Send an Unreaction Message

In this code snippet you learn how to send a WhatsApp reaction message using the Messages API in order to unreact to a message that you previously reacted to. The WhatsApp reaction message type lets you react, using an emoji, to an inbound message that you have received. It also lets you unreact (i.e. remove a reaction) to a message that you previously reacted to.

As well as the to and from numbers, this message type requires the message_uuid of the message to be unreacted to. This will be present in the body of the inbound message received and will be the same UUID that was used in the initial reaction message used to react.

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 `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.
`TO_NUMBER`	Replace with the number you are sending to. E.g. `447700900001`
`MESSAGE_UUID`	The UUID of the specific 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.

Write the code

Add the following to send-unreaction.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": "'${WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID}'",
    "channel": "whatsapp",
    "message_type": "reaction",
    "reaction": {
      "action": "unreact"
    },
    "context": {
        "message_uuid": "'${MESSAGES_MESSAGE_ID}'"
    }
  }'

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

bash send-unreaction.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-unreaction.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-unreaction.js:

vonage.messages.send({
  to: MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER,
  from: WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID,
  channel: Channels.WHATSAPP,
  messageType: 'reaction',
  reaction: {
    action: 'unreact',
  },
  context: {
    message_uuid: MESSAGES_MESSAGE_ID,
  },
})
  .then(({ messageUUID }) => console.log(messageUUID))
  .catch((error) => console.error(error));

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

node send-unreaction.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 SendWhatsappUnreaction 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 SendWhatsappUnreaction file:

val messageId = client.messages.send(
    whatsappReaction {
        to(MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER)
        from(WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID)
        contextMessageId(MESSAGES_MESSAGE_ID)
        unreact()
    }
)

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 SendWhatsappUnreaction:

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

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 SendWhatsappUnreaction 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 SendWhatsappUnreaction file:

var response = client.getMessagesClient().sendMessage(
	WhatsappReactionRequest.builder()
		.from(WHATSAPP_SENDER_ID).to(MESSAGES_TO_NUMBER)
		.contextMessageId(MESSAGES_MESSAGE_ID)
		.unreact().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 SendWhatsappUnreaction:

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

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-unreaction.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-unreaction.php:

$custom = [
    "message_type" => "reaction",
    "reaction" => [
        "action" => "unreact"
    ],
    "context" => [
        "message_uuid" => MESSAGE_UUID
    ],
    "to" => TO_NUMBER,
    "from" => WHATSAPP_NUMBER,
    "channel" => "whatsapp"
];

$whatsApp = new \Vonage\Messages\Channel\WhatsApp\WhatsAppCustom(
    TO_NUMBER,
    FROM_NUMBER,
    $custom
);

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

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

php send-unreaction.php

Try it out

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