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Send a Flow

On this page, we will explore the different ways of sending a Flow to users.

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Prerequisites

You will need to verify your business and maintain a high message quality.

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Postman Collection

All the API requests mentioned below are documented in the Flows API postman collection which you can use to make API requests and generate code in different languages.

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Business Initiated Messages

To send a business initiated message with a Flow, you can create and send a message template with a WhatsApp Flow attached to it. We introduced a new button type called FLOW. Use this type to specify the Flow to be sent with the message template. To send a Flow message template you need to:
  1. Create a message template with a Flow
  2. Send a message template with a Flow

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Create a message template with a Flow

You can quickly build a Flow in the playground and pass the Flow JSON in the message template creation request. Or you can specify the ID or name of an already published Flow. Below is an example request to create a message template with a Flow, see this page for full reference:

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Sample request

curl -i -X POST \
https://graph.facebook.com/v16.0/<waba-id>/message_templates \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d'
\{
  "name": "example_template_name",
  "language": "en_US",
  "category": "MARKETING",
  "components": [\
    {\
      "type": "body",\
      "text": "This is a flows as template demo"\
    },\
    {\
      "type": "BUTTONS",\
      "buttons": [\
        {\
          "type": "FLOW",\
          "text": "Open flow!",\
          "flow_id" : "<flow_id>",\
          // or\
          "flow_name" : "<flow_name>",\
          // or\
          "flow_json" : "{\"version\":\"5.0\",\"screens\":[{\"id\":\"WELCOME_SCREEN\",\"layout\":{\"type\":\"SingleColumnLayout\",\"children\":[{\"type\":\"TextHeading\",\"text\":\"Hello World\"},{\"type\":\"Footer\",\"label\":\"Complete\",\"on-click-action\":{\"name\":\"complete\",\"payload\":{}}}]},\"title\":\"Welcome\",\"terminal\":true,\"success\":true,\"data\":{}}]}"\
       }\
      ]\
    }\
  ]
}'
buttons object ParametersDescription
type stringRequired. Button type. Default value is FLOW
text stringRequired. Button label text. 25 characters maximum.
flow_id stringRequired. The unique ID of the Flow. Cannot be used if flow_name or flow_json parameters are provided. Only one of these parameters is required.
flow_name stringRequired. The name of the Flow. Supported in Cloud API only. The Flow ID is stored in the message template, not the name, so changing the Flow name will not affect existing message templates. Cannot be used if flow_id or flow_json parameters are provided. Only one of these parameters is required.
flow_json stringRequired. The Flow JSON encoded as string with escaping. The Flow JSON specifies the content of the Flow. Supported in Cloud API only. Cannot be used if flow_id or flow_name parameters are provided. Only one of these parameters is required.
flow_action stringDefault value is navigate. Either navigate or data_exchange.
nagivate_screen stringThe unique ID of the Screen in the Flow. Default value is FIRST_ENTRY_SCREEN. Optional if flow_action is navigate.
Message templates can be created and sent in these languages.

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Sample Response

\{
  "id": "<template-id>",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "category": "MARKETING"
}

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Send template with Flow

Ensure that your template passes all required reviews so that status is APPROVED instead of PENDING. Now you can send a message template with a Flow using the request below

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Sample request

curl -X  POST \
 'https://graph.facebook.com/v16.0/FROM_PHONE_NUMBER_ID/messages' \
 -H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
 -d '{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "PHONE_NUMBER",
  "type": "template",
  "template": {
    "name": "TEMPLATE_NAME",
    "language": {
      "code": "LANGUAGE_AND_LOCALE_CODE"
    },
    "components": [\
      {\
        "type": "button",\
        "sub_type": "flow",\
        "index": "0",\
        "parameters": [\
          {\
            "type": "action",\
            "action": {\
              "flow_token": "FLOW_TOKEN",   //optional, default is "unused"\
              "flow_action_data": {\
                 ...\
              }   // optional, json object with the data payload for the first screen\
            }\
          }\
        ]\
      }\
    ]
  }
}'

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Sample Response

\{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "contacts": [\
    {\
      "input": "<phone-number>",\
      "wa_id": "<phone-number>"\
    }\
  ],
  "messages": [\
    {\
      "id": "<message-id>"\
    }\
  ]
}

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User-Initiated Conversations

You are able to send your WhatsApp Flow once you have created it. You can send a Message with a Flow in a user-initiated conversation using a Message with a Call To Action (CTA). You send this message either through the On-Prem client or Cloud API with information specific to the Flow. The Flow is triggered when the user taps the CTA button. Go here to read more about message types, limits, and timing. As mentioned earlier, a message with a Flow is not much different from other types of messages. It uses the existing APIs, which are described on the following pages: To send a message with a Flow, we have introduced a new type of the Interactive Object named flow with the following properties.

