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WhatsApp Testing

Desirée M Updated by Desirée M

You’re building your bot and wondering how it’ll actually look and feel in WhatsApp? We’ve got you covered! Whether you're still setting things up or already have an integrated number, there are ways to test your bot in action before going live.

You can use the Test this bot feature directly from the builder. How it works depends on your setup: if you don’t have a number integrated, you can test right away, and if you do, you’ll be able to run tests with your own number.

If you’ve already connected your own number, the testing flow works a bit differently. 👉 Jump to this section to learn how to test your bot with an integrated number.

WhatsApp Testing

The WhatsApp Testing feature allows you to experience what the official API integration feels like from the final user perspective.

The WhatsApp Testing channels work in one direction only, which means only the phone number you connect to it will be able to send and receive messages from the Testing channel.

How to add your number to the WhatsApp Testing channel

To add your number and test your bot please go to your bot builder

1️⃣ Click on Test this bot:

2️⃣ Click on Add number if you don't already have your number added:

3️⃣ Now choose the country code on the drop-down menu and write the phone number:

4️⃣ When you're done, click on Add Number & send test:

5️⃣ Now you should have received a WhatsApp message to your phone number where you will click on ''Ok, let's test'' to trigger the bot

And now you can test the flow of your bot!

IMPORTANT: You can only have 1 WhatsApp Testing channel per phone number.

If you already have a WhatsApp Testing channel connected to your number on a different account, you won't be able to create a second one, and you'll see a message saying "this number already exists"!

If you want to use the same number again, please delete the existing channel.

Contact our team in case you're not able to access and delete the previous WhatsApp Testing channel.

How to change the bot I want to test
  1. Go to the builder in the new bot you want to test
  2. Follow the steps described above
  3. You will receive a message to test this bot in your WhatsApp phone number again!
The WhatsApp Testing channel

You will find the WhatsApp Testing channel inside the WhatsApp channel itself.

• Just click on the WhatsApp icon on the left sidebar

• Click on the channel called Demo WhatsApp campaign with phone number +34 602 25 62 48

You'll find these 3 steps to follow: Message, Audiences, Review & Send.

Message

On the WhatsApp Business API solution, you are able to send proactive messages to your clients.

The Message Templates section in the testing environment has 2 pre-approved message templates you're able to test.

You will not be able to request templates while testing the bot, but once you have upgraded to one of our WhatsApp subscriptions, you will have that option.

To find out more about Message Templates and how they work, click here.

Audiences

In the Audiences section you will find a list with all the numbers you have added to test your bots. The maximum allowed is 10, so you won't be able to add more than that.

How to add contacts to your WhatsApp Testing channel
  1. Click on "Add phone number"
  2. Add each phone number with the + symbol and country code
How to delete numbers from your WhatsApp Testing channel
  1. Inside the Audience section, click on the "x" sign beside the number you want to remove:
Review & Send

In this section, you'll be able to review the message template, along with the list of contacts, before sending out the Testing Campaign:

For more information on how to send Campaigns, please click here.

Metrics

You'll be able to find the data from your testing channel in your Metrics>Channel section:

Learn more about managing your bot's data here.
Next steps after Testing

If once you've finished testing, if you'd like to try the full integration, please check step-by-step instructions in this article.

Important: For security reasons, the chats generated with the Testing Channels cannot be displayed in the Inbox section and an error will pop up if you try to open a Testing Channel chat in that section.

Testing with an Integrated WhatsApp number

If you’ve already integrated your official WhatsApp number, you can still test your bot directly from the builder using the Test this bot feature.

Please make sure you click on Test this bot and not Start a chat to use the testing feature!

One integrated number: enter a recipient number, then open WhatsApp using the provided link or QR code to start the test.

Multiple integrated numbers: enter a recipient number, select which integrated channel to use, and then open WhatsApp with the link or QR code.

Only the recipient number you enter will receive the new bot flow you’re testing. Other users interacting with your WhatsApp number will continue to see the bot connected to its regular channel.

This will trigger the bot just like a real user interaction, allowing you to test your flows, messages, and templates in a realistic environment.

To stop a test in progress, you can:

• Click End test in the builder

• Close the test "Start a chat on WhatsApp" pop up

• Type #reset in WhatsApp (⚠️ this may end the test immediately if messages are in progress)

These chats are counted as a Service category chat – important to keep in mind if you’re on a free trial, for example.

To test specific changes in your flow, you can set up a Global Keyword. For example, create a keyword like “test” (or any word your users wouldn’t normally type) and connect it to a Jump To block that leads to the section you want to check. This allows you to type “test” in your WhatsApp chat and instantly skip to the part to be tested.

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