Getting started

Import your WhatsApp business account

Go to the WhatsApp page and click the Import account button. This opens Meta’s authorization flow, where you select (or create) the WhatsApp business account and phone number and grant ElevenLabs permission to manage it:

Assign your agent and choose behaviors

After the import you land on the account settings page. Assign an agent — until you do, inbound messages are ignored and inbound calls are rejected:

Configure how the agent behaves on this number (see account settings for the full reference):

• Enable messaging — whether the agent responds to messages at all. Turn it off if another system handles messages and ElevenLabs should only handle calls.
• Enable audio message response — when on, the agent answers voice notes with voice notes in its own voice; when off, it always replies with text.
• Enable typing indicator — when on, the agent marks incoming messages as read and shows a typing indicator while it works.

Have your first conversation

Message your business number from a personal phone. The agent replies. Send a voice note — it is transcribed for the agent, and the agent responds with a voice note of its own:

The conversation appears in your conversation history as it happens.

Send your first outbound message

Reaching a user first requires a Meta-approved message template — WhatsApp only allows free-form business messages inside an active conversation. Create a simple Utility template in WhatsApp Manager, for example:

Hi {{name}}, thanks for signing up. Reply here if you have any questions.

Once the template is approved, send it:

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from elevenlabs import ElevenLabs
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elevenlabs = ElevenLabs()
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elevenlabs.conversational_ai.whatsapp.outbound_message(
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    whatsapp_phone_number_id="524029457612345",
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    whatsapp_user_id="12213231492",
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    template_name="welcome",
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    template_language_code="en",
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    template_params=[
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        {
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            "type": "body",
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            "parameters": [
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                {"type": "text", "parameter_name": "name", "text": "Daniele"}
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            ],
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        }
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    ],
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    agent_id="agent_9201kwcrbq9qfxaa2t8nnnkqf2w9",
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)

Two details matter here:

• template_params is a list of component objects — the {"type": "body", ...} wrapper is required.
• whatsapp_user_id is digits only, with country code and no + (for example 14155552671).

Find your whatsapp_phone_number_id on the WhatsApp page via the account menu’s Copy phone number ID option.

Your phone receives the template. Reply to it — the agent picks up the conversation from there.