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WhatsApp: the one step that is yours

Sentloop’s free Meta test number reaches five people. Here is how to attach a number that reaches everyone.

Everything on Sentloop's side of WhatsApp is built and verified. Two things sit outside it, and only one of them needs you.

Who closes it
A template Meta has approved Meta, on their clock. Nothing for you to do.
A number that can reach your friends You, once.

Why the second one exists

The number attached today is Meta's free test number, +1 555-675-1017. It reaches five recipients, each verified in advance by a code sent to that handset. Everything else can be perfect and a send still comes back:

(#131030) Recipient phone number not in allowed list

That is the account being a sandbox, not Sentloop failing. Worth knowing because it surfaces on the day a birthday fires, which is the worst moment to learn it.

Two things that look like they should help and do not, both checked rather than assumed:

  • account_mode does not flag it. Meta reports this test number as LIVE while still enforcing the list, so software cannot reliably detect the restriction in advance.
  • Nothing is broken or restricted. Meta's Required Actions dashboard says "no actions are required from you right now".

Option A - add a recipient to the test number

Fastest, and enough to watch it work end to end. Limited to five people.

  1. Meta dev console → your app → WhatsApp → API Setup
  2. Under To, add the phone number you want to reach
  3. Meta sends a code to that number on WhatsApp. Enter it.

Do this with your own number first: schedule a message to yourself in Sentloop and watch it arrive with nothing else touched.

Option B - register a production number

What you actually want. A registered number has no allowed list, so WhatsApp delivers to anyone who has opted in.

You need a phone number that is not currently registered on WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. If it is, delete that account inside the WhatsApp app first, or use a different number.

  1. WhatsApp Manager → Phone numbers → Add phone number
  2. Give the display name shown to recipients. Meta reviews this name.
  3. Verify by SMS or voice call to that number
  4. Copy the new Phone number ID
  5. In Sentloop → Connections → WhatsApp, paste it over the test one

Step 5 does not need the access token again - settings that are not secret can be changed on their own.

Not walked end to end in this repo, because it needs a phone number. Steps 1-4 are Meta's documented flow; step 5 is Sentloop's and is tested.

What happens after

Nothing else. The scheduler re-checks the connection every 30 minutes, and the moment Meta approves a template the channel flips to automatic on its own and writes you a notification. There is no second setup step waiting behind this one.

Proof the path works, minus the account: npm run verify:whatsapp.