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Send text and media WhatsApp messages using Advanced Messaging

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Azure Communication Services enables you to send and receive WhatsApp messages. This article describes how to integrate your app with Azure Communication Advanced Messages SDK to start sending and receiving WhatsApp messages. Completing this article incurs a small cost of a few USD cents or less in your Azure account.

Prerequisites

Set up environment

Create the .NET project

To create your project, follow the tutorial at Create a .NET console application using Visual Studio.

To compile your code, press Ctrl+F7.

Install the package

Install the Azure.Communication.Messages NuGet package to your C# project.

  1. Open the NuGet Package Manager at Project > Manage NuGet Packages....
  2. Search for the package Azure.Communication.Messages.
  3. Install the latest release.

Set up the app framework

Open the Program.cs file in a text editor.

Replace the contents of your Program.cs with the following code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Azure;
using Azure.Communication.Messages;

namespace AdvancedMessagingQuickstart
{
    class Program
    {
        public static async Task Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Azure Communication Services - Advanced Messages quickstart samples.");

            // Quickstart code goes here
        }
    }
}

To use the Advanced Messaging features, add a using directive to include the Azure.Communication.Messages namespace.

using Azure.Communication.Messages;

Object model

The following classes and interfaces handle some of the major features of the Azure Communication Services Advance Messaging SDK for .NET.

Class Name Description
NotificationMessagesClient Connects to your Azure Communication Services resource. It sends the messages.
MessageTemplate Defines which template you use and the content of the template properties for your message.
TemplateNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the template message you intend to send.
TextNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the text message you intend to send.
ImageNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the image media message you intend to send.
DocumentNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the Document media message you intend to send.
VideoNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the Video media message you intend to send.
AudioNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the Audio media message you intend to send.

Note

For more information, see the Azure SDK for .NET reference Azure.Communication.Messages Namespace.

Common configuration

Follow these steps to add required code snippets to the messages-quickstart.py python program.

Authenticate the client

The Messages SDK uses the NotificationMessagesClient to send messages. The NotificationMessagesClient method authenticates using your connection string acquired from Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal. For more information about connection strings, see access-your-connection-strings-and-service-endpoints.

For simplicity, this quickstart uses a connection string to authenticate. In production environments, we recommend using service principals.

Get the connection string from your Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal. On the left, navigate to the Keys tab. Copy the Connection string field for the primary key. The connection string is in the format endpoint=https://{your Azure Communication Services resource name}.communication.azure.com/;accesskey={secret key}.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Connection string' field in the 'Primary key' section.

Set the environment variable COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING to the value of your connection string.
Open a console window and enter the following command:

setx COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING "<your connection string>"

After you add the environment variable, you might need to restart any running programs that will need to read the environment variable, including the console window. For example, if you're using Visual Studio as your editor, restart Visual Studio before running the example.

For more information on how to set an environment variable for your system, follow the steps at Store your connection string in an environment variable.

To instantiate a NotificationMessagesClient, add the following code to the Main method:

// Retrieve connection string from environment variable
string connectionString = 
    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING");

// Instantiate the client
var notificationMessagesClient = new NotificationMessagesClient(connectionString);

Set channel registration ID

You created the Channel Registration ID GUID during channel registration. Find it in the portal on the Channels tab of your Azure Communication Services resource.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Channels' tab. Attention is placed on the copy action of the 'Channel ID' field.

Assign it to a variable called channelRegistrationId.

var channelRegistrationId = new Guid("<your channel registration ID GUID>");

Set recipient list

You need to supply an active phone number associated with a WhatsApp account. This WhatsApp account receives the template, text, and media messages sent in this quickstart.

For this example, you can use your personal phone number.

The recipient phone number can't be the business phone number (Sender ID) associated with the WhatsApp channel registration. The Sender ID appears as the sender of the text and media messages sent to the recipient.

The phone number must include the country code. For more information about phone number formatting, see WhatsApp documentation for Phone Number Formats.

Note

Only one phone number is currently supported in the recipient list.

Create the recipient list like this:

var recipientList = new List<string> { "<to WhatsApp phone number>" };

Example:

// Example only
var recipientList = new List<string> { "+14255550199" };

Start sending messages between a business and a WhatsApp user

Conversations between a WhatsApp Business Account and a WhatsApp user can be initiated in one of two ways:

  • The business sends a template message to the WhatsApp user.
  • The WhatsApp user sends any message to the business number.

