WhatsApp

WhatsApp (Web channel)

Status: production-ready via WhatsApp Web (Baileys). Gateway owns linked session(s).

Install (on demand)

• Onboarding (openclaw onboard) and openclaw channels add --channel whatsapp prompt to install the WhatsApp plugin the first time you select it.
• openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp also offers the install flow when the plugin is not present yet.
• Dev channel + git checkout: defaults to the local plugin path.
• Stable/Beta: defaults to the npm package @openclaw/whatsapp.

Manual install stays available:

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/whatsapp

Pairing

Default DM policy is pairing for unknown senders.

Channel troubleshooting

Cross-channel diagnostics and repair playbooks.

Gateway configuration

Full channel config patterns and examples.

Quick setup

1. Configure WhatsApp access policy

   {
     channels: {
       whatsapp: {
         dmPolicy: "pairing",
         allowFrom: ["+15551234567"],
         groupPolicy: "allowlist",
         groupAllowFrom: ["+15551234567"],
       },
     },
   }

2. Link WhatsApp (QR)

   openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp

   For a specific account:

   openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp --account work

3. Start the gateway

   openclaw gateway

4. Approve first pairing request (if using pairing mode)

   openclaw pairing list whatsapp
   openclaw pairing approve whatsapp

       Pairing requests expire after 1 hour. Pending requests are capped at 3 per channel.

Note

OpenClaw recommends running WhatsApp on a separate number when possible. (The channel metadata and setup flow are optimized for that setup, but personal-number setups are also supported.)

Deployment patterns

Dedicated number (recommended)

This is the cleanest operational mode:

• separate WhatsApp identity for OpenClaw
• clearer DM allowlists and routing boundaries
• lower chance of self-chat confusion

Minimal policy pattern:

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      dmPolicy: "allowlist",
      allowFrom: ["+15551234567"],
    },
  },
}

Personal-number fallback

Onboarding supports personal-number mode and writes a self-chat-friendly baseline:

• dmPolicy: "allowlist"
• allowFrom includes your personal number
• selfChatMode: true

In runtime, self-chat protections key off the linked self number and allowFrom.

WhatsApp Web-only channel scope

The messaging platform channel is WhatsApp Web-based (Baileys) in current OpenClaw channel architecture.

There is no separate Twilio WhatsApp messaging channel in the built-in chat-channel registry.

Runtime model

• Gateway owns the WhatsApp socket and reconnect loop.
• Outbound sends require an active WhatsApp listener for the target account.
• Status and broadcast chats are ignored (@status, @broadcast).
• Direct chats use DM session rules (session.dmScope; default main collapses DMs to the agent main session).
• Group sessions are isolated (agent:<agentId>:whatsapp:group:<jid>).

Access control and activation

DM policyGroup policy + allowlistsMentions + /activation

channels.whatsapp.dmPolicy controls direct chat access:

• pairing (default)
• allowlist
• open (requires allowFrom to include "*")
• disabled

allowFrom accepts E.164-style numbers (normalized internally).

Multi-account override: `channels.whatsapp.accounts.

.dmPolicy(andallowFrom`) take precedence over channel-level defaults for that account.

Runtime behavior details:

- pairings are persisted in channel allow-store and merged with configured `allowFrom`
- if no allowlist is configured, the linked self number is allowed by default
- outbound `fromMe` DMs are never auto-paired

Group access has two layers:

1. Group membership allowlist (channels.whatsapp.groups)

   • if groups is omitted, all groups are eligible
   • if groups is present, it acts as a group allowlist ("*" allowed)

2. Group sender policy (channels.whatsapp.groupPolicy + groupAllowFrom)

   • open: sender allowlist bypassed
   • allowlist: sender must match groupAllowFrom (or *)
   • disabled: block all group inbound

Sender allowlist fallback:

• if groupAllowFrom is unset, runtime falls back to allowFrom when available
• sender allowlists are evaluated before mention/reply activation

Note: if no channels.whatsapp block exists at all, runtime group-policy fallback is allowlist (with a warning log), even if channels.defaults.groupPolicy is set.

Group replies require mention by default.

Mention detection includes:

• explicit WhatsApp mentions of the bot identity
• configured mention regex patterns (agents.list[].groupChat.mentionPatterns, fallback messages.groupChat.mentionPatterns)
• implicit reply-to-bot detection (reply sender matches bot identity)

Security note:

• quote/reply only satisfies mention gating; it does not grant sender authorization
• with groupPolicy: "allowlist", non-allowlisted senders are still blocked even if they reply to an allowlisted user’s message

Session-level activation command:

• /activation mention
• /activation always

activation updates session state (not global config). It is owner-gated.

Personal-number and self-chat behavior

When the linked self number is also present in allowFrom, WhatsApp self-chat safeguards activate:

• skip read receipts for self-chat turns
• ignore mention-JID auto-trigger behavior that would otherwise ping yourself
• if messages.responsePrefix is unset, self-chat replies default to [{identity.name}] or [openclaw]

Message normalization and context

Inbound envelope + reply context

Incoming WhatsApp messages are wrapped in the shared inbound envelope.

If a quoted reply exists, context is appended in this form:

[Replying to

id:

]

[/Replying]

Reply metadata fields are also populated when available (`ReplyToId`, `ReplyToBody`, `ReplyToSender`, sender JID/E.164).

Media placeholders and location/contact extraction

Media-only inbound messages are normalized with placeholders such as:

• `

-

-

-

-

`

Location and contact payloads are normalized into textual context before routing.

