WhatsApp Coexistence lets you connect to watsi the same number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app, without taking it off your phone. You keep replying from the phone as always and the watsi AI agent answers alongside you: both sides show up in the watsi inbox, watsi imports your contacts and up to 180 days of history, and you decide which chats the agent answers.
If you are dedicating a new number to watsi, or one you don't use in the app, choose WhatsApp Business API: you get every feature, calls included, but the app stops working for that number.
When to choose Coexistence
Choose it if you already serve your customers from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and want to keep doing exactly that. It is the most common case for a real-estate agency: the number in your Inmuebles24, Lamudi or Facebook listings is the WhatsApp you already carry in your pocket.
| Coexistence | WhatsApp Business API | |
|---|---|---|
| Keep using the app on your phone | Yes | No: the app stops working for that number |
| Keep your number and your conversations | Yes | You need a new number, or one unused in the app |
| Imports your history | Yes, up to 180 days | There is no history to import |
| Calls in watsi | No | Yes |
| Groups, disappearing messages and live location from watsi | No | — |
Requirements
Before connecting, make sure you have all of this:
- WhatsApp Business app 2.24.17 or later. Update it from the App Store or Google Play.
- The number already lives in the WhatsApp Business app, not in personal WhatsApp, and you actually use it (it has conversations).
- You are an admin of the Meta business portfolio (Business Portfolio) and log in with a Facebook account that has access to it.
- Your phone at hand, unlocked and with a good connection for the whole process.
There is no country restriction: Mexican numbers work.
How to connect your number
You can connect from the activation wizard (the Connect your WhatsApp! step) or from Integrations at any time.
- 1
Choose Coexistence
In the left panel select Coexistence ("You keep using the app on your phone."). On the right you'll see the pros and cons compared with Cloud API.
- 2
Open Meta's window
Click Connect WhatsApp. Meta's window opens: log in with your Facebook account, pick your business portfolio and follow the instructions to link the number from your WhatsApp Business app.
- 3
Share your history and wait
When the app asks, agree to share your chat history if you want watsi to import it. Keep the app open and in the foreground until it finishes: Meta shows no progress bar, so don't close the window even if it looks stuck.
- 4
Done
You'll see Connected number with your number. The step is complete at that point; the history import keeps running in the background.
The connection type is chosen once per number. Once a number is connected with Coexistence, you can't switch it to Cloud API from watsi (or the other way around).
When Meta confirms the connection, the number shows up in Integrations with the Coexistence label.
What happens to your history
Right after connecting, a card appears in the bottom-left corner: Bringing your history over, with the count of chats and contacts that have landed so far. Contacts arrive first, then conversations from up to 180 days back. In the dashboard you can minimize the card; when it's done it reads Your history is here.
A few things worth knowing:
- The import happens once per number. If you didn't share your history while connecting, it can't be requested later.
- Photos, audio and documents older than 14 days arrive without content.
- Groups are never imported, and neither are the app's labels, quick replies or away messages.
All the details in Import your history.
Which chats the agent answers
watsi doesn't switch the agent on for every conversation at once:
- Imported chats: the agent starts off in all of them.
- Chats you start from your phone: the agent stays off in that chat.
- Chats a customer starts: the agent replies according to your agent's settings.
When the import finishes and your agent is published on WhatsApp, watsi shows you the Import your WhatsApp chats and contacts window. There you choose whether to import Chats and Contacts, and on the next screen, Which chats should your agent reply to?, you turn the agent on chat by chat or with Turn the agent on for all. Click Finish to save. If you closed the window, come back from the wizard's WhatsApp step with the Review button.
Only the workspace's owners and admins see this window, and it appears once per connection.
When you reply from your phone
What you send from the WhatsApp Business app shows up in the watsi chat labeled WhatsApp app ("Sent from the business's WhatsApp app, not by the watsi agent."). At that moment the agent pauses in that chat (30 minutes by default) so it doesn't reply on top of you.
Replies sent from WhatsApp for Windows or WearOS don't reach watsi, so the agent doesn't know you already answered. If you're going to reply from there, turn the agent off in that chat. For linked devices, use WhatsApp Web, Mac or iPad.
If a chat turns out to be family or a friend, mark it as personal: see Personal and customer chats.
Limitations
Coexistence comes with Meta limitations that are permanent while the number is connected:
- Calls: they don't reach watsi; they keep ringing on your phone.
- Groups, disappearing messages and live location: not available from watsi. Meta turns off disappearing messages, "view once" and live location in every one-to-one chat.
- Broadcast lists: become read-only in the app. For bulk sends, use watsi campaigns with approved templates.
- Linked devices: they get unlinked when you connect. Re-link them by hand, ideally a day later, once the sync has finished.
- Name and verification: the display name may stay as the number, and the official-account green tick is not available.
- Sending speed: fixed at 20 messages per second.
Open the WhatsApp Business app at least every 14 days. If you don't, Meta disconnects the number from watsi and you have to connect it again from scratch. When the agent handles everything, it's easy to forget.
Message templates approved by Meta work normally with Coexistence.
How to disconnect
Only you can disconnect a Coexistence number, and you do it from the app on your phone: Settings → Account → WhatsApp Business Platform → Disconnect. If you connect it again later, the history import is not repeated.
Don't use modified versions of WhatsApp or unofficial APIs on a connected number: Meta can ban it. More in Can my number get banned?.