Creating and editing WhatsApp Flows

You can create a WhatsApp Flow using the AWS End User Messaging Social console or the AWS End User Messaging Social API. When you create a Flow, it is placed in DRAFT status. You can optionally provide a Flow JSON definition at creation time, or add it later using the update assets operation.

Creating a Flow (console)

1. Open the AWS End User Messaging Social console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/social-messaging/.

2. Choose Business account, and then choose a WABA.

3. Choose the Flows tab.

4. Choose Create flow.

5. For Flow name, enter a unique name for your Flow. Flow names must be unique within the WABA (maximum 200 characters).

6. For Category, select one or more categories that describe the business purpose of your Flow. At least one category is required. Available categories are:

   • Sign Up

   • Sign In

   • Appointment Booking

   • Lead Generation

   • Contact Us

   • Customer Support

   • Survey

   • Shopping

   • Other

7. For Template, choose a pre-built template to start from, or choose Default to start with a blank Flow. The following templates are available without an endpoint:

   • Default — A blank starting template

   • Collect purchase interest — Collect information from potential buyers

   • Get feedback — Gather customer feedback

   • Send a survey — Create a multi-question survey

   • Customer support — Collect support request details

8. Choose Create.

After you create the Flow, you can edit the Flow JSON to customize the screens and components. The Flow preview on the right side of the page shows a live preview of how your Flow will appear to users in WhatsApp.

Creating a Flow (API)

Use the CreateWhatsAppFlow API to create a new Flow. The following example uses the AWS CLI to create a Flow with a name and category:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-flow \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-name "my_lead_generation_form" \
    --categories '["LEAD_GENERATION"]'

The response includes the Flow ID assigned by Meta:

{
    "flowId": "{FLOW_ID}",
    "validationErrors": []
}

You can also provide a Flow JSON definition at creation time and publish immediately:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-flow \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-name "appointment_booking" \
    --categories '["APPOINTMENT_BOOKING"]' \
    --flow-json fileb://flow.json \
    --publish

Note

If you include --publish, the Flow JSON must be valid and pass Meta's validation. If there are validation errors, the Flow is created in DRAFT status and the errors are returned in the validationErrors field.

To clone an existing Flow within the same WABA:

aws socialmessaging create-whatsapp-flow \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-name "lead_form_v2" \
    --categories '["LEAD_GENERATION"]' \
    --clone-flow-id {FLOW_ID}

Updating a Flow

There are two types of updates you can make to a Flow:

• Update metadata — Change the Flow name or categories using UpdateWhatsAppFlow.

• Update assets — Change the Flow JSON definition using UpdateWhatsAppFlowAssets.

Important

Updating a published Flow's assets reverts its status to DRAFT. You must re-publish the Flow for it to be available for use in messages.

The following example updates a Flow's name:

aws socialmessaging update-whatsapp-flow \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-id {FLOW_ID} \
    --flow-name "updated_lead_form"

The following example updates a Flow's JSON definition:

aws socialmessaging update-whatsapp-flow-assets \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-id {FLOW_ID} \
    --flow-json fileb://updated_flow.json

If the Flow JSON contains validation errors, they are returned in the response. You must fix these errors before you can publish the Flow.

Listing and viewing Flows

Use ListWhatsAppFlows to see all Flows for a WABA, and GetWhatsAppFlow to retrieve details about a specific Flow.

List all Flows:

aws socialmessaging list-whatsapp-flows \
    --id {WABA_ID}

Get details for a specific Flow:

aws socialmessaging get-whatsapp-flow \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-id {FLOW_ID}

The GetWhatsAppFlow response includes the Flow status, categories, validation errors, JSON version, preview information, and health status.

To retrieve the Flow JSON definition (assets), use ListWhatsAppFlowAssets:

aws socialmessaging list-whatsapp-flow-assets \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-id {FLOW_ID}

The response includes a presigned download URL for the Flow JSON file. The URL expires after a short period. No additional authentication is needed to download the file from the URL.

Deleting a Flow

You can only delete Flows that are in DRAFT status. Published or deprecated Flows cannot be deleted.

To delete a Flow using the console, select the Flow on the Flows tab and choose Delete.

To delete a Flow using the API:

aws socialmessaging delete-whatsapp-flow \
    --id {WABA_ID} \
    --flow-id {FLOW_ID}

Warning

Deleting a Flow is permanent and cannot be undone.