A business can't initiate an interactive conversation. A business can only send an interactive message after receiving a message from the user. The business can only send interactive messages to the user during the active conversation. Once the 24 hour conversation window expires, only the user can restart the interactive conversation. For more information about conversations, see the definition at WhatsApp Business Platform.

To initiate an interactive conversation from your personal WhatsApp account, send a message to your business number (Sender ID).

A WhatsApp conversation viewed on the web showing a user message sent to the WhatsApp Business Account number.

Code examples

Follow these steps to add required code snippets to the Main function of your Program.cs file.

Important

To send a text or media message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Send a text message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK allows Contoso to send WhatsApp text messages, which initiated WhatsApp users initiated. To send a text message, you need:

In this example, we reply to the WhatsApp user with the text: "Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK."

Assemble and send the text message:

// Assemble text message
var textContent = 
    new TextNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, "Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK");

// Send text message
Response<SendMessageResult> sendTextMessageResult = 
    await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(textContent);

Send an image media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send WhatsApp media messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Important

As of SDK version 1.1.0, MediaNotificationContent is being deprecated for images. We encourage you to use ImageNotificationContent for sending images. Explore other content-specific classes for other media types like DocumentNotificationContent, VideoNotificationContent, and AudioNotificationContent.

Assemble the image message:

var imageLink = new Uri("https://example.com/image.jpg");
var imageNotificationContent = new ImageNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, imageLink)  
{  
    Caption = "Check out this image."  
};

Send the image message:

var imageResponse = await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(imageNotificationContent);

Send a document media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send WhatsApp media messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Assemble the document content:

var documentLink = new Uri("https://example.com/document.pdf");
var documentNotificationContent = new DocumentNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, documentLink)  
{  
    Caption = "Check out this document.",  
    FileName = "document.pdf"  
};

Send the document message:

var documentResponse = await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(documentNotificationContent);

Send a video media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send WhatsApp media messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Assemble the video message:

var videoLink = new Uri("https://example.com/video.mp4");
var videoNotificationContent = new VideoNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, videoLink)  
{  
    Caption = "Check out this video."  
};

Send the video message:

var videoResponse = await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(videoNotificationContent);

Send an audio media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send WhatsApp media messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Assemble the audio message:

var audioLink = new Uri("https://example.com/audio.mp3");
var audioNotificationContent = new AudioNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, audioLink);

Send the audio message:

var audioResponse = await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(audioNotificationContent);

Run the code

Build and run your program.

To send a text or media message to a WhatsApp user, there must be an active conversation between the WhatsApp Business Account and the WhatsApp user.

If you don't have an active conversation, for this example add a wait between sending the template message and sending the text message. This added delay gives you enough time to reply to the business on the user's WhatsApp account. For reference, the full example at Sample code prompts for manual user input before sending the next message.

If successful, you receive three messages on the user's WhatsApp account.

  1. To compile your code, press Ctrl+F7.
  2. To run the program without debugging, press Ctrl+F5.

Full sample code

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Azure;
using Azure.Communication.Messages;

namespace AdvancedMessagingQuickstart
{
    class Program
    {
        public static async Task Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Azure Communication Services - Send WhatsApp Messages\n");

            string connectionString = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING");
            NotificationMessagesClient notificationMessagesClient = 
                new NotificationMessagesClient(connectionString);

            var channelRegistrationId = new Guid("<Your Channel ID>");
            var recipientList = new List<string> { "<Recipient's WhatsApp Phone Number>" };

            // Send sample template sample_template
            string templateName = "sample_template";
            string templateLanguage = "en_us";
            MessageTemplate sampleTemplate = new MessageTemplate(templateName, templateLanguage);
            TemplateNotificationContent templateContent = 
                new TemplateNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, sampleTemplate);
            Response<SendMessageResult> sendTemplateMessageResult = 
                await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(templateContent);

            PrintResult(sendTemplateMessageResult);
            Console.WriteLine("Template message sent.\nWait until the WhatsApp user responds " +
                "to the template message, then press any key to continue.\n");
            Console.ReadKey();

            // Send a text message
            string messageText = "Thanks for your feedback.";
            TextNotificationContent textContent =
                new TextNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, messageText);
            Response<SendMessageResult> sendTextMessageResult =
                await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(textContent);

            PrintResult(sendTextMessageResult);
            Console.WriteLine($"Text message sent to my phoneNumber.\nPress any key to continue.\n");
            Console.ReadKey();

