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Connect your first WABA end to end

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Step 1 — Pick the onboarding lane

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Step 2 — Prerequisites

1. A Meta Business Manager you administer. You sign in with a Facebook account that has admin rights on the Business Manager. If the business has no Business Manager yet, create one at business.facebook.com — it takes minutes, and full Business Verification can run after the connection is live.
2. A verified domain with real content and a privacy policy. Meta checks your website during display-name review. A “Coming Soon” placeholder or a free Notion page fails review.
3. A phone number that is not registered to any WhatsApp account. The number must not be active on the consumer WhatsApp app, the WhatsApp Business App, or another provider’s WABA. If it was on the consumer app, delete that account and respect Meta’s 30-day cooldown first. You can buy a WhatsApp-safe number from Numbers → Buy in the dashboard, or bring a number you control that can receive the verification code.
4. A business support email on your own domain (support@yourcompany.com, not a consumer mailbox). Meta uses it as a trust signal during review.
5. An owner or admin role on the Orbit organization. The WhatsApp channel settings are role-guarded; teammates with lower roles cannot run the connect flow.

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Step 3 — Run Embedded Signup on your first WABA

1. Click Connect WhatsApp (or Connect with Facebook). Meta’s OAuth dialog opens in a popup window.
2. Sign in to Facebook with the account that administers your Business Manager.
3. Pick the Business Manager the WABA should belong to.
4. Choose “Create a new WhatsApp Business Account.” On a first connect there is nothing to select — do not get into the picker at all unless you already have WABAs on this Business Manager. If Meta offers you an existing WABA and you meant to migrate it instead, stop and use the migration guide.
5. Add the phone number. Meta prompts for a display name and the number at this point; enter the number from your prerequisites.
6. Verify the number. Meta sends a 6-digit code to it — you pick the delivery path:
   • SMS — the default; reliable for US/Canada numbers.
   • Voice call — the code is read aloud by an automated call. Outside the US, verification SMS is frequently filtered by carriers, so pick Phone call for international numbers on the first attempt.
7. The popup closes and Orbit lands you back on the WhatsApp channel settings with the new connection in the list.

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Step 4 — Display name and profile photo

• Match the legal name on your incorporation documents, or a trade name registered on the Business Manager with proof. Meta denies a display name that does not match the entity behind the WABA.
• No generic names (“Support”, “Sales”), no all-caps, no emoji, no special characters beyond . , & ', minimum 3 characters.
• Changing the display name later re-enters Meta review — another 1–3 business days — so match your documents here rather than fixing it after launch.

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Step 5 — Verify the connection registered

• Registration state registered — Meta’s Cloud API accepted the number.
• A green health badge — the connection is reachable and healthy.

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Step 6 — Submit your first template

1. Open Messages → Templates (/messages/templates) and click New Template.
2. Choose Utility as the category and the template language.
3. Write the body with numbered variables and give each variable a realistic sample value — Meta’s reviewer reads the message with samples filled in. For example: Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} has shipped.
4. Submit and watch the Templates list for the status to flip to Approved. Most utility templates approve in minutes; plan for up to 24 hours.

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Step 7 — Send your first template message

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cURL

curl -X POST https://api.orbit.devotel.io/api/v1/messages/whatsapp \
  -H "X-API-Key: dv_live_sk_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+14155552671",
    "waba_id": "111222333",
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
      "name": "welcome",
      "language": { "code": "en" },
      "components": [
        {
          "type": "body",
          "parameters": [
            { "type": "text", "text": "Ada" }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }'

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Node SDK

import { Devotel } from '@devotel-orbit/node';

const orbit = new Devotel({ apiKey: process.env.ORBIT_API_KEY });

const message = await orbit.messages.sendWhatsApp({
  to: '+14155552671',
  waba_id: '111222333',
  type: 'template',
  template: {
    name: 'welcome',
    language: { code: 'en' },
    components: [
      {
        type: 'body',
        parameters: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Ada' }],
      },
    ],
  },
});

console.log('message id:', message.data.id);

• message.delivered — the message landed on the recipient’s device. For a test number with WhatsApp installed, this should arrive within seconds.
• message.read — the recipient opened it. On the test device, open the chat with read receipts enabled to fire it.

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Step 8 — Quality rating and messaging tiers

• Send to people who opted in and expect the message. Volume is not the lever; recipient satisfaction is.
• Park marketing blasts until Business Verification clears and the account has a delivery history. Cold-prompting thousands of numbers on day one is the fastest route to a low rating.
• Watch the quality tile on the channel settings page if a campaign draws blocks — catch a slide before Meta steps the cap down.

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Step 9 — Troubleshoot the first-connect failure modes

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Next steps

• Deepen the reference material in the WABA setup guide — Business Verification documents, go-live gates, and approval timelines.
• Prepare the next template with Create and approve a template.
• Plan the first broadcast with the campaign launch playbook.
• When a second brand or region needs its own sender, add it with Connect an additional WABA.