WhatsApp Coexistence: use the API without giving up WhatsApp Business

What problem it solves

Before coexistence, moving a number to the API meant taking it out of the app: the team stopped answering from the phone and everything had to move to a new system. With Coexistence you don't have to choose: the same number, the same account and the same conversations, in the app and in your system at the same time.

It fits when the number already exists, customers already write to it, someone answers from the phone, and you want to add automation, a CRM or a bot without cutting that service.

How it connects

Onboarding runs through Embedded Signup, Meta's official window. The number's owner logs in with Facebook, picks or creates their business portfolio and, at the end, scans a QR code from the WhatsApp Business app (Settings → Linked devices). It needs a second screen: the code shows on the computer and is scanned with the phone.

You can onboard the number yourself from the panel, or send your customer an onboarding link with your brand so they do it without handing you their Meta credentials.

Step by step and what usually blocks it: While you connect · where to scan the QR.

What your system sees

• Incoming messages (message.received), with one webhook for all your numbers.
• What your team types on the phone (message.echo): the content of those messages reaches your system, and it does not count against your plan.
• The status of each send (message.status: sent, delivered, read, failed).
• Messages the contact edits or deletes (message.edited, message.revoked): the final version, with the original's id.
• Your chat history, if you choose it when connecting (history.batch and history.completed), plus the summary Meta shares on connection (history.synced).

All events and their format: Event types · Receive the webhook.

Your conversation history

WAIA Connect delivers the history to your system if you choose it when connecting. Before Meta's window opens we ask "Do you want us to deliver the history of your conversations?" and you have to answer yes or no; it applies on every plan.

The choice is now: Meta shares the history only once, when you connect the number, and if you choose no it can't be requested later. If you say yes, WAIA Connect downloads it and keeps it encrypted; when the WhatsApp Business app asks you, accept sharing the history.

• What it includes: up to 6 months, with the messages from both sides of each conversation, no groups. The history stays on the phone: nothing there is deleted or moved.
• Photos, audio and documents: they arrive without the file (as media_placeholder). Meta sends the file only for the last 14 days, separately and not always; if it arrives, it carries its id and you download it with GET /v1/media/{id} within 7 days. Each one says which case it is in connect.media: available until a date, or unavailable and why (older than 14 days · Meta could not fetch it · waiting).
• How it reaches you: by webhook, in the history.batch event (one batch of up to 500 messages per event, signed like the others) and history.completed when nothing is left; or through the API, with GET /v1/connections/{id}/history (paginated) and POST /v1/connections/{id}/history/{batchId}/ack to confirm each batch. To receive it you need a webhook or the API.
• How long we keep it: encrypted, 7 days at most. It is deleted as soon as it is delivered (a 2xx from your webhook or the confirmation through the API); anything not delivered is deleted after 7 days anyway. If you still haven't received it by the fifth day, we let you know in the panel and by email, with the date it will be deleted.
• At what pace: it goes through a separate queue so it never holds up live messages, and it can take hours. It does not count as traffic or use your plan's quota.
• A batch can arrive twice: deduplicate by batchId.
• If we ever ran out of space, we would stop storing new history and tell you in the panel and with the history.dropped event. The history.synced summary keeps arriving as always.

Coexistence limitations (according to Meta)

They are Meta's, not WAIA Connect's, and apply with any provider. Meta's official documentation says that, after connecting a number through coexistence:

• The app must be WhatsApp Business 2.24.17 or later.
• Broadcast lists and view-once messages are disabled; groups, disappearing messages, live location and calling through the API are not supported.
• Meta shares up to 6 months of history, once, when connecting, and without groups. If you chose it, WAIA Connect delivers it to your system (details above).
• The number is capped at 20 messages per second.
• Linked devices are unlinked on connection and must be linked again; the documentation lists exceptions by platform.
• If the primary phone is not used for about 14 days, Meta disconnects the number.

Messages sent from the app stay free; messages sent through the API carry Meta's usual pricing.

What it costs

A flat fee per connected number, with no message cap and a 14-day trial:

• Starter — US$ 12 per month, 1 number
• Studio — US$ 25 per month, 5 numbers
• Agencia — US$ 45 per month, 12 numbers
• Escala — US$ 99 per month, 30 numbers, plus US$ 3 for each extra number

Meta bills its own messages separately, to the card on your Meta account; WAIA Connect adds no markup. Details in Help.

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep replying from the phone after connecting the number to the API?

Yes. With Coexistence the WhatsApp Business app keeps working on the phone, and whatever is typed there reaches your system as a message.echo event.

Do I lose my chats when connecting?

No: they stay on the phone, and nothing there is deleted or moved. If you choose to receive the history when connecting, WAIA Connect requests up to 6 months from Meta and delivers it to your system by webhook (history.batch) or through the API, within 7 days. The choice is now: Meta shares it only once, when connecting, and you have to accept sharing it in the app. If not, from the moment you connect you receive new messages.

Does my customer have to give me their Facebook login?

No. You send an onboarding link with your brand, they onboard in Meta's window with their own session, and the number is connected to your WAIA Connect account.

What does not work in coexistence?

According to Meta: broadcast lists, view-once messages, groups, disappearing messages, live location and calling through the API. The number is capped at 20 messages per second.

Is it for me if I won't write any code?

Probably not: WAIA Connect connects WhatsApp to a system of yours. If you want an inbox to answer with your team and an AI assistant, without coding, that is WAIA.

Sources

Checked on 2026-09-28.

• Meta — Onboarding WhatsApp Business app users (Coexistence)

Keep reading

• Cloud API or Coexistence: which one
• Embedded Signup: Meta's official onboarding
• The app's 300 new-chat limit
• API documentation
• Help
• Privacy policy