            // Send a media message
            Uri uri = new Uri("https://aka.ms/acsicon1");
            ImageNotificationContent imageContent =
                new ImageNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, uri);
            Response<SendMessageResult> sendMediaMessageResult =
                await notificationMessagesClient.SendAsync(imageContent);

            PrintResult(sendMediaMessageResult);
            Console.WriteLine("Media message sent.\nPress any key to exit.\n");
            Console.ReadKey();
        }

        public static void PrintResult(Response<SendMessageResult> result)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Response: {result.GetRawResponse().Status} " +
                $"({result.GetRawResponse().ReasonPhrase})");
            Console.WriteLine($"Date: " +
                $"{result.GetRawResponse().Headers.First(header => header.Name == "Date").Value}");
            Console.WriteLine($"ClientRequestId: {result.GetRawResponse().ClientRequestId}");
            Console.WriteLine($"MS-CV: " +
                $"{result.GetRawResponse().Headers.First(header => header.Name == "MS-CV").Value}");
            foreach (var receipts in result.Value.Receipts)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"MessageId: {receipts.MessageId}");
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"\n");
        }
    }
}

Prerequisites

Set up environment

To set up an environment for sending messages, complete the steps in the following sections.

Create a new Java application

Open a terminal or command window and navigate to the directory where you want to create your Java application. Run the following command to generate the Java project from the maven-archetype-quickstart template.

mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId="com.communication.quickstart" -DartifactId="communication-quickstart" -DarchetypeArtifactId="maven-archetype-quickstart" -DarchetypeVersion="1.4" -DinteractiveMode="false"

The generate goal creates a directory with the same name as the artifactId value. Under this directory, the src/main/java directory contains the project source code, the src/test/java directory contains the test source, and the pom.xml file is the project's Project Object Model (POM).

Install the package

Open the pom.xml file in your text editor. Add the following dependency element to the group of dependencies.

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.azure</groupId>
    <artifactId>azure-communication-messages</artifactId>
</dependency>

Set up the app framework

Open /src/main/java/com/communication/quickstart/App.java in a text editor, add import directives, and remove the System.out.println("Hello world!"); statement:

package com.communication.quickstart;

import com.azure.communication.messages.*;
import com.azure.communication.messages.models.*;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
public class App
{
    public static void main( String[] args )
    {
        // Quickstart code goes here.
    }
}

Code examples

Follow these steps to add required code snippets to the main function of your App.java file.

Start sending messages between a business and a WhatsApp user

Conversations between a WhatsApp Business Account and a WhatsApp user can be initiated in one of two ways:

  • The business sends a template message to the WhatsApp user.
  • The WhatsApp user sends any message to the business number.

Regardless of how the conversation was started, a business can only send template messages until the user sends a message to the business. Only after the user sends a message to the business, the business is allowed to send text or media messages to the user during the active conversation. Once the 24 hour conversation window expires, the conversation must be reinitiated. To learn more about conversations, see the definition at WhatsApp Business Platform.

Authenticate the client

There are a few different options available for authenticating a Message client:

To authenticate a client, you instantiate an NotificationMessagesClient or MessageTemplateClient with your connection string. You can also initialize the client with any custom HTTP client that implements the com.azure.core.http.HttpClient interface.

For simplicity, this quickstart uses a connection string to authenticate. In production environments, we recommend using service principals.

Get the connection string from your Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal. On the left, navigate to the Keys tab. Copy the Connection string field for the Primary key. The connection string is in the format endpoint=https://{your Azure Communication Services resource name}.communication.azure.com/;accesskey={secret key}.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Connection string' field in the 'Primary key' section.

Set the environment variable COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING to the value of your connection string.
Open a console window and enter the following command:

setx COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING "<your connection string>"

For more information on how to set an environment variable for your system, follow the steps at Store your connection string in an environment variable.

To instantiate a NotificationMessagesClient, add the following code to the main method:

// You can get your connection string from your resource in the Azure portal.
String connectionString = System.getenv("COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING");

NotificationMessagesClient notificationClient = new NotificationMessagesClientBuilder()
    .connectionString(connectionString)
    .buildClient();

Set channel registration ID

The Channel Registration ID GUID was created during channel registration. You can look it up in the portal on the Channels tab of your Azure Communication Services resource.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Channels' tab. Attention is placed on the copy action of the 'Channel ID' field.

Assign it to a variable called channelRegistrationId.

