Can WAHA show some love to WhatsApp's Latest Feature : WhatsApp Channels

[ksingh-scogo]

WhatsApp has recently released , WhatsApp Channels, which is getting crazy amount of attention.

I see WhatsApp Channels as great use case for WAHA.

Businesses , generally create social media content once and post the same content on multiple platforms Twitter(X), LinkedIn, Instagram, Snap etc. Without thinking twice, they would definitely want to relay the same content to their WhatsApp Channel as well.

From WAHA technical point of view, there is only one thing needed. If WAHA can provide APIs to send a messages to the Channel of the user with with they have authenticated. Boom We are done. WhatsApp Channels are Follow-Only, The user who have created the channel, needs to send message to his own channels.

I don't see any other whatsapp API providers projects/tools (open/closed source) have a ready solution to leverage WhatsApp Channels.

This could be an opportunity for WAHA to gain more users.

@allburov WDYT ?

[allburov]

Yep, waiting for one of the engines and we'll add it!

[devlikepro]

The first step has been done!
https://waha.devlike.pro/docs/how-to/channels/

ℹ️ not all features are supported right now by the engines. If you see a blank space on desired feature - kindly leave +1 comment in the feature request (or create another if there's no for the feature yet)
You can find all Channels related issue by scope:Channels github label

---

💡 Channels have a special @newsletter prefix, so you can distinguish them from regular chats and groups.

• 123123123@c.us

Endpoints

Get all channels

You can get list of known channels

• Get all (your and subscribed) channels GET /api/{session}/channels
• Filter channels GET /api/{session}/channels?role=OWNER,
  • role can be OWNER, ADMIN, SUBSCRIBER

[
  {
    "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "name": "Channel - Owner - Picture",
    "description": "Hi there, I'm new here",
    "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l",
    "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
    "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
    "verified": false,
    "role": "OWNER"
  },
  {
    "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "name": "Channel - Subscriber - No Picture",
    "description": "",
    "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111111111",
    "preview": null,
    "picture": null,
    "verified": false,
    "role": "SUBSCRIBER"
  }
]

Create a new channel

You can create a new channel POST /api/{session}/channels with the payload:

{
  "name": "Channel Name",
  "description": "Channel Description",
  "picture": {
    "mimetype": "image/jpeg",
    "filename": "filename.jpg",
    "url": "https://github.com/devlikeapro/waha/raw/core/examples/dev.likeapro.jpg"
  }
}

Delete a channel

You can delete a channel DELETE /api/{session}/channels/123123%40newsletter (escape @ to %40).
Make sure have OWNER role for the channel.

Get channel by ID

You can get a channel by ID GET /api/{session}/channels/123123%40newsletter (escape @ to %40).

{
  "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
  "name": "Channel - Owner - Picture",
  "description": "Hi there, I'm new here",
  "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l",
  "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "verified": false,
  "role": "OWNER"
}

Get channel by Invite Code

You can get a channel by Invite Code GET /api/{session}/channels/{inviteCode}

• inviteCode here is the last part in invite URL https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l - 111111111111111111GdZ60l

💡 To get full picture you need to get channel by ID after you get the invite code.

{
  "id": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
  "name": "Channel - Owner - Picture",
  "description": "Hi there, I'm new here",
  "invite": "https://whatsapp.com/channel/111111111111111111GdZ60l",
  "preview": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "picture": "https://mmg.whatsapp.net/m1/v/t24/123",
  "verified": false,
  "role": "OWNER"
}

How-to

Send Text to the channel

You can use regular [POST /api/sendText]({{< relref "/docs/how-to/send-messages#send-text" >}}) endpoint to send a text message into the channel

👉 Make sure you're OWNER or ADMIN for the channel

{
  "session": "default",
  "chatId": "12132132130@newsletter",
  "text": "Hi there!"
}

Send Image to the channel

You can use regular [POST /api/sendImage]({{< relref "/docs/how-to/send-messages#send-image" >}}) endpoint to send an image into the channel

{
  "session": "default",
  "chatId": "11111111111@newsletter",
  "file": {
    "mimetype": "image/jpeg",
    "url": "https://github.com/devlikeapro/waha/raw/core/examples/dev.likeapro.jpg",
    "filename": "filename.jpeg"
  },
  "caption": "string"
}

Get messages from the channel

You can use regular
[GET /api/{session}/chats/{chatId}/messages]({{< relref "/docs/how-to/chats#get-messages-from-chat" >}})
to fetch messages from the channel

GET /api/default/chats/123%40newsletter/messages?downloadMedia=true&limit=100

[
  {
    "id": "true_111111111111111111@newsletter_1111111111111111111111",
    "timestamp": 1720775833,
    "from": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
    "fromMe": true,
    "body": "Caption",
    "hasMedia": true,
    "media": {
      "mimetype": "image/jpeg",
      "filename": null,
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/api/files/1111111111111111111111.jpeg"
    },
    "mediaUrl": "http://localhost:3000/api/files/1111111111111111111111.jpeg",
    "ack": 0,
    "ackName": "PENDING",
    "_data": {
      ...
    }
  }
]

Receive messages from the channel

For all incoming messages in your own and subscribed channels you'll receive

• [message]({{< relref "/docs/how-to/receive-messages#message" >}}) event for a message from the channel (send by someone else)
• [message.any]({{< relref "/docs/how-to/receive-messages#message.any" >}}) event for a message from the channel (including your messages)

{
    "event": "message",
    "session": "default",
    "me": {
        "id": "111111111111@c.us",
        "pushName": "Slovakia WAHA"
    },
    "payload": {
        "id": "false_123123@newsletter_11111111111111111111111111111111",
        "timestamp": 1720776511,
        "from": "111111111111111111@newsletter",
        "fromMe": false,
        "body": "How are you all?! ❤️",
        "hasMedia": false,
        "ack": null,
        "ackName": "UNKNOWN",
        "_data": {
          ...
        }
    },
    "engine": "NOWEB",
    "environment": {
        "version": "2024.7.4",
        "engine": "NOWEB",
        "tier": "PLUS",
        "browser": "/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable"
    }
}

[devlikepro]

#254