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Interactive message parameters for Cloud API

(See On-Premises Interactive Object documentation for On-Premise client parameters.)
ParameterDescription
interactive
object		The interactive message configuration
↳type
(required)
string		Value must be "flow".
↳action
(required)
object		ParameterDescription
------
name
(required)
string		Value must be "flow".
parameters
object
↳flow_message_version
(required)
string		Value must be "3".
↳flow_cta
(required)
string		Text on the CTA button. For example: “Signup”
CTA text length is advised to be 30 characters or less (no emoji).
↳flow_id
(required)
string		Unique ID of the Flow provided by WhatsApp.

Cannot be used with the flow_name parameter. Only one of these parameters is required.
↳flow_name
(required)
string		The name of the Flow that you created. Supported in Cloud API only. Changing the Flow name will require updating this parameter to match the new name.

Cannot be used with the flow_id parameter. Only one of these parameters is required.
↳mode
string		The Flow can be in either draft or published mode*.

(Default value: published)
↳flow_token
string		Flow token that is generated by the business to serve as an identifier.

(Default value: 'unused')
↳flow_action
string		navigate or data_exchange.

(Default value: navigate)
↳flow_action_payload
string		Optional if flow_action is navigate. Should be omitted otherwise.
ParameterDescription
screen
string		The ID of the screen displayed first. It needs to be an entry screen**.

(Default value: FIRST_ENTRY_SCREEN)
data
object		Optional input data for the first Screen of the Flow.
If provided, this must be a non-empty object.

(Default value: null)
*In case you edited published flow and now it is in the draft state, use “mode=draft” to send the current draft flow version, or “mode=published” (default value) to send the last published flow version. **See Flow JSON reference for entry screen details. Cloud API Sample Request (with minimum parameters) 
curl -X  POST \
 'https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/FROM_PHONE_NUMBER/messages' \
 -H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
 -d '{
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "to": "whatsapp-id",
  "type": "interactive",
  "interactive": {
    "type": "flow",
    "header": {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Flow message header"
    },
    "body": {
      "text": "Flow message body"
    },
    "footer": {
      "text": "Flow message footer"
    },
    "action": {
      "name": "flow",
      "parameters": {
        "flow_message_version": "3",
        "flow_name": "appointment_booking_v1", //or flow_id
        "flow_cta": "Book!"
      }
    }
  }
}'
Cloud API Sample Request (with all parameters) 
curl -X  POST \
 'https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/FROM_PHONE_NUMBER/messages' \
 -H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
 -d '{
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "to": "whatsapp-id",
  "type": "interactive",
  "interactive": {
    "type": "flow",
    "header": {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Flow message header"
    },
    "body": {
      "text": "Flow message body"
    },
    "footer": {
      "text": "Flow message footer"
    },
    "action": {
      "name": "flow",
      "parameters": {
        "flow_message_version": "3",
        "flow_token": "AQAAAAACS5FpgQ_cAAAAAD0QI3s.",

        "flow_name": "appointment_booking_v1",
        //or
        "flow_id": "123456",

        "flow_cta": "Book!",
        "flow_action": "navigate",
        "flow_action_payload": {
          "screen": "&lt;SCREEN_NAME&gt;",
          "data": {
            "product_name": "name",
            "product_description": "description",
            "product_price": 100
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}'
Sample Response 
\{
  "contacts": [\
    {\
      "Input": "+447385946746",\
      "wa_id": "47385946746"\
    }\
  ],
  "messages": [\
    {\
      "id": "gHTRETHRTHTRTH-av4Y"\
    }\
  ],
  "meta": {
    "api_status": "stable",
    "version": "2.44.0.27"
  }
}
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