> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Troubleshooting: WhatsApp test number held by another workspace (TEST_PHONE_REGISTERED_IN_OTHER_WORKSPACE)

> Fix TEST_PHONE_REGISTERED_IN_OTHER_WORKSPACE when setting up the WhatsApp test account — the phone is already another workspace's verified test number. Register a different number, have the holding workspace release it, or escalate a stale claim to support.

# Troubleshooting: WhatsApp test number held by another workspace

Setting up the WhatsApp test account starts by requesting a one-time
code with `POST /api/v1/whatsapp/test-account/send-otp` and completes
with `POST /api/v1/whatsapp/test-account/verify-otp`. If the phone number
is already the verified test number of a different Orbit workspace, both
calls refuse with a 409 carrying
`TEST_PHONE_REGISTERED_IN_OTHER_WORKSPACE`. A phone number can bind to
one workspace's test account at a time, and the refusal is
deterministic: it persists until the number is released or a different
number is registered.

## What the rejection looks like

The code arrives on the error envelope of the registration call, in the
same shape as every other Orbit API refusal:

```json theme={null}
{
  "error": {
    "code": "TEST_PHONE_REGISTERED_IN_OTHER_WORKSPACE",
    "message": "This number is already registered as a test number in another workspace. Release it there first."
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_abc123",
    "timestamp": "2026-10-16T09:12:44Z"
  }
}
```

The refusal comes from the test-account route family
(`/api/v1/whatsapp/test-account/*`), not from the WABA connect routes. A
failure to connect your own WhatsApp Business Account speaks
`WHATSAPP_NOT_CONNECTED` or `CONNECTION_INVALID` instead and is a
different runbook:
[WhatsApp connection](/troubleshooting/whatsapp-connection).

## What is happening

The test account is a shared WhatsApp Business Account that Devotel
operates so you can verify your integration end to end (sends, inbound
replies, delivery receipts, flows) before you connect your own WABA.
Inbound replies to the shared account are routed back to the workspace
that holds the verified number, so a phone number can bind to exactly
one workspace at a time: if a second workspace claimed the same number,
the two workspaces' test traffic would interleave. Registration
therefore checks the claim before the one-time code goes out and again
when the code is verified, and refuses with this 409 when the number is
held elsewhere. Which workspace holds the number is deliberately not
disclosed in the refusal.

## Fixes

### 1. Register a different phone number

The fastest way through: use any phone number that can receive the
verification code on WhatsApp and that no other workspace has verified.
Request the code again with the new number; nothing about your
workspace's existing state needs to change.

### 2. Have the holding workspace release the number

If the number is verified in a workspace your team controls (a staging
workspace, a previous project's workspace), an owner of that workspace
releases it with `POST /api/v1/whatsapp/test-account/clear-verification`,
the same action as the test-account control in their dashboard. The
release takes effect immediately, and your registration then succeeds
on the next attempt. If you do not recognize any workspace that would
hold the number, use the support path below.

### 3. Stale claim: open a support ticket

If the number was verified in a workspace you no longer control, or you
believe the holding claim is stale (for example the number was released
from your own organization and registration still refuses), open a
ticket with [support@devotel.io](mailto:support@devotel.io) and include:

* The `request_id` from `meta` on the refusal.
* The phone number exactly as you sent it, in E.164 with the leading `+`.
* The workspace the number was previously registered under, if known.

Support can review the claim and release stale ones.

## What not to do

* **Do not keep retrying the same number.** The refusal is a claim
  check, not a cooldown: repeating `send-otp` with the held number fails
  identically on every attempt, and no waiting window re-opens it.
* **Do not attempt the same number on a live WABA expecting a different
  verdict.** The test-account pool is scoped independently of your own
  WABA; this gate arbitrates ownership of the shared test tier only.
  Connecting a WABA neither releases the number nor inherits the
  refusal, and the test account stays available for integration work
  whether or not you own a WABA.

## See also

* [WhatsApp connection](/troubleshooting/whatsapp-connection) —
  `NOT_CONNECTED` vs `CONNECTION_INVALID` on your own WABA.
* [Error Code Reference](/reference/error-codes) — the 409 family,
  including the test-account codes.
* [Troubleshooting hub](/reference/troubleshooting-hub) — every runbook
  in one index.


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