String channelRegistrationId = "<your channel registration id GUID>";

Set recipient list

You need to supply a real phone number that has a WhatsApp account associated with it. This WhatsApp account receives the text and media messages sent in this quickstart. For this quickstart, this phone number may be your personal phone number.

The recipient phone number can't be the business phone number (Sender ID) associated with the WhatsApp channel registration. The Sender ID appears as the sender of the text and media messages sent to the recipient.

The phone number should include the country code. For more information on phone number formatting, see WhatsApp documentation for Phone Number Formats.

Note

Only one phone number is currently supported in the recipient list.

Create the recipient list like this:

List<String> recipientList = new ArrayList<>();
recipientList.add("<to WhatsApp phone number>");

Example:

// Example only
List<String> recipientList = new ArrayList<>();
recipientList.add("+14255550199");

Send a text message to a WhatsApp user

Messages SDK allows Contoso to send text WhatsApp messages, which initiated WhatsApp users initiated. To send text messages below details are required:

In this example, we reply to the WhatsApp user with the text "Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK."

Important

To send a text message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Assemble and send the text message:

// Assemble text message
TextNotificationContent textContent = new TextNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, "“Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK");

// Send text message
SendMessageResult textMessageResult = notificationClient.send(textContent);

// Process result
for (MessageReceipt messageReceipt : textMessageResult.getReceipts()) {
    System.out.println("Message sent to:" + messageReceipt.getTo() + " and message id:" + messageReceipt.getMessageId());
}

Send an image media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Important

As of SDK version 1.1.0, MediaNotificationContent is being deprecated for images. We encourage you to use ImageNotificationContent to send images. Explore other content-specific classes for other media types like DocumentNotificationContent, VideoNotificationContent, and AudioNotificationContent.

Important

To send an image message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Assemble and send the image message:

// Assemble image message
String imageUrl = "https://example.com/image.jpg";
ImageNotificationContent imageContent = new ImageNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, imageUrl);

// Send image message
SendMessageResult imageMessageResult = notificationClient.send(imageContent);

// Process result
for (MessageReceipt messageReceipt : imageMessageResult.getReceipts()) {
    System.out.println("Message sent to:" + messageReceipt.getTo() + " and message id:" + messageReceipt.getMessageId());
}

Send a video media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Important

To send a video message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Assemble and send the video message:

// Assemble video message
String videoUrl = "https://example.com/video.mp4";
VideoNotificationContent videoContent = new VideoNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, videoUrl);

// Send video message
SendMessageResult videoMessageResult = notificationClient.send(videoContent);

// Process result
for (MessageReceipt messageReceipt : videoMessageResult.getReceipts()) {
    System.out.println("Message sent to:" + messageReceipt.getTo() + " and message id:" + messageReceipt.getMessageId());
}

Send an audio media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Important

To send an audio message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Assemble and send the audio message:

// Assemble audio message
String audioUrl = "https://example.com/audio.mp3";
AudioNotificationContent audioContent = new AudioNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, audioUrl);

// Send audio message
SendMessageResult audioMessageResult = notificationClient.send(audioContent);

// Process result
for (MessageReceipt messageReceipt : audioMessageResult.getReceipts()) {
    System.out.println("Message sent to:" + messageReceipt.getTo() + " and message id:" + messageReceipt.getMessageId());
}

Send a document media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Important

To send a document message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Assemble and send the document message:

// Assemble document message
String docUrl = "https://example.com/document.pdf";
DocumentNotificationContent docContent = new DocumentNotificationContent(channelRegistrationId, recipientList, docUrl);

// Send document message
SendMessageResult docMessageResult = notificationClient.send(docContent);

// Process result
for (MessageReceipt messageReceipt : docMessageResult.getReceipts()) {
    System.out.println("Message sent to:" + messageReceipt.getTo() + " and message id:" + messageReceipt.getMessageId());
}

Run the code

  1. Open to the directory that contains the pom.xml file and compile the project using the mvn command.

    mvn compile

  2. Run the app by executing the following mvn command.

    mvn exec:java -D"exec.mainClass"="com.communication.quickstart.App" -D"exec.cleanupDaemonThreads"="false"

Full sample code

Find the finalized code for this quickstart on GitHub.

