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Connecting WhatsApp via Meta Business Login

Connect your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and phone numbers to Octopods through Meta's Business Login — a short self-serve sign-in.

Written by Tarek Khalil

Before you start

  • You need a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) already created inside Meta Business Portfolio. If you haven’t created one yet, see WhatsApp Business Account Requirements.

  • You need to be logged in to Facebook with the account that has admin access to your Meta Business Portfolio.

  • You need to be signed in to Octopods with a user that has permission to manage channels in the workspace you’re connecting to.

Starting the connection

  1. Sign in to Octopods.

  2. Open the workspace you want to connect WhatsApp to.

  3. Go to Channels.

  4. Press Add Channel and select WhatsApp from the channel picker — this opens the WhatsApp Setup page.

  5. Press Login with Facebook Business Manager.

Walking through Meta Business Login

A Meta-hosted window opens and walks you through the connection:

  1. Sign in to Facebook if you’re not already authenticated.

  2. Pick the Meta Business Portfolio that owns your WhatsApp Business Account.

  3. Review the permissions Octopods is requesting. Octopods asks for WhatsApp Business Messaging (to send and receive messages on your behalf) and WhatsApp Business Management (to read and manage your WABAs, phone numbers, and message templates).

  4. Choose which WhatsApp Business Accounts to grant Octopods access to. You can select specific WABAs rather than the entire portfolio.

  5. Choose which phone numbers under the selected WABAs to grant access to.

  6. Confirm to complete the flow.

Meta returns you to Octopods once the connection is confirmed.

What happens on return

As soon as Meta redirects you back, Octopods:

  • Pulls in every WABA you granted access to.

  • Discovers all phone numbers under those WABAs.

  • Imports the message templates on each WABA, along with their current status.

  • Saves your business profile details (business name, verification status, template namespace).

The phone numbers appear in the WhatsApp Phone Numbers card on the WhatsApp Setup page. From there you can register a number on the Cloud API and activate it as a channel in your workspace — see Registering a Phone Number on Cloud API and Managing Multiple WhatsApp Numbers.

Granular permissions

Meta’s Business Login flow supports granular permissions. You don’t have to give Octopods access to every WABA in your portfolio — you can pick exactly which accounts (and which phone numbers within them) you want exposed. This is useful when:

  • Your portfolio contains WABAs for multiple brands or regions, and only some should flow into Octopods.

  • You want to stage a rollout, connecting one WABA first and adding more later.

Tip: You can always revisit the connection and grant access to more WABAs or phone numbers. Meta remembers your previous choices and only asks you to confirm changes.

Adding more numbers later

Once at least one number is connected, the WhatsApp Setup page shows an Add Another Number card with a Login with Facebook Business Manager button. Use it whenever you’ve added a new phone number in Meta Business Portfolio and want it available in Octopods. The flow is identical to the first-time connection.

Common issues

If something goes wrong, Octopods displays an alert at the top of the WhatsApp Setup page beginning with Unable to connect WhatsApp phone numbers. The most common causes:

  • Insufficient permissions. You may have unchecked one of the required scopes (whatsapp_business_messaging or whatsapp_business_management) during the Meta flow. Re-run the connection and accept all requested permissions.

  • No WABAs granted. The Facebook account you signed in with may not have access to any WhatsApp Business Account in the chosen portfolio. Confirm you’re an admin on the Business Portfolio and that at least one WABA exists, then try again.

  • WABA already connected to another Octopods account. Each WABA can only belong to one Octopods account at a time. If the WABA was connected by another account, that account needs to disconnect it first.

  • Business not verified. Connection still works, but your messaging limits and feature access are restricted until you complete business verification inside Meta Business Portfolio. See What is a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)? for the full list of verification statuses.

What’s next

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