Dispatch
Notes from running other people's messages
What we have learned building and operating WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram messaging for businesses: the error codes, the limits with their real numbers, and the failures that only show up in production. Every article here has to contain something that cost somebody an afternoon to find out.
Auto-replies that help, and the four that make people angry
When an automatic reply improves service and when it destroys it, with the four patterns to avoid and what to send instead.
Sending images, documents and voice notes that actually arrive
Supported formats and sizes for images, documents, audio and video - and the format that silently fails because WhatsApp treats it as a sticker.
One time codes on WhatsApp: what is allowed, and what breaks
Authentication templates, the rules Meta enforces on them, and why WhatsApp should not be your only delivery channel for a login code.
Order notifications on WhatsApp, without writing an integration
Which order events are worth a message, what each should say, and the mistakes that turn useful updates into the reason people block you.
Webhooks for messaging, and the five failures everyone hits
Signature checks, replays, out of order delivery, slow handlers and silent failures - the five ways a messaging webhook breaks in production.
Sent, delivered, read: what each tick actually means
The four states a message passes through, what each one proves, and the three that are routinely misread as something stronger.
Why WhatsApp bans a business number, and what actually prevents it
Blocks are driven by what recipients do, not by how many messages you send. What triggers a ban, what warning you get, and how pacing helps.
Opt-in for business messaging: what actually counts
What Meta requires, what data protection law requires, and the four opt-in patterns that survive both.
WhatsApp template messages, and why yours was rejected
What a template is, what the categories cost, the rules that get one rejected, and how to write variables that survive review.
The 24 hour window, on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram
Meta closes a conversation 24 hours after the customer's last message. What each channel does at the boundary, and the error you get.
The case against running your business on someone's personal WhatsApp
One phone, one person, no history when they leave. The five specific failures of running customer conversations on a personal WhatsApp.
Choosing the phone number your business will message from
A decision you make once and live with for years. Personal, new, landline or virtual - what each costs you later.
Two ways to send WhatsApp from software, and how to choose
The Cloud API needs verification, a dedicated number and a fee per conversation. The Web protocol needs none of that. What each one costs you.
WhatsApp Business, the app and the API: which one you need
The free app and the Business Platform are different products with different limits. Where the app stops being enough, and what changes.
Articles 85 to 98 of 98. New ones are announced on WhatsApp, or take the feed.