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WhatsApp numbers

Settings → WhatsApp (admin and owner only) is where you connect, monitor, and disconnect the WhatsApp Business numbers your account sends and receives on. Most accounts run one number; your plan determines how many you can connect at once.

One number, or several

If your plan includes more than one number, each connected number gets its own row: a name you choose, a status, and a Make default action. The default number is the one used for anything not tied to a specific line — for example a reply typed from a view that isn't scoped to one number. Disconnecting the default number promotes another connected number automatically; nothing is left without a default.

Going over your plan's number limit doesn't disconnect anything — existing numbers keep working. You just can't add another until you're back within the limit or you change your plan.

Two ways to connect

When you click Add number, Relay offers two connection methods. Which ones are available depends on what your account's plan and platform configuration allow.

  • Sign up with Meta (Embedded Signup) — the standard path. Meta's own signup flow runs inside Relay; at the end, Relay holds the credentials and the number sends and receives entirely through the WhatsApp Cloud API. This requires the number to not already be active on the regular WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business consumer app.
  • "I already use the WhatsApp Business app" (coexistence) — for a number that's already live on someone's phone in the WhatsApp Business App and needs to stay that way. Coexistence keeps the number working on the handset exactly as before, while the same conversations also flow into Relay for your team.

Coexistence specifics

A coexistence connection intentionally skips a step that a normal Cloud API connection needs: registering the number for Cloud API webhooks. Registering is exactly the action that would move the number off the handset and onto the Cloud API exclusively — doing that to a coexistence number would break the WhatsApp Business App on the owner's phone. Relay never does it for a coexistence connection.

A few things behave differently on a coexistence number because the handset shares the line with Relay:

  • Sends are paced more conservatively so the phone and Relay aren't racing each other on the same number's throughput.
  • A few WhatsApp Business App features stop being available from the phone once linked: disappearing messages, view-once photos and videos, live location sharing, and broadcast lists.
  • Group chats never appear in Relay — the Cloud API doesn't support groups, so they stay phone-only regardless of connection method.

History sync

After linking a number (either method, but this matters most for coexistence, which usually has existing chat history), Meta imports recent conversation history into Relay in the background. This has roughly a 24-hour window. You can keep using Relay while it runs. If the window closes before an import finishes, whatever wasn't imported stays only on the phone — the only way to try again is to disconnect the number and link it fresh, which restarts the window.

Connection status

The status panel tells you, at a glance, whether a number is actually working:

  • Connected — receiving messages — everything is wired; Meta is delivering events to Relay.
  • Connected, but not receiving yet — credentials are valid but the number isn't registered for webhooks, so Meta may be routing inbound messages elsewhere (commonly: the number is still claimed by another app under the same WhatsApp Business Account).
  • Not connected — no working configuration yet.

Under the hood this is a small checklist (configuration saved, token readable, phone number reachable on Meta, WABA subscribed to Relay, number registered), each with a plain-language hint if it's failing. A Verify with Meta button re-runs the check without changing anything.

Disconnecting a number

Disconnecting removes the stored credentials for that number. Your contacts, conversations and message history are kept — disconnecting never deletes CRM data, only the live connection. If you disconnect the default number, another connected number is promoted to default automatically.

  1. On the number's row, click Disconnect.
  2. Read the confirmation — for a coexistence number it specifically warns that reconnecting later restarts the 24-hour history-sync window.
  3. Confirm, or click Cancel to back out without changing anything.

Who can manage this

Viewing and managing WhatsApp connections is gated to admins and owners — the same permission level as the rest of account-wide settings.