SemAgentMessaging
Admin panel → Publishing → Messaging is where you connect the WhatsApp number and Instagram account your customers write to: incoming messages land in Conversations, your team replies from the panel, and the reply goes back on the same channel. It has three tabs: WhatsApp, Instagram and Team alerts, where the SMS / WhatsApp alerts to your team are set up (Team alerts: SMS and WhatsApp).
Both channels open once SemAgent's Meta app is approved; until then this screen says they aren't open yet.
Connecting a WhatsApp number
You need a business account on Facebook (Meta Business), a number, and a payment method in WhatsApp Manager for Meta's message charges (Meta bills you directly). When you click a connect button, Meta's window opens: you pick your business, WhatsApp account and number. It takes under a minute.
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Connect my app's number | The number you use in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. You keep using the app: messages show up both on your phone and in Conversations, and what you send from the phone lands in the same conversation. The app must be version 2.24.17 or later. |
| Connect a new number | A number that has never been used on WhatsApp and can receive an SMS or voice call. It will only be used from Conversations. |
A number connected to another SemAgent account can't be connected. If Meta's window can't complete the connection, the screen says why: for example, the app needs updating, the number has to be disconnected from another platform first (Settings › Account › Business Platform in the app), or the feature isn't offered in your number's region.
Using the number alongside the phone app
- History and contacts: If you choose to share them while connecting, the last 180 days of chats and the names in your contacts are imported. Progress shows on the number's card (“Importing chat history: 55% · 1,240 messages so far”); keep the app open until it finishes. Imported chats sit in Conversations as closed conversations: you find them in the archive and in search, they don't fill your inbox and use no credits. When the customer writes again, the conversation opens.
- Contact names show in the conversation as “In your contacts: …” and name conversations that have no name; they don't replace the customer's WhatsApp profile name.
- Meta accepts the import only within 24 hours of connecting. After a temporary error SemAgent retries every few minutes, and the card has a Request again now button. If the 24 hours pass, the card says so; to import anyway, disconnect in the app under Settings › Account › Business Platform and connect the number again.
- Limits: This number sends at most 20 messages per second. Group chats, broadcast lists, calls and disappearing messages don't come to Conversations.
- Keep the app in use: Open the WhatsApp Business app at least every two weeks; if the phone goes unused for about 14 days, Meta disconnects the number and the card says why.
- If the phone changes: When the app is reinstalled or the number moves to another phone, the card shows Paused and replies aren't sent. Meta usually reconnects on its own within a few minutes, and sending resumes.
- Disconnecting in the panel doesn't unlink the phone app. To fully disconnect on Meta's side, tap Settings › Account › Business Platform › Disconnect in the app.
Connecting an Instagram account
Your Instagram account must be professional (Business or Creator) and linked to a Facebook Page, and you need messaging access on that Page (admin or moderator). In the Instagram app, Settings › Messages and story replies › Message controls › Connected tools › “Allow access to messages” must be on. Connect Instagram opens a Facebook window; only Pages with a linked Instagram account are listed, and DMs to the account you pick land in Conversations.
- Ice breakers: ready-made questions Instagram shows when a customer writes to the account for the first time (up to 4). The tapped question arrives as a message and the AI answers it. The questions are stored at Meta.
- Quick reply suggestions: short buttons shown next to “Talk to a person” in the AI's first reply (up to 3, at most 20 characters). When the customer taps one, its text arrives as a message.
- A reply to your story shows as “Replied to your story”, an edited message carries an “Edited” note (the original is still visible), and an unsent message shows as withdrawn.
- A reply typed in the Instagram app lands in the same conversation, and the AI stays quiet there.
The 24-hour window and approved templates
On both channels you can reply freely within 24 hours of the customer's last message. The open conversation's header shows the time left, and the list shows a Window chip.
| Channel | After the window closes |
|---|---|
| You can only write with an approved template. In Conversations, Write with an approved template lists the approved templates of your WhatsApp account; you fill in the variables and preview what the customer will see. Templates with an image (JPG or PNG, up to 5 MB), video (MP4, up to 16 MB) or document (PDF, up to 10 MB) header can be sent too; the file goes out once it passes the virus scan. Marketing and verification code templates can't be sent from here. Templates are written in WhatsApp Manager and approved by Meta; Meta bills template messages to your WhatsApp account and no SemAgent credits are used. When the customer replies, the window opens again. | |
| A human agent's reply can still go out for up to 7 days (this needs separate approval from Meta). After 7 days, nothing can be sent until the customer writes again. |
Get warned before the window closes: with the Window alert on the Team alerts tab turned on, the assignee (or their team, or an admin) gets one alert when a waiting customer's window is about to close. Details: Team alerts › Window alert.
Message statuses and reactions
- Under each message you send, its status shows: sending, sent, delivered, read (seen on Instagram). A message that didn't go out shows why: the window is closed, the rate limit was reached, a payment method problem on the WhatsApp account, a broken connection and so on.
- A customer's reaction to a message (such as 👍) shows as a small chip on that message; if they remove it, the chip goes away. Reactions you give from the phone app show the same way. The AI doesn't reply to reactions.
- Locations, contact cards, stickers and similar messages show with their type; a location gets an “Open in maps” link.
AI and files
Each number's and account's card has two switches:
| Switch | Details |
|---|---|
| Let the AI answer first | When on (the default), the AI answers the customer's message from your knowledge base; each answer uses credits just like the widget. The first reply carries a “Talk to a person” button: when the customer taps it, or the AI isn't sure, the conversation goes to your team. Photos and voice messages without text get a short reply that uses no credits. When off, every message waits for your team. |
| File sharing | When on, photos, documents, voice notes and videos the customer sends are added to the conversation; they can be downloaded once the virus scan comes back clean, and your agents can send files from the panel too. Each stored file costs 1 credit. When off, nothing is downloaded and the file is shown with the reason instead. Instagram accepts a narrow set: PNG/JPG, MP4, M4A and PDF. Rules: Conversations › File sharing. |
Connection health
- The connection is checked daily. If something breaks, the card turns red, says why, and the event is written to the Audit Log.
- Disconnection email: When a number or account disconnects (access was removed on Meta's side, the granted permission became invalid, or the Instagram messaging subscription dropped), the people who can edit Widget Settings and the account owner get one email. The same disconnection doesn't send another email for 7 days. No email is sent when the connection works again; the card turns green.
- The card has Reconnect and Disconnect. After disconnecting, messages to the number or account no longer land in Conversations; past conversations stay.
Charges
- Meta bills WhatsApp message charges directly to your WhatsApp account. From 1 October 2026, replies within the 24 hours are also charged; the first 1,000 replies per number each month are free. Approved templates are charged by category.
- These charges don't use SemAgent credits. You can see an approximate amount on the WhatsApp message charges card under Reports › Channels; the exact amount is in WhatsApp Manager › Billing.
- SemAgent credits are used for each AI answer (as in the widget) and for each stored incoming file (1 credit).