Connect WhatsApp to Fada: get customer messages in your team inbox

In Algeria and across the region, customers reach you on WhatsApp — not email. The problem is that WhatsApp lives on one person's phone. Messages get missed, nobody can see the history, and there's no way to hand a conversation to a teammate.

Fada fixes that by connecting your WhatsApp Business number through Meta's official WhatsApp Cloud API. Once it's linked, every customer message lands in a shared WhatsApp inbox inside Fada, and your whole team can reply from one place — with full history, search, and no one's personal phone involved.

This guide walks through the setup end to end. It looks like a lot of steps, but each one is short, and Fada shows you exactly what to copy at each stage. Set aside about 20 minutes.

Before you start

You'll do this in two places: Meta's developer console (where your WhatsApp number lives) and Fada's WhatsApp tab. Keep both open in separate tabs.

You'll need:

• A Meta Business account with your WhatsApp Business number.
• Admin access to your Fada workspace (only admins can connect WhatsApp).
• About 20 minutes, and your phone handy for one verification step.

A quick mental model helps. Four separate things have to line up:

1. Your number — its Phone Number ID, from Meta.
2. An access token — so Fada can send on your behalf.
3. The Fada connection — your number and token, saved in Fada.
4. The webhook — the pipe that pushes incoming messages from Meta to Fada.

Sending needs the first three. Receiving needs all four — plus one "go live" step at the end. Most setups that "look connected but nothing arrives" are missing the webhook or the go-live step, not the token.

Step 1 — One-time Meta groundwork

If you've already sent WhatsApp messages through the Cloud API, skip to Step 2. Otherwise, in the Meta app dashboard:

1. Create an app and add the WhatsApp use case.
2. Accept the WhatsApp Business Cloud API terms — this is the single most common silent blocker.
3. Add a payment method. Meta requires one before any number can send, even for a test.

Gotcha: during app creation Meta sometimes throws a "new device" security check. Clear it with the email code in your Accounts Center and continue. If the WhatsApp use case doesn't fully set up, it's faster to create a fresh app than to repair a half-finished one.

Step 2 — Copy your Phone Number ID

Open WhatsApp → API Setup in your Meta app. You'll see a panel with your number, a Phone Number ID, and a WhatsApp Business Account ID, each with a copy button.

Copy the Phone Number ID — the long number, not the phone number itself. Keep it handy for Step 4.

Gotcha: by default this page may show Meta's shared test number (a +1 555… number). That test number only messages a few pre-registered contacts and its token dies in 24 hours. Make sure you're copying your number's ID, not the sandbox one.

Step 3 — Create an access token

Fada uses this token to send messages and read media. You have two options.

The quick way (24 hours). On the same API Setup page, click Generate token, approve the Facebook login popup, and copy the token that appears. Great for a first test — but it expires in a day, so your team's replies will stop until you refresh it. (Incoming messages keep working after it expires; only sending needs a live token.)

The lasting way (never expires). In Business settings → System users, pick or create a system user, click Generate new token, choose your app, set Expiration: Never, and tick both permissions: whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management. Copy it — Meta shows it only once.

Gotcha: generate the permanent token from your normal phone or computer — a device you usually log in from. Doing it through an unfamiliar browser can trip Meta's security lock. If that happens, unlock from your trusted device and try again.

Step 4 — Connect the number in Fada

In Fada, open the WhatsApp tab and expand Advanced setup. Paste in:

• Phone Number ID — from Step 2.
• Access token — from Step 3.
• App secret — optional for now (more on this below).

Click Save manually. Fada checks the credentials against Meta and flips to Connected · your number. 🎉

Gotcha: if it says "Connection failed: (#100) … display_phone_number", the Phone Number ID is wrong — you likely pasted the Business Account ID, the test number, or a typo.

At this point sending works: your team can reply from Fada. Now let's turn on receiving.

Step 5 — Turn on incoming messages (the webhook)

After you save, Fada shows a Callback URL and a Verify token. These are the keys to the pipe that delivers messages.

In your Meta app, open WhatsApp → Configuration:

1. Paste Fada's Callback URL into the Callback URL field.
2. Paste Fada's Verify token into the Verify token field.
3. Click Verify and save. Meta pings Fada, Fada answers, and it saves.
4. On the same page, subscribe your number to the app and turn on the messages webhook field.

This is the step everyone misses: verifying the callback is not enough on its own — your WhatsApp account has to be subscribed to the app, or Meta has nowhere to send the messages. If everything looks connected but no message ever arrives, this is almost always why.

Step 6 — Publish your app so real messages flow

There's one last gate. While your Meta app is in Development mode, it only receives test messages — real customer messages are not delivered, even though everything is wired. (This is also why you can send before you can receive.)

To fix it, open your app's Go Live / Publish page and publish the app. Publishing generally requires Business Verification — a Meta review of your business documents that can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.

Once your app is Live and verified, message your business number from a different phone. Within seconds it appears in Fada's WhatsApp tab. That's the whole loop working.

About the app secret (recommended)

Fada can verify a cryptographic signature on every incoming message, which stops anyone from spoofing your webhook. To enable it, copy your App secret from App settings → Basic (click Show and enter your Facebook password) and paste it into Fada's Advanced setup.

It's optional — Fada works without it — but it's worth doing before you go live.

Gotcha: if a wrong app secret ever gets saved, Fada rejects every incoming message silently. If messages stop arriving after you added a secret, re-check it or disconnect and reconnect to clear it.

After it's working

• The 24-hour window: you can reply freely for 24 hours after a customer's last message. Outside that window, WhatsApp only allows pre-approved template messages — a Meta anti-spam rule, not a Fada limit.
• Keep your quality rating green: avoid spammy blasts, or Meta throttles your number.
• Voice notes customers send are transcribed automatically, just like any Fada voice message.

The short version

1. Accept the Cloud API terms and add a payment method in Meta.
2. Copy your Phone Number ID from API Setup.
3. Create an access token (permanent, from System Users).
4. Paste both into Fada → Advanced setup → Save.
5. Copy Fada's Callback URL + Verify token into Meta → Configuration, and subscribe to messages.
6. Publish your Meta app (Business Verification) so real messages arrive.

New to Fada? Start with getting started with Fada to set up your workspace, then come back and plug WhatsApp in.