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Onboarding completion reminder via WhatsApp API

The scenario sends the user a personalised WhatsApp template when account onboarding is started but not finished.

Use case overview

The scenario sends the user a personalised WhatsApp template when account onboarding is started but not finished. The message includes the customer name, the pending onboarding stage, and the next step to complete. A static URL button opens the onboarding wizard where they left off.

Template example

Hello, {{1}}! Your account onboarding is not complete yet — the {{2}} step is still pending. {{3}} Tap the button below to finish setup. If you need help, reply to this message.

Finish onboarding
  • {{1}}
    customer name
  • {{2}}
    pending onboarding stage (e.g. business profile verification, document upload)
  • {{3}}
    next step instruction (e.g. upload company documents and confirm details in the portal)
  • “Finish onboarding”
    button — fixed in the Meta template
WhatsApp Business API for onboarding completion reminder

When to use it

Reach for this scenario when a user registers and starts account onboarding — profile setup, document upload, or verification — but stops before all required steps are done. It fits SaaS and fintech teams recovering stalled KYC flows, marketplaces nudging sellers to finish verification, and agencies wiring onboarding progress events from a client's app to WhatsApp reminders.

Fewer half-finished onboarding flows
Three body variables carry the customer name, the pending onboarding stage, and the next step instruction, so the reminder names exactly what is left instead of a generic sign-up nudge.
One tap back into the wizard
A static URL button labeled Finish onboarding opens the onboarding wizard where the user stopped — the link is fixed in the approved Meta template while only the body text is sent via the API.
Reminders without an open chat window
Because there is no active conversation, the send uses an approved WhatsApp template via the 1MSG API — the only channel that can reach the user outside the 24-hour session window.
No manual chase after stalled onboarding
When the system detects an incomplete onboarding state — timeout on a step, draft saved, or verification stalled — it resolves the phone number and fires the template on that trigger instead of someone copying details by hand.
Delivery logged for product follow-up
Delivery result is logged after send, so product analytics or CRM can see who was reminded and handle errors according to platform rules.

Workflow

  1. Customer acts

    The user starts onboarding but leaves before all required steps are complete.

    user action

  2. Capture event

    The system detects the incomplete onboarding state and resolves the recipient phone number.

    phone: "+…"

  3. Build & send

    A personalised template message is built with three body variables and a static URL button.

    POST /sendTemplate

  4. Delivered

    The user receives the WhatsApp reminder with the pending stage and next step to finish setup.

    delivered

  5. Status tracked

    Delivery result is logged; errors are handled according to platform rules.

    status: "read"

WhatsApp Business API for onboarding completion reminder

Technical implementation

Prerequisites

  1. 1MSG API Key · How to get API Key
  2. WhatsApp Business account · How to Connect WABA
  3. WhatsApp Template · How to Approve WABA Template
  4. Customer opt-in · How to Manage Customers Consent

Code examples

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# === Configuration (replace "___" placeholders) ===

API_BASE_URL="https://api.1msg.io"        # production 1MSG API base URL
CHANNEL_ID="___"                           # channel ID from 1MSG dashboard
API_TOKEN="___"                            # channel JWT token (Bearer)

TEMPLATE_NAME="___"                        # approved template name
TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE="___"                   # template namespace (required — send fails without it)
TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE="___"                    # template language code, e.g. "en"



# === Test data ===
TEST_PHONE="___"                 # client phone in international format
TEST_CUSTOMERNAME="___"         # {{1}} customer name
TEST_STAGE="___"         # {{2}} stage name
TEST_NEXTSTEP="___"         # {{3}} next step

PHONE_NORM="$(printf '%s' "$TEST_PHONE" | tr -cd '0-9')"

for pair in "CHANNEL_ID=$CHANNEL_ID" "API_TOKEN=$API_TOKEN" \
            "TEMPLATE_NAME=$TEMPLATE_NAME" "TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE=$TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE" \
            "TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE=$TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE" "TEST_PHONE=$TEST_PHONE" \
            "TEST_CUSTOMERNAME=$TEST_CUSTOMERNAME" \
            "TEST_STAGE=$TEST_STAGE" \
            "TEST_NEXTSTEP=$TEST_NEXTSTEP"; do
    val="${pair#*=}"
    if [ -z "$val" ] || [ "$val" = "___" ]; then
        echo "Missing configuration value: ${pair%%=*}" >&2
        exit 1
    fi
done

if [ -z "$PHONE_NORM" ]; then
    echo "Error: phone number has no digits after normalization" >&2
    exit 1
fi

URL="${API_BASE_URL%/}/${CHANNEL_ID}/sendTemplate"

# params carries body ONLY. Button text is fixed in the Meta template — no button param.

# {{1}} customer name → ${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}
# {{2}} stage name → ${TEST_STAGE}
# {{3}} next step → ${TEST_NEXTSTEP}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
  "phone": "${PHONE_NORM}",
  "template": "${TEMPLATE_NAME}",
  "namespace": "${TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE}",
  "language": { "policy": "deterministic", "code": "${TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE}" },
  "params": [
    {
      "type": "body",
      "parameters": [
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_STAGE}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_NEXTSTEP}" }
      ]
    }

  ]
}
JSON

RESPONSE="$(curl -s -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST "$URL" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$PAYLOAD")"

HTTP_CODE="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | tail -n1)"
BODY="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | sed '$d')"

case "$BODY" in
    *'"sent":true'*) ok=1 ;;
    *) ok=0 ;;
esac

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 200 ] && [ "$HTTP_CODE" -lt 300 ] && [ "$ok" -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "Message sent to client."
    echo "API response: $BODY"
else
    echo "Send failed. HTTP status: $HTTP_CODE" >&2
    echo "$BODY" >&2
    exit 1
fi

Response and delivery status

HTTP 2xx and JSON "sent": true mean 1MSG accepted the message for sending — not that it already reached the customer's phone. Save the id field (looks like wamid.…) to correlate delivery callbacks.

200 OKResponse
{
  "sent": true,
  "message": "Sent to [email protected]",
  "description": "Message has been sent to the provider",
  "id": "wamid.HBgLMzgwNjM5..."
}
  • sent

    Accepted for sending — not yet on the customer's phone

  • id

    Store it; delivery callbacks and hookInfo are keyed on this

Delivery statuses and webhooks →

Common errors

StatusAPI responseCauseFix
200Message was not sent: template is not definednamespace, template or language is missing from the request body.Send all three. Take namespace and the exact template name from GET /templates; language is an object: {"policy": "deterministic", "code": "en"}.
200template name (…) does not exist in <language>The template is approved in a different language than the one requested.Use the exact language code the template was approved in (for example es_MX is not the same as es). Check it in GET /templates.
200Message was not sent: provide chatId, phone, bsuid, or usernameNo recipient the channel could resolve.Pass exactly one recipient: phone (country code plus number, digits only), chatId (for example [email protected]) or bsuid.

All error codes →

Common questions

Related

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