The template lifecycle

When you submit a template, it enters a review flow that Meta controls. You’ll see one of the following statuses on a template at any point in time:

Pending — you’ve just submitted the template and it’s queued for review.
Under review — Meta is actively reviewing the template.
Accepted — Meta approved the template. It’s ready to use.
Rejected — Meta denied the template. It cannot be sent. You’ll see a review note if Meta provided one.
Needs modification — Meta found issues that you can fix. Update the template and resubmit.
Deleted — the template has been removed.

Note: Meta typically responds within about five working days, though timelines vary with volume.

How review notes help

When a template is Rejected or marked Needs modification, Meta sometimes returns a review note explaining what’s wrong. Octopods surfaces that note alongside the template so you can address the issue directly. If no note is returned, the most common reasons Meta rejects templates are:

Promotional content in the wrong category — a Utility template that reads as Marketing is rejected.
Missing or vague context — templates that don’t reference a prior customer interaction.
Policy violations — content that runs afoul of Meta’s Business or Commerce policies.
Placeholder issues — example values that look generic, like #{{1}} or test.
Duplicate name — a template with the same name already exists on the same WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) in the same language.
Language mismatch — the template body is written in a language that doesn’t match the selected language.

Tip: Meta publishes common rejection reasons in its own documentation at developers.facebook.com. Reviewing Meta’s guidelines is the fastest way to understand why a template was rejected when no review note is returned.

Quality score

Once a template is approved and in use, Meta assigns it a quality score based on how recipients respond over time. Templates with consistently poor quality — high block or report rates, low engagement — can be paused or disabled by Meta, either for a specific phone number or across all numbers on the WABA.

To keep templates healthy:

Send only to opted-in recipients.
Make sure the message is relevant to the person receiving it.
Don’t reuse a Utility template for Marketing content.
Keep the variable values realistic and specific to each recipient.

Email notifications

Octopods emails the admin listed on the WABA whenever a template changes state. You’ll receive emails for:

Template added to review queue — confirmation that the template was received and queued.
Template under review — Meta is actively reviewing the template.
Template approved — the template is ready to use.
Template rejected — Meta denied the template. The email includes the review note (when available) and links to resubmit.
Template needs modification — Meta flagged issues. The email includes the review note and a link to modify.

Each email links directly back to the template in Octopods so you can take the next step without hunting through the dashboard.

Viewing status in the dashboard

Open the workspace.
Go to Channels and open the WhatsApp channel.
In the Channel Actions card, press Manage Templates to open the Message Templates page.
Scan the Status column for each template.

The Message Templates page color-codes the status: pending templates show amber, rejected templates show red, and other statuses show in a neutral badge. See WhatsApp Templates Dashboard for the full dashboard walkthrough.

If a template is rejected

Open the template in Octopods to read any review note from Meta.
Check Meta’s template guidelines for the most common reasons for rejection.
Press New Template and resubmit a revised version under a new or updated name.

If a template needs modification

Open the template to read the review note.
Update the body, category, or examples to address what Meta flagged.
Resubmit — Meta reviews the updated version.

Template Approval and Status