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.

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.

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;"
  }
}'

Request parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`<ACCESS_TOKEN>` String	Required. System token or business token.	`EAAAN6tcBzAUBOZC82CW7iR2LiaZBwUHS4Y7FDtQxRUPy1PHZClDGZBZCgWdrTisgMjpFKiZAi1FBBQNO2IqZBAzdZAA16lmUs0XgRcCf6z1LLxQCgLXDEpg80d41UZBt1FKJZCqJFcTYXJvSMeHLvOdZwFyZBrV9ZPHZASSqxDZBUZASyFdzjiy2A1sippEsF4DVV5W2IlkOSr2LrMLuYoNMYBy8xQczzOKDOMccqHEZD`
`<API_VERSION>` String	Optional. Graph API version.	v24.0
`<EMOJI>` 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: 😀
`<WHATSAPP_MESSAGE_ID>` 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=`
`<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>` String	Required. WhatsApp business phone number ID.	`106540352242922`
`<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>` String	Required. WhatsApp user phone number.	`+16505551234`

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"
  }
}'

Example response

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

Did you find this page helpful? Thumbs up icon

ON THIS PAGE Limitations Request syntax Request parameters Example request Example response

Overview

Getting started

Business setup

Messages

Templates

Embedded signup

Flows

Calling

Groups

Payments

Catalogs

Marketing messages

Click to WhatsApp ads

Solution providers

API reference

Pricing

Policies

Other

Support

Reaction messages

Reaction messages

Limitations

Request syntax

Request parameters

Example request

Example response

​Reaction messages

​Limitations

​Request syntax

​Request parameters

​Example request

​Example response

Reaction messages

Limitations

Request syntax

Request parameters

Example request

Example response