> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cliqo.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to connect your WhatsApp number

> Connecting through the official Meta API: prerequisites, the connection form, the webhook and business verification.

## What you will learn

How to connect your company's WhatsApp Business account to Cliqo, through the official Meta API — with the account, the number and the card in your name.

## Before you start

* **Administrator access** to the company's Meta Business Manager — if the company doesn't have one yet, creating it is part of the process.
* **A phone number for the channel** — landline or mobile, able to receive a verification call or SMS. Important: a number that is already active in the WhatsApp app (regular or Business) must be unlinked before it can become an API number.
* **Company details** — legal name, address and website, for Meta's verification.
* **An app of your own on Meta** (in the App Dashboard), with WhatsApp added — that is where the App Secret and the Phone number ID that Cliqo asks for in Step 1 come from.

## Step 1 · Connect the number in Cliqo

You make the connection yourself, in Settings › WhatsApp, with the credentials of *your own* Meta app — the account and the number stay in your portfolio, not in Cliqo's. If you prefer, the Cliqo team can do the connection together with you: reach us through support.

Fill in the four fields of the form:

* **Access token** — the system user token, generated in Business Manager, under System users. Use a permanent token: it does not expire.
* **App Secret** — the secret of your Meta app. This is what signs the webhook: without the right App Secret, Meta rejects incoming messages.
* **Phone number ID** — digits only; it is in App Dashboard → WhatsApp → API Setup.
* **Account ID (WABA)** — digits only; it is the business account that holds the number.

Then click **Connect WhatsApp**. Before saving, Cliqo checks with Meta that the token reaches that Phone number ID — if it doesn't, nothing is saved and the screen shows the error.

Once the connection is saved, the **One step left, in the Meta dashboard** block appears, with two values to copy: the **Webhook URL** and the **Verify token**. In App Dashboard → WhatsApp → Configuration → Webhook, paste both and subscribe to the `messages` field. Without the webhook, Conversations does not receive your customers' messages.

The paths inside Meta's dashboard are the ones Cliqo's own screen points to. Meta changes these menus often, and we cannot check them from here — if a name doesn't match, reach out to us.

## Step 2 · Register the number

In Meta's flow, enter the number and the **display name** (the brand name your customer will see), and confirm the verification code. The display name goes through a Meta check — names that don't match the public brand can be declined.

## Step 3 · Register the card with Meta

In Meta's WhatsApp Manager, register the **company's payment method**. That card is what pays for conversations — directly to Meta, at Meta's official rates, without going through Cliqo. Without an active payment method, sending stops once the free allowance runs out.

## Step 4 · Verify the company

**Business Verification** confirms the legal name with documents. It is what unlocks the higher sending limits — an unverified number stays on the starting tier of recipients per day.

## Result

The number shows as connected in Cliqo: **Conversations** starts receiving your customers' messages, **Templates** can be created and submitted to Meta, and the **Number & quality** screen shows the rating, status and daily limit synced from Meta.

## Next steps

* [Opt-in and consent for WhatsApp](https://docs.cliqo.io/en/whatsapp/opt-in.md)
* [How to create and get a message template approved](https://docs.cliqo.io/en/whatsapp/modelos-de-mensagem.md)


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