Prerequisites

Setting up

Create a new Node.js application

  1. Create a new directory for your app and open it in a terminal or command window.

  2. Run the following command.

    mkdir advance-messages-quickstart && cd advance-messages-quickstart

  3. Run the following command to create a package.json file with default settings.

    npm init -y

  4. Use a text editor to create a file called send-messages.js in the project root directory.

  5. Add the following code snippet to the file send-messages.js.

    async function main() {
    // Quickstart code goes here.
}

main().catch((error) => {
    console.error("Encountered an error while sending message: ", error);
    process.exit(1);
});

Complete the following section to add your source code for this example to the send-messages.js file that you created.

Install the package

Use the npm install command to install the Azure Communication Services Advance Messaging SDK for JavaScript.

npm install @azure-rest/communication-messages --save

The --save option lists the library as a dependency in your package.json file.

Code examples

Follow these steps to add required code snippets to the main function of your send-messages.js file.

Start sending messages between a business and a WhatsApp user

Conversations between a WhatsApp Business Account and a WhatsApp user can be initiated in one of two ways:

  • The business sends a template message to the WhatsApp user.
  • The WhatsApp user sends any message to the business number.

Regardless of how the conversation was started, a business can only send template messages until the user sends a message to the business. Only after the user sends a message to the business, the business is allowed to send text or media messages to the user during the active conversation. Once the 24 hour conversation window expires, the conversation must be reinitiated. To learn more about conversations, see the definition at WhatsApp Business Platform.

Authenticate the client

The following code retrieves the connection string for the resource from an environment variable named COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING using the dotenv package.

For simplicity, this quickstart uses a connection string to authenticate. In production environments, we recommend using service principals.

Get the connection string from your Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal. On the left, navigate to the Keys tab. Copy the Connection string field for the Primary key. The connection string is in the format endpoint=https://{your Azure Communication Services resource name}.communication.azure.com/;accesskey={secret key}.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Connection string' field in the 'Primary key' section.

Set the environment variable COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING to the value of your connection string.
Open a console window and enter the following command:

setx COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING "<your connection string>"

For more information on how to set an environment variable for your system, follow the steps at Store your connection string in an environment variable.

To instantiate a NotificationClient, add the following code to the Main method:

const NotificationClient = require("@azure-rest/communication-messages").default;

// Set Connection string
const connectionString = process.env["COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING"];

// Instantiate the client
const client = NotificationClient(connectionString);

Set channel registration ID

The Channel Registration ID GUID was created during channel registration. You can look it up in the portal on the Channels tab of your Azure Communication Services resource.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Channels' tab. Attention is placed on the copy action of the 'Channel ID' field.

Assign it to a variable called channelRegistrationId.

const channelRegistrationId = "<your channel registration id GUID>";

Set recipient list

You need to supply a real phone number that has a WhatsApp account associated with it. This WhatsApp account receives the template, text, and media messages sent in this quickstart. For this quickstart, this phone number may be your personal phone number.

The recipient phone number can't be the business phone number (Sender ID) associated with the WhatsApp channel registration. The Sender ID appears as the sender of the text and media messages sent to the recipient.

The phone number should include the country code. For more information on phone number formatting, see WhatsApp documentation for Phone Number Formats.

Note

Only one phone number is currently supported in the recipient list.

Create the recipient list like this:

const recipientList = ["<to WhatsApp phone number>"];

Example:

// Example only
const recipientList = ["+14255550199"];

Important

To send a message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

Send a text message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send text WhatsApp messages, when initiated by a WhatsApp users. To send text messages:

In this example, we reply to the WhatsApp user with the text "Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK."

Assemble and send the text message:

// Send text message
const textMessageResult = await client.path("/messages/notifications:send").post({
    contentType: "application/json",
    body: {
        channelRegistrationId: channelRegistrationId,
        to: recipientList,
        kind: "text",
        content: "Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK"
    }
});

// Process result
if (textMessageResult.status === "202") {
    textMessageResult.body.receipts.forEach((receipt) => {
        console.log("Message sent to:"+receipt.to+" with message id:"+receipt.messageId);
    });
} else {
    throw new Error("Failed to send message");
}

Send an image media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

Important

As of SDK version 2.0.0, MediaNotificationContent is being deprecated for images. We encourage you to use ImageNotificationContent to send images. Explore other content-specific classes for other media types like DocumentNotificationContent, VideoNotificationContent, and AudioNotificationContent.

