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Reaction messages

Updated: Nov 3, 2025 Reaction messages are emoji-reactions that you can apply to a previous WhatsApp user message that you have received.

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Limitations

When sending a reaction message, only a sent message webhook (status set to sent) will be triggered; delivered and read message webhooks will not be triggered.

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Request syntax

Use the POST /<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages endpoint to apply an emoji reaction on a message you have received from a WhatsApp user. 
curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/&lt;API_VERSION&gt;/&lt;WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID&gt;/messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer &lt;ACCESS_TOKEN&gt;' \
-d '
\{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "&lt;WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER&gt;",
  "type": "reaction",
  "reaction": {
    "message_id": "&lt;WHATSAPP_MESSAGE_ID&gt;",
    "emoji": "&lt;EMOJI&gt;"
  }
}'

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Request parameters

PlaceholderDescriptionExample Value
&lt;ACCESS_TOKEN&gt;
String		Required.
System token or business token.		EAAAN6tcBzAUBOZC82CW7iR2LiaZBwUHS4Y7FDtQxRUPy1PHZClDGZBZCgWdrTisgMjpFKiZAi1FBBQNO2IqZBAzdZAA16lmUs0XgRcCf6z1LLxQCgLXDEpg80d41UZBt1FKJZCqJFcTYXJvSMeHLvOdZwFyZBrV9ZPHZASSqxDZBUZASyFdzjiy2A1sippEsF4DVV5W2IlkOSr2LrMLuYoNMYBy8xQczzOKDOMccqHEZD
&lt;API_VERSION&gt;
String		Optional.
Graph API version.		v24.0
&lt;EMOJI&gt;
String		Required.
Unicode escape sequence of the emoji, or the emoji itself, to apply to the user message.		Unicode escape sequence example:
\uD83D\uDE00
Emoji example:
😀
&lt;WHATSAPP_MESSAGE_ID&gt;
String		Required.
WhatsApp message ID of message you want to apply the emoji to.
If the message you are reacting to is more than 30 days old, doesn’t correspond to any message in the chat thread, has been deleted, or is itself a reaction message, the reaction message will not be delivered and you will receive a messages webhook with error code 131009.		wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgASGBQzQUZCMTY0MDc2MUYwNzBDNTY5MAA=
&lt;WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID&gt;
String		Required.
WhatsApp business phone number ID.		106540352242922
&lt;WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER&gt;
String		Required.
WhatsApp user phone number.		+16505551234

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Example request

Example request to apply the grinning face emoji (😀) to a previously received user message. 
curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/106540352242922/messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '
\{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "+16505551234",
  "type": "reaction",
  "reaction": {
    "message_id": "wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgASGBQzQUZCMTY0MDc2MUYwNzBDNTY5MAA=",
    "emoji": "\uD83D\uDE00"
  }
}'

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Example response

\{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "contacts": [\
    {\
      "input": "+16505551234",\
      "wa_id": "16505551234"\
    }\
  ],
  "messages": [\
    {\
      "id": "wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgARGBI1RjQyNUE3NEYxMzAzMzQ5MkEA"\
    }\
  ]
}
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