Connect WhatsApp

Overview#

Connecting WhatsApp is what turns Gene on. Once a number is linked, Gene can send and receive messages, and the AI auto-reply agent can respond to your leads.

There are two ways to connect:

• Official Meta WhatsApp Business API (recommended): you sign in with your Facebook business account and link your WhatsApp Business number, with nothing to install.
• QR code (on any paid plan): you scan a QR code with your phone, the same way you link WhatsApp on a computer. Your number stays primary on your phone while Gene keeps it online.

Either way, once the connection completes the conversation flow is live: incoming messages reach Gene, and the AI agent can begin answering.

Connect a WhatsApp number#

1. Go to Settings > Communication > WhatsApp.
2. To use the official Meta API, choose Connect WhatsApp at the top of the page and sign in with your Facebook business account.
3. To connect by QR instead, use Connect your existing WhatsApp below it.
   • Pick the country your number is in.
   • Open WhatsApp on your phone, go to the linked-devices screen, and scan the code.
   • If you cannot scan the screen, Log in with phone number instead gives you a code to type into your phone.
4. Wait a moment for the line to connect. On the QR path the screen then reads Connected and offers to send yourself a test from the new line. Close it with Done.
5. The WhatsApp page now shows the number as connected and online.

Note

Connecting by QR needs a paid plan, and each plan includes a number of QR lines (see Billing). Without one, that card reads Choose a plan instead.

The full QR walkthrough, with what to do when the QR does not link, is in Connect a number.

If a number disconnects, the WhatsApp page shows its status and you can reconnect from the same page.

Tips#

• Connecting by QR does not take WhatsApp off your phone. Your number stays primary there, and Gene keeps it online in the background so it can reply around the clock.
• Connecting an existing number takes about a minute.
• The two paths follow different rules once connected:
  • On the Meta API a 24-hour window applies, so a message sent more than 24 hours after the lead's last one has to go out as a pre-approved template.
  • On the QR path there is no window, but number health matters more.
  • See How the channels differ for the full comparison.