How to Create a WhatsApp Bot with Python in 2025

Flask==3.0.0
requests==2.27.1
requests-toolbelt==0.9.1
python-dotenv==0.20.0

pip install -r requirements.txt

API_TOKEN=8FjpwmyFUulh7emXOprrET3xKrwJ984O # API token from your channel
API_URL=https://gate.whapi.cloud # API endpoint URL
PORT=80 # example, 80 or 443
#URL_LINK= The Webhook link to your server {link to server}/hook.

from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()
api_token = os.getenv("API_TOKEN")

                                    
import requests

# URL for sending text messages. Can be pulled from .env
url = "https://gate.whapi.cloud/messages/text"

# Data for sending a message
payload = {
    "to": "919984351847",  # Enter the recipient's number in international format
    "body": "Hello! This is a test message."  # Text of message
}

# Headers, including authorization token
headers = {
    "accept": "application/json",
    "content-type": "application/json",
    "authorization": f"Bearer {api_token}"  # Use the token from the .env file
}

# Sending a POST request
response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

# Output server response
print(response.status_code)
print(response.text)
                                    
                                

                                    
from flask import Flask, request, jsonify

app = Flask(__name__)

# Route for processing incoming messages
@app.route('/hook', methods=['POST'])
def webhook():
    # Retrieving data from a request
    data = request.json

    # Logging an incoming message
    print("Received message:", data)

    # Example of incoming message processing
    if "messages" in data:
        for message in data["messages"]:
            sender = message["from"]  # Sender's number
            text = message.get("body", "")  # Text of message

            print(f"Message from {sender}: {text}")

            # Logic for replying to a message
            # Check out our examples on GitHub, where we use more branching on commands for the bot
            if text.lower() == "hello":
                send_response(sender, "Hi there! How can I help you?")
            elif text.lower() == "bye":
                send_response(sender, "Goodbye!")

    return jsonify({"status": "success"}), 200

# Function for sending a reply
def send_response(to, body):
    import requests

    url = "https://gate.whapi.cloud/messages/text"
    payload = {
        "to": to,
        "body": body
    }
    headers = {
        "accept": "application/json",
        "content-type": "application/json",
        "authorization": f"Bearer {api_token}"  # Use the token from the .env file
    }

    response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
    print(f"Response to {to}: {response.status_code}, {response.text}")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=80)

                                    
                                

                                    
import requests

url = "https://gate.whapi.cloud/messages/image"

payload = {
    "to": "919984351847",
    "media": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/Example.jpg",
    "caption": "An example image"
}
headers = {
    "accept": "application/json",
    "content-type": "application/json",
    "authorization": "Bearer Your_Token"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)
                                    
                                

                                    
import requests

url = "https://gate.whapi.cloud/messages/document"

payload = {
    "to": "919984351847",
    "media": "data:application/pdf;base64,JVBERi0xLjQKJdPr6eEKMSAwIG9iago8PC9UaXRsZSAoVGVybXMgb2YgU2VydmljZSBXaGFwaS5DbG91ZCkKL0NyZWF0b3IgKE1vemlsbGEvNS4wIFwoV2luZG93cyBOVCAxMC4wOyBXaW42NDsgeDY0XCkgQXBwbGVXZWJLaXQvNTM3LjM2IFwoS0h............",
    "filename": "Terms of Service Whapi.Cloud.pdf",
    "caption": "Hello, I am attaching an important file to my message"
}
headers = {
    "accept": "application/json",
    "content-type": "application/json",
    "authorization": "Bearer Your_Token"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)
                                    
                                

                                    
import requests

url = "https://gate.whapi.cloud/groups"

payload = {
    "participants": ["919984351847", "919984351848", "919984351849"],
    "subject": "Group Subject 3"
}
headers = {
    "accept": "application/json",
    "content-type": "application/json",
    "authorization": "Bearer Your_Token"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)
                                    
                                

  
openai>=1.91.0,<2.0.0
httpx>=0.28.1,<1.0.0
httpcore>=1.0.9,<2.0.0
  

                                    
pip install -r requirements.txt
                                

                                    
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
                                

                                    
# Import necessary libraries for web server, HTTP requests, OpenAI API, environment variables, and .env file loading
from flask import Flask, request, jsonify  # Flask is used to create the web server and handle HTTP requests
import requests  # Used to send HTTP requests to the WhatsApp API
from openai import OpenAI  # OpenAI client for interacting with ChatGPT
import os  # For accessing environment variables
from dotenv import load_dotenv  # For loading variables from a .env file

