Connect your WhatsApp Business number

You can connect the WhatsApp number you use today in the WhatsApp Business app to tkana without changing your number or giving up the app. The app keeps working on your phone as usual, and your AI agent and the portal inbox work on the same number. Meta calls this “coexistence”.

Watch the whole connection, then follow the written steps below. The video is in Arabic.

Before you start

• Your number must be registered in the WhatsApp Business app (not regular WhatsApp).
• You need a Facebook account that manages the business the number belongs to.
• Keep your phone nearby. The WhatsApp Business app may ask you to confirm the connection and to share your chat history.

No Meta Business account yet? Create one from your Facebook account first, as shown in this video:

The video is in Arabic.

Connect the number

1. In Settings, open Channels under the AI section.

2. Click Add channel, then choose the WhatsApp card.

3. Click Connect WhatsApp. A Meta window opens.

4. Log in with Facebook, choose your business, pick the number you use in the WhatsApp Business app, and follow the steps to the end.

5. When the app on your phone asks whether to share your chat history, accept if you want your past conversations imported.

Once the window closes, a WhatsApp channel is created and linked to your agent automatically. There is no extra form to fill in.

Caution

The channel list may show other options with WhatsApp in the name. Choose the WhatsApp card only. It is the one that connects your number through your Facebook account automatically.

What happens after you connect

Your contacts are imported. Contacts from the WhatsApp Business app become customers in the portal with their names, and later changes keep syncing.

Your chat history is imported. If you agreed to share it, tkana imports roughly the last 180 days of chats. The channel page shows Importing chat history… with a percentage, then Chat history imported. when it is done. Imported chats appear in Conversations as resolved, and your agent reads the latest messages of each one so it understands the context.

Note

Meta allows the history import only once, within 24 hours of connecting. Only text is imported; older images and voice notes show as placeholders. If you declined sharing in the app, the page shows History sharing was declined in the WhatsApp Business app.

The channel starts in Observe mode. Every customer message and every reply you send from the app reaches the portal, but your agent does not reply to anyone. This gives you time to review conversations and test your agent before it goes live. When you are ready, follow Control when your agent replies on a channel.

TODOScreenshot coming soonWhatsApp channel page after connecting: Chat history import section and Agent replies set to Observe

Working alongside the WhatsApp Business app

• Replies from the app show up in the portal. When you answer a customer from your phone, your reply appears in the same conversation in the portal, so your team sees the full picture.
• Your reply pauses the agent. Any reply from you, in the app or in the portal, pauses your agent on that conversation for the channel’s hold window so it does not talk over you.
• What the agent understands. Your agent handles text messages, voice notes, shared locations, and button taps.

Tip

Automatic greeting and away messages in the WhatsApp Business app count as a reply from you, so they pause the agent on that conversation. Once your agent is live, turn those automatic messages off in the app so the agent can cover your after-hours.

One active WhatsApp number at a time

Your account can have one active WhatsApp number. If you activate a second one, the first moves to Pending. This does not affect the website chat widget, the chat page, or Telegram.

If your number disconnects from tkana

If the number is removed from tkana on Meta’s side, or you move WhatsApp Business to a new phone, a notice appears at the top of the channel page:

• This number is disconnected from tkana: your agent no longer receives messages on this number. Click Connect WhatsApp in the notice and reconnect the same number. The channel keeps its full conversation history.
• This number is reconnecting after a device change: Meta paused the number while it finishes registering on the new phone. It comes back on its own once Meta confirms. If it stays paused, reconnect from the same notice.

Caution

Do not delete the channel and create a new one to fix a disconnection. Reconnect from the notice so you keep the channel and its history.

Next steps

• Add your payment card on Meta before your first campaign
• Control when your agent replies on a channel
• Create a WhatsApp template
• Check and fix your WhatsApp account health