--- title: "WhatsApp Business API setup from zero, step by step until it runs inside Odoo" description: "Meta Business account, verification, number, display name, templates, then invoices leaving Odoo on the customer's WhatsApp. The full path, and where each step usually breaks." lang: en canonical: https://www.kerneltics.com/en/blog/whatsapp-api-setup-and-odoo-integration source: https://www.kerneltics.com/en/blog/whatsapp-api-setup-and-odoo-integration alternate_ar: https://www.kerneltics.com/blog/whatsapp-api-setup-and-odoo-integration type: article published: 2026-09-29T03:07:42.948Z updated: 2026-09-29T03:07:42.956Z author: "kerneltics" tags: ["واتساب API", "أودو", "ميتا للأعمال", "ربط الأنظمة"] --- # WhatsApp Business API setup from zero, step by step until it runs inside Odoo > Meta Business account, verification, number, display name, templates, then invoices leaving Odoo on the customer's WhatsApp. The full path, and where each step usually breaks. Most people who ask us about the WhatsApp API have the same picture in mind: "invoices go to the customer on WhatsApp, the customer replies, and the team sees everything." The goal is simple. The road to it has eight stops, and each one has a well known mistake that can cost you a week. This is the whole route, in the order we actually walk it, from an empty Meta account to a message leaving Odoo. If you are doing it yourself, use it as a map. If you are handing it to someone, it tells you what to ask them. If you have not decided yet whether you need the API at all, start with [WhatsApp API or the WhatsApp Business app](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/blog/whatsapp-api-vs-whatsapp-business-app). ## 1. The Meta Business portfolio and verification Everything starts in the **Meta Business portfolio** (formerly Business Manager). It represents your company inside Meta, and your WhatsApp account, pages and ad accounts all sit under it. Next comes **business verification**: you upload documents proving the business is real, usually the commercial registration, and Meta matches them against what you typed. **Where it breaks:** - **The name does not match.** The account uses the brand name, the registration shows the legal entity name, and Meta compares them literally. Use the registered name. - **The website does not belong to the business.** Meta wants a domain tied to the same company and may ask you to prove you own it. An empty site or an Instagram page slows everything down. - **The account was opened with an employee's email.** The employee leaves and the admin access leaves with them. Make the owner, or an official company address, the admin and add everyone else as users. ## 2. The WhatsApp Business Account and the number Under the portfolio you create a **WhatsApp Business Account** and attach a phone number. The number is where most of the confusion happens: - **The number must be free of the app.** If it currently runs regular WhatsApp or the WhatsApp Business app, delete the account from inside the app first (uninstalling is not enough). Often the simplest path is a new number dedicated to the API. - **The verification code arrives by SMS or voice call.** For a landline or a switchboard, pick the call and make sure someone answers. - **The two step verification PIN.** You set it during registration and most people forget it. Store it somewhere the company controls. You will need it the day you move the number to another platform, and without it the move gets messy. ## 3. Display name review The name customers see at the top of the chat is reviewed by Meta, not just set. **Why it gets rejected:** no clear link to the business, generic words only ("Offers", "Customer Service"), symbols or emoji, or a name that suggests you are someone else. The rule: match your business or brand name, and make sure it can be found on your website. ## 4. The payment method Meta charges for messages, separately from whatever platform you use. So a **payment method** has to be added to the WhatsApp account itself, or sending stops or gets restricted. Prices depend on the message category and the recipient's country, and Meta revises its pricing from time to time. Always take the numbers from Meta's official pricing page when you do the maths, not from an article (this one included). ## 5. Templates and the 24 hour window This is the biggest misunderstanding about the API. When a customer messages you, a **24 hour customer service window** opens and you can reply with any normal message. When you start the conversation (an invoice, a reminder, an offer), you must use a **template approved in advance** by Meta. Templates come in three categories: - **Marketing:** offers and campaigns. - **Utility:** invoices, order confirmations, appointment reminders, shipping updates. - **Authentication:** one time codes. **Why templates get rejected:** promotional content filed as utility, variables at the very start or end with no text around them, shortened links, or threatening wording ("your service will be suspended"). Write the template the way you would write to a customer you respect, and give every variable some context. ## 6. Messaging limits and quality rating A new number starts with a daily limit on how many customers you can start conversations with, and the limit rises as you use it well. Meta also watches your **quality rating**, which drops when people block or report you. The classic mistake: on day one, someone uploads every old customer number and sends a campaign. People do not remember opting in, they block, quality falls, and the number gets restricted. Start with the messages customers are waiting for (their invoices and orders), send marketing only to people who agreed to it, and send in small batches. ## 7. The platform: the API is not an app After all of that, you still have no screen. The API is a technical door, and you need a **platform** on top of it for the team to work in: an inbox, templates, campaigns, a bot. The manual route goes through Meta's developer dashboard: an app, access tokens, webhooks, settings that need a developer. The easier route is **Embedded Signup**: an official Meta window that opens inside the platform, where the business logs in with Facebook, picks its account and number, and is done. Only platforms approved as a Meta Tech Provider can offer it. ## 8. Connecting to Odoo: what it looks like when it works This is where the value is. On its own, WhatsApp is a channel. With Odoo, it becomes part of how the business runs: - **Invoices and payment reminders leave Odoo** as approved utility templates, the moment an invoice is confirmed or a due date gets close. Nobody copies and pastes. - **Buttons in the message report back to Odoo.** A manager receives "New transfer receipt, approve it?" with Yes and No. They tap Yes, and the record in Odoo updates by itself. - **Customers ask for their invoices on WhatsApp.** They write "send me my invoices", the bot pulls the list from Odoo, they pick one and receive the PDF. Or they ask for all of them and they arrive one after another. - **Every message is logged on the customer's record.** The accountant opens the customer in Odoo and sees what was sent and when. These are things we have built for clients, not a concept. The one requirement is that Odoo itself is clean: customer mobile numbers stored with the country code, and invoices linked to the right customer. When the flow needs logic specific to your business, that is what [custom Odoo add-ons](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/blog/odoo-custom-addons-development) are for. ## Quick questions ### How long does the whole setup take? Mostly as long as Meta takes. Verification, name review and template approval all happen on their side, and sometimes they go through quickly and sometimes Meta asks for more documents. Have the registration, website and official email ready from the start and you avoid most delays. ### Can I use the number my customers already know? Yes, as long as you disconnect it from the app first. Before you do, make sure the platform is ready, so you are never left with a number that is off the app and has nobody answering it. ### Do I need Odoo to benefit? No. The API and a platform work on their own. Odoo adds messages that come straight from your real data with nobody in between. If you want the bot to answer intelligently instead of with menus, read [connecting AI to WhatsApp](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/blog/whatsapp-ai-agent-for-business). ### Is business verification the same as the verified badge? No. Verification is what lets you operate without tight restrictions. The badge next to the name is a separate request with a higher bar, and most businesses do fine without it. More in [WhatsApp Business API for shops in Saudi Arabia](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/blog/whatsapp-business-api-for-saudi-shops). ## How we do it We take it from zero until the first invoice leaves Odoo on a customer's WhatsApp: the Meta account and verification, the number and display name, the templates, then the Odoo integration and any logic your business needs. It runs on our own platform, [K-Message](https://k-message.kerneltics.com). Kerneltics is a Meta-approved Tech Provider, so you connect your number yourself through Meta's official window, and your team works from one shared inbox with templates, campaigns and an AI agent. Details are on the [WhatsApp API page](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/solutions/whatsapp-api) and the [Odoo page](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/solutions/odoo-zatca), or [book a consultation](https://www.kerneltics.com/en/book) and we will map the route for your setup.