# Load environment variables from a .env file into the environment
load_dotenv()
# Create a Flask web application instance
app = Flask(__name__)

# Retrieve required configuration values from environment variables
API_TOKEN = os.getenv("API_TOKEN")  # Token for authenticating with WhatsApp API
API_URL = os.getenv("API_URL")      # Base URL for WhatsApp API
OPENAI_API_KEY = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")  # API key for OpenAI

# Ensure all required environment variables are set, otherwise stop the program with an error
if not API_TOKEN or not API_URL or not OPENAI_API_KEY:
    raise RuntimeError("Missing required environment variables: API_TOKEN, API_URL, or OPENAI_API_KEY")

# Initialize the OpenAI client with the provided API key
openai_client = OpenAI(api_key=OPENAI_API_KEY)

# Function to send a prompt to ChatGPT and get a response
# Takes a string prompt and returns the model's reply as a string
def ask_openai(prompt):
    response = openai_client.chat.completions.create(
        model="gpt-3.5-turbo",  # Specify which OpenAI model to use
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]  # Provide the user's message to the model
    )
    # Extract and return the text of the model's reply
    return response.choices[0].message.content.strip()

# Function to send a text message to a WhatsApp user via the WhatsApp API
# 'to' is the recipient's chat ID, 'body' is the message text
def send_message(to, body):
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_TOKEN}",  # Add authentication token to the request
        "Content-Type": "application/json"        # Specify that we're sending JSON data
    }
    payload = {"to": to, "body": body}  # Prepare the message data
    # Send the message to the WhatsApp API endpoint
    response = requests.post(f"{API_URL}/messages/text", json=payload, headers=headers)
    print("Whapi response:", response.status_code, response.text)  # Log the API response for debugging

# Define a webhook endpoint to receive incoming WhatsApp messages
@app.route("/hook/messages", methods=["POST"])
def webhook():
    data = request.json  # Parse the incoming JSON data
    print("Incoming:", data)  # Log the incoming data for debugging

    # Loop through all received messages (could be more than one in a single webhook call)
    for msg in data.get("messages", []):
        if msg.get("from_me"):
            continue  # Skip messages sent by the bot itself

        sender = msg.get("chat_id")  # Get the sender's chat ID
        # Safely extract the message text, handling cases where 'text' might be missing
        text = (msg.get("text") or {}).get("body", "").strip()

        # If the message starts with '/ai ', treat it as a prompt for ChatGPT
        if text.lower().startswith("/ai "):
            prompt = text[4:].strip()  # Extract the user's prompt after '/ai '
            if not prompt:
                send_message(sender, "Please provide a prompt after /ai.")  # Ask user to provide a prompt
            else:
                try:
                    reply = ask_openai(prompt)  # Get response from ChatGPT
                    send_message(sender, reply)  # Send the response back to the user
                except Exception as e:
                    send_message(sender, f"Error: {e}")  # Inform user if something went wrong
        else:
            # If the message doesn't start with '/ai ', send instructions to the user
            send_message(sender, "Hi! To ask me something, type:\n/ai your question")

    # Respond to WhatsApp API to confirm receipt of the webhook
    return jsonify({"status": "received"})

# Optional: health check endpoint to verify the bot is running
@app.route("/", methods=["GET"])
def index():
    return "Bot is running"

# Function to register the webhook URL with the WhatsApp API
def register_webhook():
    if os.getenv("BOT_URL"):
        headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_TOKEN}"}
        payload = {
            "webhooks": [
                {
                    "url": os.getenv("BOT_URL"),  # The public URL where Whapi should send messages
                    "events": [{"type": "messages", "method": "post"}],  # Listen for message events
                    "mode": "method"
                }
            ]
        }
        # Register the webhook
        response = requests.patch(f"{API_URL}/settings", json=payload, headers=headers)
        print("Webhook setup:", response.status_code, response.text)  # Log the result

# If this script is run directly (not imported), start the bot
if __name__ == "__main__":
    register_webhook()  # Optionally register the webhook on startup
    port = int(os.getenv("PORT", 80))  # Use the PORT environment variable or default to 80
    app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=port)  # Start the Flask web server, accessible from any network interface