WhatsApp Business API for client needs clarification
The scenario sends the lead a personalised WhatsApp template asking them to clarify their purpose.
Use case overview
The scenario sends the lead a personalised WhatsApp template asking them to clarify their purpose. The message includes their name and the product or topic of interest. Three quick-reply buttons let them choose personal use, business use, or browsing only; taps arrive via webhook for CRM routing.
Template example
Hello, {{1}}! To find the best option for "{{2}}", please clarify: what goal are you considering this solution for? Choose a suitable option below.
- {{1}}lead or customer name
- {{2}}product, service, or topic of interest
- “For myself”button — fixed in the Meta template

When to use it
Reach for this scenario when a lead shows interest but their purpose is still unclear — personal use, a business purchase, or early browsing — and there is no open WhatsApp conversation to ask in plain text. It fits inbound teams that assign reps by intent, product-led funnels that segment buyers early, and agencies that map quick-reply taps to CRM routing rules.
Workflow
- Capture event
CRM flags a lead whose need profile is incomplete after capture.
phone:"+…" - Phone and product context
Lead phone and product context are resolved from the payload.
phone:"+…" - Build & send
A personalised template is sent with two body variables and three quick-reply buttons.
POST/sendTemplate - Status tracked
The lead taps «For myself», «For business», or «Just browsing» — the event arrives via webhook.
status:"read" - Delivered
CRM routes the lead to the matching sales track or nurture path.
delivered

Technical implementation
Prerequisites
- 1MSG API Key · How to get API Key
- WhatsApp Business account · How to Connect WABA
- WhatsApp Template · How to Approve WABA Template
- Customer opt-in · How to Manage Customers Consent
- Webhook endpoint · How to Set Up Webhooks
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_PRODUCTORSERVICENAME="___" # {{2}} product or service name
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=$TEST_CUSTOMERNAME" \
"TEST_PRODUCTORSERVICENAME=$TEST_PRODUCTORSERVICENAME"; 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}} product or service name → ${TEST_PRODUCTORSERVICENAME}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
"phone": "${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": "${TEST_PRODUCTORSERVICENAME}" }
]
}
]
}
JSON
RESPONSE="$(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.
{
"sent": true,
"id": "wamid.HBgLMzgwNjM5...",
"message": "Message accepted for delivery"
}sentAccepted for sending — not yet on the customer's phone
idStore it; delivery callbacks and
hookInfoare keyed on this
Delivery itself arrives later, as a separate callback. Register a webhook (POST …/webhook) and 1MSG POSTs status updates to your HTTPS endpoint in a top-level hooks[] payload.
{
"hooks": [
{
"id": "gBGGeSaGViBfAgnlzOSHEwK9O6F",
"type": "message",
"status": "sent",
"timestamp": "1654864094",
"recipient_id": "556123122026"
}
]
}statussent,delivered,read— or a failure status when applicableidCorrelates the callback with the
idreturned by the send calltimestampUnix seconds, as a string
If you would rather not receive callbacks, poll GET {base}/{channel}/hookInfo?messageId=<id> instead. In practice delivery often completes within seconds — but the API contract does not guarantee it, so never block a flow waiting on it.
Common errors
| Status | Response | Cause |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | Message was not sent: template is not defined | namespace, template or language missing from the request body. |
| 200 | template name (…) does not exist in <language> | The template is approved in a different language than the one requested. |
| 200 | Message was not sent: provide chatId, phone, bsuid, or username | No recipient the channel could resolve. |
| 403 | access denied | The token is wrong, or belongs to a different channel than the URL. |
| 429 | too many requests. please try later | The channel is over its send rate. |

