Templates

Pre-approved messages you can send at any time — including outside the 24-hour reply window.

A WhatsApp template is approved by Meta before you can send it. That approval fixes its shape: whether it has a header and of what kind, how many {{1}} placeholders its body carries, and which of its buttons take a value at send time. Your request supplies the values for those slots — nothing more.

Pick your template type

All three use the same endpoint, POST /api/public/v1/messages with type: "template". They differ only in what the header needs.

Text templatebodyParamsNo header, or a text header. Body placeholders only — the simplest case.→Media templateheaderImageAn image, video or document header, supplied as a public URL.→Carousel templatecardsUp to 10 swipeable cards, each with its own image and values.→

How validation works

What you must send is decided by the template, not declared by you. We read your approved template first and check your request against it — so a missing image or a short parameter list is refused here, with a message naming the field, rather than being forwarded to Meta and coming back as (#132000) parameter count mismatch, which names nothing and arrives after the fact.

Nothing is sent to WhatsApp until every check passes, so a rejected request never costs you a message.

Read what a template needs

Rather than hardcoding template names and guessing parameter counts, ask the API. Each row states its header format, the request field that satisfies it, how many body values it takes, and its buttons — and sendable tells you upfront whether it can be sent at all.

cURL

bash

curl 'https://api.bigradar.io/api/public/v1/templates' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'

200 OK

json

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "order_shipped",
      "language": "en",
      "status": "APPROVED",
      "headerFormat": "IMAGE",
      "headerField": "headerImage",
      "bodyParamCount": 2,
      "buttons": [
        { "index": 0, "type": "URL", "paramField": "text", "required": true }
      ],
      "cards": null,
      "sendable": true
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

Buttons

Only buttons carrying a runtime value need an entry in buttonParams. indexis the button's position in the approved template, starting at 0 and counting every button — not only the ones taking a value. The same rules apply to buttons inside a carousel card, where the index is scoped to that card.

Field	Type	Required	Description
URL (dynamic)	text	Required	Approved as `https://shop.com/order/{{1}}`. Send only the part that replaces `{{1}}` — not the whole link.
COPY_CODE	couponCode	Required	The coupon code the customer copies, e.g. SAVE20.
QUICK_REPLY	payload	optional	Optional. Omit it and the payload you receive back is the button's own text.
URL (static) · PHONE_NUMBER	—	optional	Nothing to send. The value is baked into the approved template, and a parameter here is rejected.

Common errors

Every failure returns a JSON body with a stable code, a human message, and — where one field is at fault — the field to fix and a hint. Branch on code; the message wording may improve over time.

Code	Status	Means
template_not_found	404	No template with that name on this workspace. Check spelling and case.
template_not_approved	409	The template exists but Meta has not approved it yet.
missing_template_params	400	Fewer values than the template has placeholders. The message names the count.
whatsapp_not_connected	409	No WhatsApp Business account is connected. Connect one in the dashboard.