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Work the Messages → WhatsApp workspace

The Messages → WhatsApp page in the Orbit dashboard is the operator canvas for a connected WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). Where the WABA setup guide gets an account connected and the getting-started guide gets a first message through the API, this page is where the day-to-day work happens: watching threads, sending and verifying messages, tracking template status, and previewing product sends. This guide walks the workspace end to end.

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1. What the page exposes

The workspace is organized around a WABA picker and a set of tabs. Everything on the page is scoped to the WABA selected in the picker — switch WABAs and the threads, templates, and analytics all follow. Header stats. Conversations, unread count, message volume, and delivery rate for the active WABA. If the WABA’s quality rating drops to Low or Medium, a banner appears above the tabs with a direct link to the affected campaigns. Keep the rating Green — a Low rating freezes tier increases and can reduce limits. See WABA setup — messaging limits. Tabs. Connected channel cards and connection state. The header reflects the connection for the active WABA. If the account is not fully wired, the workspace surfaces the specific gap rather than a generic error — a send attempted before a channel or sender is configured returns 422 CHANNEL_NOT_CONFIGURED (or NO_SENDER_CONFIGURED), and the UI presents the actionable message with a link back to Settings → Channels → WhatsApp. Finish the connection there, then retry the send from the same composer — the draft is preserved. Template status. Each template carries its Meta verdict — Approved, Pending, or Rejected — shown as a status pill next to the template name. Only Approved templates are sendable; the Send action stays disabled on Pending and Rejected rows. The section on approving or rejecting template messages covers the rejection workflow.

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2. Verify a send end to end

There are two send paths, and a verification pass should exercise the one you actually operate. From the composer wizard (dashboard):
  1. Open the Conversations tab and click New conversation, or reply inside an open thread.
  2. If the recipient’s 24-hour window is closed, the composer restricts you to templates; inside the window you can send free-form text, media, or interactive buttons. See The 24-hour window.
  3. Send. A success toast confirms the message was accepted; failures surface the Meta or channel error in the toast with the actionable next step.
From the API: the same workspace reflects API sends — the thread updates and the Messages log gains the row. To test the API contract, send the same payload as in getting started and watch the thread receive it. Either way, the expected result is the same: the message appears in the thread, the header message count increments, and a delivery receipt (sent → delivered → read) flows in if the recipient’s client reports it. If you see a 422, check that the WABA connection and sender are configured (the content policy and window rules are the other common rejects).

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3. Confirm in the Delivery Log

The thread view is scoped to one conversation. To confirm a send across the workspace — especially a broadcast or an API-driven batch — use Messages → Delivery Log, the cross-channel message search.
  1. Open Messages → Delivery Log from the Messages hub and filter channel = WhatsApp.
  2. Search the recipient number or the message id returned by the API response.
  3. Check the status rollup: sent, delivered, or read, with the failure reason where a send was refused.
The Delivery Log is also the record to cite when a recipient claims a message never arrived — resolve it there before re-sending, to avoid billing a duplicate conversation. The Messages tab inside the WhatsApp workspace itself can also export the visible page or all results to CSV for a ledger-level check.

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4. Approving or rejecting template messages

Template approval is Meta’s decision, not an Orbit-side gate — the workspace surfaces the verdict and gives you the next action.
  1. Submit the template from the Templates tab (or Template Library for instantly-approved utility/auth templates). Full submission detail lives in Create and approve a template.
  2. Watch the status pill. Most templates return a verdict within minutes; Meta allows up to 24 hours.
  3. On Approved, the Send action enables and the template becomes selectable in the composer and broadcast dialogs.
  4. On Rejected, read the Meta reason in the template detail, fix the content, and resubmit — a rejection blocks sends of that template until a passing revision is approved. The most common cause is a category mismatch (promotional copy submitted as utility); check against the content policy before resubmitting.

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5. When to use it

Three operating modes cover most daily work:
  • Thread re-engagement. A customer thread has gone quiet and the 24-hour window is closed. Open the thread, pick an Approved template from the composer, and check the recipient’s opt-out status before sending — a re-engagement send to a contact who opted out is the fastest way to a Low quality rating. Honor opt-outs; see the content policy.
  • Bulk template test. Before a campaign launch, fan a template out through the Broadcast composer (up to 256 recipients at a time) or send it to the test account, then confirm rollup in the Delivery Log. The broadcast composer is WABA-scoped, so its template dropdown lists only the active WABA’s Approved templates.
  • Support operator reply. Inside the 24-hour window, an operator replies free-form from the Conversations tab — text, media, or quick-reply buttons — and the thread updates in place with an unread counter on the tab.
For product sends, the Catalog tab surfaces the WABA’s catalog and, for unprovisioned environments, the test-account demo catalog, so an operator can preview the product-message flow without touching the live account. See WhatsApp Catalog.

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Next steps