Send an Image Message

In this code snippet you learn how to send a WhatsApp image message using the Messages API. For WhatsApp the maximum outbound media size is 64MB.

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
`VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID`	The Vonage Application ID.
`VONAGE_APPLICATION_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.
`TO_NUMBER`	Replace with the number you are sending to. E.g. `447700900001`
`IMAGE_URL`	The link to the image file to send.
`IMAGE_CAPTION`	The text describing the image being sent.

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-image.sh:

curl -X POST $MESSAGES_API_URL \
     -H 'Authorization: Bearer '$JWT \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -H 'Accept: application/json' \
     -d $'{
  "message_type": "image",
  "image": {
    "url": "$IMAGE_URL",
    "caption": "$IMAGE_CAPTION"
  },
  "to": "$TO_NUMBER",
  "from": "$WHATSAPP_NUMBER",
  "channel": "whatsapp"
}'

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Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

bash send-image.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

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

const Vonage = require('@vonage/server-sdk');
const WhatsAppImage = require('@vonage/server-sdk/lib/Messages/WhatsAppImage');

const vonage = new Vonage(
    {
        apiKey: VONAGE_API_KEY,
        apiSecret: VONAGE_API_SECRET,
        applicationId: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
        privateKey: VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH,
    },
    {
        apiHost: BASE_URL,
    }
);

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Write the code

Add the following to send-image.js:

vonage.messages.send(
    new WhatsAppImage({ url: IMAGE_URL }, TO_NUMBER, WHATSAPP_NUMBER),
    (err, data) => {
        if (err) {
            console.error(err);
        } else {
            console.log(data.message_uuid);
        }
    }
);

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Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

node send-image.js

Prerequisites

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

gem install vonage

Write the code

Add the following to send-image.rb:

client = Vonage::Client.new(
  application_id: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
  private_key: File.read(VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH)
)

message = Vonage::Messaging::Message.whatsapp(
  type: 'image',
  message: {
    url: "https://example.com/image.jpg",
    caption: "This is a WhatsApp Message image message, with optional caption, sent using the Messages API"
  }
)

client.messaging.send(
  from: VONAGE_WHATSAPP_NUMBER,
  to: TO_NUMBER,
  **message
)

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Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

ruby send-image.rb

Try it out

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

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