This document was written by AI and has been manually reviewed.

WhatsApp

The WhatsApp driver uses neonize — Python bindings for go-whatsapp (whatsmeow) — to connect directly to WhatsApp Web. No Node.js is required.

Setup

1. Add a WhatsApp instance to your config.json (see below).
2. Start NextBridge. On first run, a QR code is printed to the terminal.
3. Open WhatsApp on your phone → Linked Devices → Link a Device, then scan the QR code.
4. Auth state is saved to the storage_dir SQLite file; you won't need to scan again unless you log out.

System Requirements

neonize requires certain system libraries depending on your platform:

• Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

  sudo apt install libmagic1

• Linux (Fedora/RHEL):

  sudo dnf install file-libs

• macOS:

  brew install libmagic

• Windows: python-magic-bin is installed automatically with neonize.

Config keys

Add under whatsapp.<instance_id> in config.json:

Key	Required	Default	Description
storage_dir	No	~/.nextbridge/whatsapp/<instance_id>.db	Path to the SQLite file that stores authentication state

{
  "whatsapp": {
    "wa_main": {
      "storage_dir": "/path/to/whatsapp/wa_main.db"
    }
  }
}

Rule channel keys

Use under channels or from/to in rules.json:

Key	Description
chat_id	WhatsApp JID string. Use <phone>@s.whatsapp.net for DMs or <group-id>@g.us for groups

{
  "wa_main": { "chat_id": "1234567890@s.whatsapp.net" }
}

Received message types

WhatsApp type	Attachment type	Notes
Text	—	Plain conversation or extended text (reply, link preview)
Image	image	Caption becomes message text
Video	video	Caption becomes message text
Voice / Audio	voice	Text set to [Voice Message]
Document	file	Caption becomes message text; filename preserved

Sending

Outgoing messages are sent as plain text. If the message includes attachments bridged from another platform, they are appended as text fallbacks:

[Image: photo.jpg]
[File: document.pdf]

Native media sending (uploading images/files to WhatsApp) is not yet implemented.

Notes

• WhatsApp account required: This driver uses the WhatsApp Web multi-device protocol (not the Business API). A personal WhatsApp account must be linked via QR code.
• One session at a time: Linking NextBridge counts as one of your Linked Devices. You can still use WhatsApp on your phone normally.
• Group JIDs: To find a group's JID, check the logs after the first message is received — the chat_id is printed.
• Own messages are filtered: Messages sent by the linked account are ignored.
• Status broadcasts (status@broadcast) are ignored automatically.