Get started
Channels and capabilities
The channel types events carry, and what each channel can send and report back.
Every conversation is on one channel, and every event names its type as channelType.
The list may grow: treat a value you do not know as another channel, never as an error.
channelType | Channel |
|---|---|
whatsapp | A WhatsApp Business number connected through Meta (the Cloud API), including numbers also used in the WhatsApp Business app |
whatsapp_qr | A WhatsApp number linked by scanning a QR code |
telegram | A Telegram bot |
messenger | A Facebook page's Messenger |
instagram | Instagram direct messages |
web_widget | The website widget |
website | A website channel; nothing can be sent through it |
voice | A phone number the assistant answers by voice |
What each channel can do
Generated from the channel rules the platform enforces:
channelType | Replies | Templates | Starts conversations | Media | Receipts | Longest text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
whatsapp | Within 24 hours of the customer's last message; after that, only a template. | Yes | Yes | Yes | delivered, read, failed | 4,096 |
whatsapp_qr | Only when the customer wrote within the last 72 hours, paced 8 to 20 seconds apart and at most 250 an hour per number. | No | No | Yes | None | 4,096 |
telegram | At any time, in a conversation the customer started. | No | No | Yes | None | 4,096 |
messenger | Within 24 hours of the customer's last message. | No | No | Yes | delivered, read | 2,000 |
instagram | Within 24 hours of the customer's last message. | No | No | Yes | read | 1,000 |
web_widget | At any time, in a conversation the visitor started. | No | No | Yes | None | 4,096 |
website | No | No | No | No | None | — |
voice | No | No | No | No | None | — |
- Replies: when a message that is not a template may be sent to the customer.
- Templates: whether Meta-approved templates can be sent. Only
whatsappnumbers can; see WhatsApp messaging rules. - Starts conversations: whether a business can message a customer who has never
written. Only with a template, on
whatsapp. - Receipts: the delivery statuses the provider reports for messages the business sends.
Flow triggers start flows on whatsapp numbers only, because a flow
started by your system must open with a template.