To send an image message, provide a URL to an image. For example:

const url = "https://example.com/image.jpg";

Assemble and send the media message:

// Send image message
const mediaMessageResult = await client.path("/messages/notifications:send").post({
    contentType: "application/json",
    body: {
        channelRegistrationId: channelRegistrationId,
        to: recipientList,
        kind: "image",
        mediaUri: url
    }
});

// Process result
if (mediaMessageResult.status === "202") {
    mediaMessageResult.body.receipts.forEach((receipt) => {
        console.log("Message sent to:"+receipt.to+" with message id:"+receipt.messageId);
    });
} else {
    throw new Error("Failed to send message");
}

Send a video media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

To send a video message, provide a URL to a video. As an example,

const url = "https://example.com/video.mp4";

Assemble and send the video message:

// Send video message
const mediaMessageResult = await client.path("/messages/notifications:send").post({
    contentType: "application/json",
    body: {
        channelRegistrationId: channelRegistrationId,
        to: recipientList,
        kind: "video",
        mediaUri: url
    }
});

// Process result
if (mediaMessageResult.status === "202") {
    mediaMessageResult.body.receipts.forEach((receipt) => {
        console.log("Message sent to:"+receipt.to+" with message id:"+receipt.messageId);
    });
} else {
    throw new Error("Failed to send message");
}

Send an audio media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

To send an audio message, provide a URL to an audio file. As an example:

const url = "https://example.com/audio.mp3";

Assemble and send the audio message:

// Send audio message
const mediaMessageResult = await client.path("/messages/notifications:send").post({
    contentType: "application/json",
    body: {
        channelRegistrationId: channelRegistrationId,
        to: recipientList,
        kind: "audio",
        mediaUri: url
    }
});

// Process result
if (mediaMessageResult.status === "202") {
    mediaMessageResult.body.receipts.forEach((receipt) => {
        console.log("Message sent to:"+receipt.to+" with message id:"+receipt.messageId);
    });
} else {
    throw new Error("Failed to send message");
}

Send a document media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send media (image, video, audio, or document) messages to WhatsApp users. To send an embedded media message, you need:

To send a document message, provide a URL to a document. As an example,

const url = "https://example.com/document.pdf";

Assemble and send the document message:

// Send document message
const mediaMessageResult = await client.path("/messages/notifications:send").post({
    contentType: "application/json",
    body: {
        channelRegistrationId: channelRegistrationId,
        to: recipientList,
        kind: "document",
        mediaUri: url
    }
});

// Process result
if (mediaMessageResult.status === "202") {
    mediaMessageResult.body.receipts.forEach((receipt) => {
        console.log("Message sent to:"+receipt.to+" with message id:"+receipt.messageId);
    });
} else {
    throw new Error("Failed to send message");
}

Run the code

Use the node command to run the code you added to the send-messages.js file.

node ./send-messages.js

Full sample code

Find the finalized code for this quickstart on GitHub.

Prerequisites

Setting up

Create a new Python application

In a terminal or console window, create a new folder for your application and open it.

mkdir messages-quickstart && cd messages-quickstart

Install the package

Use the Azure Communication Messages client library for Python 1.1.0 or above.

From a console prompt, run the following command:

pip install azure-communication-messages

For InteractiveMessages, Reactions and Stickers, please use below Beta version:

pip install azure-communication-messages==1.2.0b1

Set up the app framework

Create a new file called messages-quickstart.py and add the basic program structure.

type nul > messages-quickstart.py

Basic program structure

import os

class MessagesQuickstart(object):
    print("Azure Communication Services - Advanced Messages SDK Quickstart")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    messages = MessagesQuickstart()

Object model

The following classes and interfaces handle some of the major features of the Azure Communication Services Messages SDK for Python.

Class Name Description
NotificationMessagesClient Connects to your Azure Communication Services resource. It sends the messages.
MessageTemplate Defines which template you use and the content of the template properties for your message.
TemplateNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the template message you intend to send.
TextNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the text message you intend to send.
ImageNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the image media message you intend to send.
DocumentNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the Document media message you intend to send.
VideoNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the Video media message you intend to send.
AudioNotificationContent Defines the "who" and the "what" of the Audio media message you intend to send.

Note

For more information, see the Azure SDK for Python reference messages Package.

Common configuration

Follow these steps to add required code snippets to the messages-quickstart.py python program.

Authenticate the client

Messages sending is done using NotificationMessagesClient. NotificationMessagesClient is authenticated using your connection string acquired from Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal. For more information on connection strings, see access-your-connection-strings-and-service-endpoints.

Get Azure Communication Resource connection string from Azure portal as given in screenshot. On the left, navigate to the Keys tab. Copy the Connection string field for the primary key. The connection string is in the format endpoint=https://{your Azure Communication Services resource name}.communication.azure.com/;accesskey={secret key}.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Primary Key' field in the 'Keys' section.