Pending group history injection

For groups, unprocessed messages can be buffered and injected as context when the bot is finally triggered.

• default limit: 50
• config: channels.whatsapp.historyLimit
• fallback: messages.groupChat.historyLimit
• 0 disables

Injection markers:

• [Chat messages since your last reply - for context]
• [Current message - respond to this]

Read receipts

Read receipts are enabled by default for accepted inbound WhatsApp messages.

Disable globally:

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      sendReadReceipts: false,
    },
  },
}

Per-account override:

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      accounts: {
        work: {
          sendReadReceipts: false,
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Self-chat turns skip read receipts even when globally enabled.

Delivery, chunking, and media

Text chunking

• default chunk limit: channels.whatsapp.textChunkLimit = 4000
• channels.whatsapp.chunkMode = "length" | "newline"
• newline mode prefers paragraph boundaries (blank lines), then falls back to length-safe chunking

Outbound media behavior

• supports image, video, audio (PTT voice-note), and document payloads
• audio/ogg is rewritten to audio/ogg; codecs=opus for voice-note compatibility
• animated GIF playback is supported via gifPlayback: true on video sends
• captions are applied to the first media item when sending multi-media reply payloads
• media source can be HTTP(S), file://, or local paths

Media size limits and fallback behavior

• inbound media save cap: channels.whatsapp.mediaMaxMb (default 50)
• outbound media send cap: channels.whatsapp.mediaMaxMb (default 50)
• per-account overrides use `channels.whatsapp.accounts.

.mediaMaxMb` - images are auto-optimized (resize/quality sweep) to fit limits - on media send failure, first-item fallback sends text warning instead of dropping the response silently

Reaction level

channels.whatsapp.reactionLevel controls how broadly the agent uses emoji reactions on WhatsApp:

Level	Ack reactions	Agent-initiated reactions	Description
"off"	No	No	No reactions at all
"ack"	Yes	No	Ack reactions only (pre-reply receipt)
"minimal"	Yes	Yes (conservative)	Ack + agent reactions with conservative guidance
"extensive"	Yes	Yes (encouraged)	Ack + agent reactions with encouraged guidance

Default: "minimal".

Per-account overrides use channels.whatsapp.accounts.<id>.reactionLevel.

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      reactionLevel: "ack",
    },
  },
}

Acknowledgment reactions

WhatsApp supports immediate ack reactions on inbound receipt via channels.whatsapp.ackReaction. Ack reactions are gated by reactionLevel — they are suppressed when reactionLevel is "off".

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      ackReaction: {
        emoji: "👀",
        direct: true,
        group: "mentions", // always | mentions | never
      },
    },
  },
}

Behavior notes:

• sent immediately after inbound is accepted (pre-reply)
• failures are logged but do not block normal reply delivery
• group mode mentions reacts on mention-triggered turns; group activation always acts as bypass for this check
• WhatsApp uses channels.whatsapp.ackReaction (legacy messages.ackReaction is not used here)

Multi-account and credentials

Account selection and defaults

• account ids come from channels.whatsapp.accounts
• default account selection: default if present, otherwise first configured account id (sorted)
• account ids are normalized internally for lookup

Credential paths and legacy compatibility

• current auth path: `~/.openclaw/credentials/whatsapp/

/creds.json - backup file:creds.json.bak - legacy default auth in~/.openclaw/credentials/` is still recognized/migrated for default-account flows

Logout behavior

`openclaw channels logout —channel whatsapp [—account

]` clears WhatsApp auth state for that account.

In legacy auth directories, `oauth.json` is preserved while Baileys auth files are removed.

Tools, actions, and config writes

• Agent tool support includes WhatsApp reaction action (react).
• Action gates:
  • channels.whatsapp.actions.reactions
  • channels.whatsapp.actions.polls
• Channel-initiated config writes are enabled by default (disable via channels.whatsapp.configWrites=false).

Troubleshooting

Not linked (QR required)

Symptom: channel status reports not linked.

Fix:

openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp
openclaw channels status

Linked but disconnected / reconnect loop

Symptom: linked account with repeated disconnects or reconnect attempts.

Fix:

openclaw doctor
openclaw logs --follow

If needed, re-link with channels login.

No active listener when sending

Outbound sends fail fast when no active gateway listener exists for the target account.

Make sure gateway is running and the account is linked.

Group messages unexpectedly ignored

Check in this order:

• groupPolicy
• groupAllowFrom / allowFrom
• groups allowlist entries
• mention gating (requireMention + mention patterns)
• duplicate keys in openclaw.json (JSON5): later entries override earlier ones, so keep a single groupPolicy per scope

Bun runtime warning

WhatsApp gateway runtime should use Node. Bun is flagged as incompatible for stable WhatsApp/Telegram gateway operation.

Configuration reference pointers

Primary reference:

• Configuration reference - WhatsApp

High-signal WhatsApp fields:

• access: dmPolicy, allowFrom, groupPolicy, groupAllowFrom, groups
• delivery: textChunkLimit, chunkMode, mediaMaxMb, sendReadReceipts, ackReaction, reactionLevel
• multi-account: accounts.<id>.enabled, accounts.<id>.authDir, account-level overrides
• operations: configWrites, debounceMs, web.enabled, web.heartbeatSeconds, web.reconnect.*
• session behavior: session.dmScope, historyLimit, dmHistoryLimit, dms.<id>.historyLimit

Related

• Pairing
• Groups
• Security
• Channel routing
• Multi-agent routing
• Troubleshooting