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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.
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
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.

  • cURL
  • Node.js
  • Java
  • Dotnet
  • Python
  • Ruby

    • 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"
}'

    View full source

    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 { Image } = require('@vonage/messages/dist/classes/WhatsApp/Image');

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,
    }
);

    View full source

    Write the code

    Add the following to send-image.js:

    vonage.messages.send(
    new Image({ url: IMAGE_URL }, TO_NUMBER, WHATSAPP_NUMBER)
)
    .then(resp => console.log(resp.message_uuid))
    .catch(err => console.error(err));

    View full source

    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.

    Add the following to `build.gradle`:

    compile 'com.vonage:client:6.2.0'

    Create a class named SendWhatsappFile and add the following code to the main method:

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

MessagesClient messagesClient = client.getMessagesClient();

    View full source

    Write the code

    Add the following to the main method of the SendWhatsappFile class:

    var message = WhatsappImageRequest.builder()
        .from(VONAGE_WHATSAPP_NUMBER).to(TO_NUMBER)
        .url("https://file-examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/file_example_JPG_500kB.jpg")
        .caption("Accompanying message (optional)")
        .build();

try {
    MessageResponse response = messagesClient.sendMessage(message);
    System.out.println("Message sent successfully. ID: "+response.getMessageUuid());
}
catch (MessageResponseException mrx) {
    switch (mrx.getStatusCode()) {
        default: throw mrx;
        case 401: // Bad credentials
            throw new IllegalStateException(mrx.getTitle(), mrx);
        case 422: // Invalid
            throw new IllegalStateException(mrx.getDetail(), mrx);
        case 402: // Low balance
            client.getAccountClient().topUp("transactionID");
            break;
        case 429: // Rate limit
            Thread.sleep(12_000);
            break;
    }
}

    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.SendWhatsappImage.java with the package containing SendWhatsappFile:

    gradle run -Pmain=com.vonage.quickstart.messages.whatsapp.SendWhatsappImage.javaSendWhatsappFile

    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 SendWhatsAppImage.cs:

    var credentials = Credentials.FromAppIdAndPrivateKeyPath(appId, privateKeyPath);

var vonageClient = new VonageClient(credentials);

var request = new WhatsAppImageRequest
{
    To = to,
    From = brandName,
    Image = new CaptionedAttachment
    {
        Caption = "My photo",
        Url = "https://example.com/image.jpg"
    }
};

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. 

    pip install vonage

    Write the code

    Add the following to send_image.py:

    client = vonage.Client(
    application_id=VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
    private_key=VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH,
)

client.messages.send_message(
    {
        "channel": "whatsapp",
        "message_type": "image",
        "to": TO_NUMBER,
        "from": FROM_NUMBER,
        "image": {"url": "https://www.example.com/image.jpg", "caption": "Test Image"},
    }
)

    View full source

    Run your code

    Save this file to your machine and run it: 

    python3 send_image.py

    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
)

    View full source

    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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