Set the environment variable COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING to the value of your connection string.
Open a console window and enter the following command:

setx COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING "<your connection string>"

After you add the environment variable, you might need to restart any running programs that will need to read the environment variable, including the console window. For example, if you're using Visual Studio as your editor, restart Visual Studio before running the example.

For more information on how to set an environment variable for your system, follow the steps at Store your connection string in an environment variable.

    # Get a connection string to our Azure Communication Services resource.
    connection_string = os.getenv("COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING")
    
    def send_template_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)

Set channel registration ID

You created the Channel Registration ID GUID during channel registration. Find it in the portal on the Channels tab of your Azure Communication Services resource.

Screenshot that shows an Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure portal, viewing the 'Channels' tab. Attention is placed on the copy action of the 'Channel ID' field.

Assign it to a variable called channelRegistrationId.

    channelRegistrationId = os.getenv("WHATSAPP_CHANNEL_ID_GUID")

Set recipient list

You need to supply an active phone number associated with a WhatsApp account. This WhatsApp account receives the template, text, and media messages sent in this quickstart.

For this example, you can use your personal phone number.

The recipient phone number can't be the business phone number (Sender ID) associated with the WhatsApp channel registration. The Sender ID appears as the sender of the text and media messages sent to the recipient.

The phone number must include the country code. For more information about phone number formatting, see WhatsApp documentation for Phone Number Formats.

Note

Only one phone number is currently supported in the recipient list.

Set the recipient list like this:

    phone_number = os.getenv("RECIPIENT_WHATSAPP_PHONE_NUMBER")

Usage Example:

    # Example only
    to=[self.phone_number],

Start sending messages between a business and a WhatsApp user

Conversations between a WhatsApp Business Account and a WhatsApp user can be initiated in one of two ways:

  • The business sends a template message to the WhatsApp user.
  • The WhatsApp user sends any message to the business number.

A business can't initiate an interactive conversation. A business can only send an interactive message after receiving a message from the user. The business can only send interactive messages to the user during the active conversation. Once the 24 hour conversation window expires, only the user can restart the interactive conversation. For more information about conversations, see the definition at WhatsApp Business Platform.

To initiate an interactive conversation from your personal WhatsApp account, send a message to your business number (Sender ID).

A WhatsApp conversation viewed on the web showing a user message sent to the WhatsApp Business Account number.

Code examples

Follow these steps to add required code snippets to the messages-quickstart.py python program.

Send a text message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send text WhatsApp messages, when initiated by a WhatsApp user. To send text messages:

Important

To send a text message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

In this example, we reply to the WhatsApp user with the text "Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK."

    def send_text_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( TextNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        text_options = TextNotificationContent (
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to= [self.phone_number],
            content="Thanks for your feedback.\n From Notification Messaging SDK",
        )
        
        # calling send() with whatsapp message details
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(text_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Text Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}."
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

To run send_text_message(), update the main method:

    #Calling send_text_message()
    messages.send_text_message()

Send an image media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send image WhatsApp messages to WhatsApp users. To send image embedded messages:

Important

To send a text message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

An example of media_uri used when sending a media WhatsApp message.

input_media_uri: str = "https://aka.ms/acsicon1"

    def send_image_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( ImageNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "https://aka.ms/acsicon1"
        image_message_options = ImageNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            media_uri=input_media_uri
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(image_message_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Image containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

To run send_text_message(), update the main method:

    # Calling send_image_message()
    messages.send_image_message()

Send a document media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send document WhatsApp messages to WhatsApp users. To send document embedded messages:

Important

To send a document message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

An example of media_uri used when sending a media WhatsApp message.

input_media_uri: str = "##DocumentLinkPlaceholder##"

    def send_document_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( DocumentNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "##DocumentLinkPlaceholder##"
        documents_options = DocumentNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            caption="Hello World via Advanced Messaging SDK.This is document message",
            file_name="Product roadmap timeline.pptx",
            media_uri=input_media_uri,
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(documents_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Document containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

To run send_text_message(), update the main method:

    # Calling send_image_message()
    messages.send_image_message()

Send an audio media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send image WhatsApp messages to WhatsApp users. To send audio embedded messages:

Important

To send an audio message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

An example of media_uri used when sending a media WhatsApp message.

input_media_uri: str = "##AudioLinkPlaceholder##"

    def send_audio_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( AudioNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "##AudioLinkPlaceholder##"
        audio_options = AudioNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            media_uri=input_media_uri,
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(audio_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Audio containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

To run send_text_message(), update the main method:

    # Calling send_image_message()
    messages.send_image_message()

Send a video media message to a WhatsApp user

The Messages SDK enables Contoso to send video WhatsApp messages to WhatsApp users. To send video embedded messages:

Important

To send a video message to a WhatsApp user, the WhatsApp user must first send a message to the WhatsApp Business Account. For more information, see Start sending messages between business and WhatsApp user.

