WhatsApp Business API for first contact with a new lead
The scenario sends a new lead a personalised WhatsApp template as the first sales touch.
Use case overview
The scenario sends a new lead a personalised WhatsApp template as the first sales touch. The message includes the lead name, the specialist's name, and where the request came from. Quick-reply buttons let the lead tap «Yes, interested» or «Call me later»; taps arrive via webhook for routing to sales or scheduling.
Template example
Hello, {{1}}! My name is {{2}}, and I am following up on your inquiry from {{3}}. I am ready to tell you more and answer all your questions — choose a convenient option below.
- {{1}}lead or customer name
- {{2}}specialist or manager name introducing themselves
- {{3}}lead source or request context (e.g. website form, Instagram ad, partner referral)
- “Yes, interested”button — fixed in the Meta template

When to use it
Reach for this scenario when a new lead lands from a website form, ad, or CRM and you need a fast first touch on WhatsApp while interest is still high — but they have no open chat, so only an approved template can go out first. It fits lead-generation funnels, B2B and services teams where a named manager should introduce themselves, and agencies wiring form webhooks or ad platforms into 1MSG outbound first contact.
Workflow
- Capture event
A new lead event is captured from a form, ad, or CRM.
phone:"+…" - Phone
Lead phone, specialist name, and source label are resolved from the payload.
phone:"+…" - Build & send
A personalised first-contact template is sent with three body variables and two quick-reply buttons.
POST/sendTemplate - Status tracked
The lead taps «Yes, interested» or «Call me later» — the event arrives via webhook for sales routing.
status:"read" - Delivered
Delivery and engagement are logged in CRM for follow-up.
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_LEADNAME="___" # {{1}} lead name
TEST_SPECIALIST="___" # {{2}} specialist name
TEST_LEADSOURCE="___" # {{3}} lead source
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_LEADNAME=$TEST_LEADNAME" \
"TEST_SPECIALIST=$TEST_SPECIALIST" \
"TEST_LEADSOURCE=$TEST_LEADSOURCE"; do
val="${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}} lead name → ${TEST_LEADNAME}
# {{2}} specialist name → ${TEST_SPECIALIST}
# {{3}} lead source → ${TEST_LEADSOURCE}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
"phone": "${PHONE_NORM}",
"template": "${TEMPLATE_NAME}",
"namespace": "${TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE}",
"language": { "policy": "deterministic", "code": "${TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE}" },
"params": [
{
"type": "body",
"parameters": [
{ "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_LEADNAME}" },
{ "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_SPECIALIST}" },
{ "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_LEADSOURCE}" }
]
}
]
}
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. |

