endpoints. For production the previous Messages API endpoint was `https://api.nexmo.com/v0.1/messages`, the new one is `https://api.nexmo.com/v1/messages`. For sandbox testing the Messages API endpoint is `https://messages-sandbox.nexmo.com/v0.1/messages` or `https://messages-sandbox.nexmo.com/v1/messages`, depending on which version you have set in the sandbox dashboard.
`WHATSAPP_NUMBER`	The WhatsApp number that has been allocated to you by Vonage. For sandbox testing the number is 14157386102.
`VONAGE_WHATSAPP_NUMBER`	Refer to `WHATSAPP_NUMBER` above.
`VONAGE_NUMBER`	Refer to `WHATSAPP_NUMBER` above.
`TO_NUMBER`	Replace with the number you are sending to. E.g. `447700900001`

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.

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.sh:

curl -X POST "${MESSAGES_API_URL}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer "$JWT\
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d $'{
    "to": "'${MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER}'",
    "from": "'${WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID}'",
    "channel": "whatsapp",
    "message_type": "text",
    "text": "This is a WhatsApp text message sent using the Vonage Messages API."
  }'

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

bash send-text.sh

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

npm install @vonage/server-sdk @vonage/messages

Create a file named send-text.js and add the following code:

const { Vonage } = require('@vonage/server-sdk');
const { Channels } = require('@vonage/messages');

/**
 * It is best to send messages using JWT instead of basic auth. If you leave out
 * apiKey and apiSecret, the messages SDK will send requests using JWT tokens
 *
 * @link https://developer.vonage.com/en/messages/technical-details#authentication
 */
const vonage = new Vonage(
  {
    applicationId: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
    privateKey: VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY,
  },
  {
    ...(MESSAGES_API_URL ? {apiHost: MESSAGES_API_URL} : {}),
  },
);

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.js:

vonage.messages.send({
  to: MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER,
  from: WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID,
  channel: Channels.WHATSAPP,
  messageType: 'text',
  text: 'This is a WhatsApp text message sent using the Vonage Messages API.',
})
  .then((resp) => console.log(resp.messageUUID))
  .catch((error) => console.error(error));

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

node send-text.js

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:

implementation 'com.vonage:server-sdk-kotlin:2.1.1'

Create a file named SendWhatsappText and add the following code to the main method:

val client = Vonage {
    applicationId(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID)
    privateKeyPath(VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH)
}

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to the main method of the SendWhatsappText file:

val messageId = client.messages.send(
    whatsappText {
        to(MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER)
        from(WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID)
        text("This is a WhatsApp text message sent using the Messages API")
    }
)

View full source

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:

apply plugin: 'application'
mainClassName = project.hasProperty('main') ? project.getProperty('main') : ''

Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.vonage.quickstart.kt.messages.whatsapp with the package containing SendWhatsappText:

gradle run -Pmain=com.vonage.quickstart.kt.messages.whatsapp.SendWhatsappText

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:

implementation 'com.vonage:server-sdk:9.3.1'

Create a file named SendWhatsappText and add the following code to the main method:

VonageClient client = VonageClient.builder()
		.applicationId(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID)
		.privateKeyPath(VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH)
		.build();

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to the main method of the SendWhatsappText file:

var response = client.getMessagesClient().sendMessage(
		WhatsappTextRequest.builder()
			.from(WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID).to(MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER)
			.text("This is a WhatsApp Message text message sent using the Messages API")
			.build()
);
System.out.println("Message sent successfully. ID: "+response.getMessageUuid());

View full source

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:

apply plugin: 'application'
mainClassName = project.hasProperty('main') ? project.getProperty('main') : ''

Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.vonage.quickstart.messages.whatsapp with the package containing SendWhatsappText:

gradle run -Pmain=com.vonage.quickstart.messages.whatsapp.SendWhatsappText

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

Install-Package Vonage

Write the code

Add the following to SendWhatsAppText.cs:

var credentials = Credentials.FromAppIdAndPrivateKeyPath(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID, VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH);
var vonageClient = new VonageClient(credentials);
var request = new WhatsAppTextRequest
{
    To = MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER,
    From = WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID,
    Text = "A WhatsApp text message sent using the Vonage Messages API"
};
var response = await vonageClient.MessagesClient.SendAsync(request);

View full source

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

composer require vonage/client

Create a file named send-text.php and add the following code:

$keypair = new \Vonage\Client\Credentials\Keypair(
    file_get_contents(VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH),
    VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID
);

$client = new \Vonage\Client($keypair);

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.php:

$whatsApp = new \Vonage\Messages\Channel\WhatsApp\WhatsAppText(
    TO_NUMBER,
    FROM_NUMBER,
    'This is a text message sent using the Vonage PHP SDK'
);

$client->messages()->send($whatsApp);

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Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

php send-text.php

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

pip install vonage python-dotenv

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.py:

from vonage import Auth, Vonage
from vonage_messages import WhatsappText

client = Vonage(
    Auth(
        application_id=VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
        private_key=VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY,
    )
)

message = WhatsappText(
    to=MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER,
    from_=WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID,
    text='Hello from the Vonage Messages API.',
)

response = client.messages.send(message)
print(response)

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

python messages/whatsapp/send-text.py

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

gem install vonage

Create a file named send-text.rb and add the following code:

client = Vonage::Client.new(
  application_id: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
  private_key: VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY
)

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.rb:

message = client.messaging.whatsapp(
  type: 'text',
  message: "This is a WhatsApp Message text message sent using the Messages API"
)

client.messaging.send(
  from: WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID,
  to: MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER,
  **message
)

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

ruby send-text.rb

Try it out

When you run the code a WhatsApp message is sent to the destination number.