An example of media_uri used when sending a media WhatsApp message.

input_media_uri: str = "##VideoLinkPlaceholder##"

    def send_video_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( VideoNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "##VideoLinkPlaceholder##"
        video_options = VideoNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            media_uri=input_media_uri,
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(image_message_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Video containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

To run send_text_message(), update the main method:

    # Calling send_image_message()
    messages.send_image_message()

Run the code

To run the code, make sure you are on the directory where your messages-quickstart.py file is located.

python messages-quickstart.py

Azure Communication Services - Advanced Messages Quickstart
WhatsApp Templated Message with message id <<GUID>> was successfully sent to <<ToRecipient>>
WhatsApp Text Message with message id <<GUID>> was successfully sent to <<ToRecipient>>
WhatsApp Image containing Message with message id <<GUID>> was successfully sent to <<ToRecipient>>

Full sample code

Note

Replace all placeholder variables in the sample code with your values.

import os

class MessagesQuickstart(object):
    print("Azure Communication Services - Advanced Messages SDK Quickstart using connection string.")
    # Advanced Messages SDK implementations goes in this section.
   
    connection_string = os.getenv("COMMUNICATION_SERVICES_CONNECTION_STRING")
    phone_number = os.getenv("RECIPIENT_PHONE_NUMBER")
    channelRegistrationId = os.getenv("WHATSAPP_CHANNEL_ID")

    def send_template_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( TemplateNotificationContent , MessageTemplate )

        # client creation
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_template: MessageTemplate = MessageTemplate(
            name="<<TEMPLATE_NAME>>",
            language="<<LANGUAGE>>")
        template_options = TemplateNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            template=input_template
        )

        # calling send() with WhatsApp template details.
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(template_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Templated Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

    def send_text_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( TextNotificationContent )

        # client creation
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)

        text_options = TextNotificationContent (
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to= [self.phone_number],
            content="Hello World via ACS Advanced Messaging SDK.",
        )
        
        # calling send() with WhatsApp message details
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(text_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Text Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

    def send_image_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( ImageNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "https://aka.ms/acsicon1"
        image_message_options = ImageNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            media_uri=input_media_uri
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(image_message_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Image containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")
    
    def send_document_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( DocumentNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "##DocumentLinkPlaceholder##"
        documents_options = DocumentNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            caption="Hello World via Advanced Messaging SDK.This is document message",
            file_name="Product roadmap timeline.pptx",
            media_uri=input_media_uri,
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(documents_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Document containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

    def send_audio_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( AudioNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "##AudioLinkPlaceholder##"
        audio_options = AudioNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            media_uri=input_media_uri,
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(audio_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Audio containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

    def send_video_message(self):
        from azure.communication.messages import NotificationMessagesClient
        from azure.communication.messages.models import ( VideoNotificationContent)

        # Create NotificationMessagesClient Client
        messaging_client = NotificationMessagesClient.from_connection_string(self.connection_string)
        input_media_uri: str = "##VideoLinkPlaceholder##"
        video_options = VideoNotificationContent(
            channel_registration_id=self.channelRegistrationId,
            to=[self.phone_number],
            media_uri=input_media_uri,
        )

        # calling send() with whatsapp image message
        message_responses = messaging_client.send(image_message_options)
        response = message_responses.receipts[0]
        
        if (response is not None):
            print("WhatsApp Video containing Message with message id {} was successfully sent to {}"
            .format(response.message_id, response.to))
        else:
            print("Message failed to send")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    messages = MessagesQuickstart()
    messages.send_template_message()
    messages.send_text_message()
    messages.send_image_message()
    messages.send_document_message()
    messages.send_audio_message()
    messages.send_video_message()

Other samples

You can review and download other sample codes for Python Messages SDK on GitHub.

Next steps

This article described the Advanced Messaging for WhatsApp SDK. For more information, see the following articles: