Wiki

Get your Meta credentials for Homenichat

To connect your official WhatsApp number to Homenichat, you need four credentials generated at Meta. This page walks you through the steps, from the Meta Business account all the way to the final paste into the Homenichat assistant. If you get stuck on a step, you can contact us and we will help.

What you'll get at the end Four values to paste into the Homenichat assistant: phoneNumberId, businessAccountId, accessToken, and verifyToken (generated by Homenichat). Plus a callbackUrl to copy into Meta. Plan for around 30 to 45 minutes the first time.

Before you start: prerequisites

A business email address

For the Meta Business account. Use the address you want associated with your company.

A phone with WhatsApp Business

The WhatsApp Business app installed and active on the number you want to use.

A personal Facebook account

Meta Business is tied to your Facebook account (used only for admin, nothing is published).

A card or bank account

Meta may request a payment method before certain API sends (often zero euros in the end).

Your HomeniBOX already installed

The BOX must be online when you do the final connection. If you don't have a box yet, see the hardware page.

30 to 45 minutes ahead of you

Without interruption, ideal to go through the whole flow in one go.

Important If your WhatsApp number is currently used in the WhatsApp Business app on a phone, you'll have to choose between keeping it on the phone only or connecting it to Homenichat via the official API. Meta is working on a "coexistence" mode that will allow both, but Homenichat has not enabled it yet. If you want to keep the phone app for now, use a second number for this setup.

Overview of the journey

Create a Meta Business account (Meta Business Suite).
Create a Business Portfolio.
Add your WhatsApp number to the portfolio (creating the WABA).
Verify your business (optional, recommended).
Create a Meta Developer app and add the WhatsApp product to it.
Generate an access token (permanent System User or temporary).
Retrieve the phone_number_id and the business_account_id.
Launch the Homenichat assistant, which gives you the callback URL and verify token.
Paste the callback URL and verify token into Meta, then validate.
Test an incoming message to confirm everything works.

Step-by-step procedure

1

Create a Meta Business account

⏱ 5 min🔗 business.facebook.com

Go to business.facebook.com and log in with your personal Facebook account. Click "Create Account" if you don't have one yet. Fill in your company name and business email.

Screenshot coming: Meta Business Suite welcome screen with the "Create Account" button

Tip Your personal Facebook account is only used to authenticate you. Your customers will never see it. You don't need to publish anything on Facebook.

2

Create or verify your business portfolio

⏱ 2 min

In Meta Business Suite, under Settings > Business Settings > Accounts > Business Assets Group (the menu varies depending on the current Meta version), make sure a business portfolio has been created for your company. Note it down. This is where we'll attach the WhatsApp number.

Screenshot coming: Business Settings page, Business Assets section

3

Add your WhatsApp number (creating the WABA)

⏱ 10 min📩 Verification SMS received

Still in Business Settings, go to Accounts > WhatsApp Accounts. Click Add, then Create a WhatsApp Business Account. Follow the Meta assistant. At the end, Meta will send a verification code to your number (SMS or call) to confirm it really is yours.

Screenshot coming: WABA creation, phone number step

If Meta says your number is already in use It means it's connected to the WhatsApp Business App on your phone. You'll need to disconnect it from the app first. To do so: open WhatsApp Business on the phone, go to Settings > Account > Delete my account (this temporarily pauses the number), or contact Meta support to migrate.

4

Verify your business (recommended, not required to start)

⏱ 5 min to submit, several days for Meta validation

In Business Settings > Business Verification, follow the procedure. Meta will ask for documents (business registration, proof of address, possibly a video call). You can use the API without immediate verification (with volume limits), but verification is required for marketing conversations and high volumes.

Screenshot coming: business verification form

5

Create a Meta Developer app and add WhatsApp to it

⏱ 5 min🔗 developers.facebook.com/apps

Go to developers.facebook.com/apps. Click "Create App". Choose the "Business" type. Give it a name (e.g. "WhatsApp Homenichat - My Practice"), and attach it to the Business Portfolio you created at step 2.

Once the app is created, in the left-hand menu click "Add a Product" and pick WhatsApp. Follow the assistant. Meta will ask you to select your WABA (created at step 3).

Screenshot coming: Meta Developer Console with "Add a Product > WhatsApp"

6

Retrieve phoneNumberId and businessAccountId

⏱ 2 min

In your Developer app, go to WhatsApp > API Setup. You'll see:

Meta field	Where it goes in Homenichat
Phone number ID	phoneNumberId
WhatsApp Business Account ID	businessAccountId

Copy these two values into a draft for now. They are numbers (for example 589510807587130).

Screenshot coming: "WhatsApp > API Setup" page with the two IDs highlighted

7

Generate a permanent Access Token (System User)

⏱ 8 min🔑 Only done once

The temporary token shown by default on the WhatsApp API Setup page expires after 24 hours. For long-term use, you need to create a System User that holds a permanent token.

In Business Settings, go to Users > System Users.
Click "Add", give it a name (e.g. "WhatsApp Integrator Homenichat"), choose the role "Admin".
Once created, click "Add Assets", add your WABA with full permissions.
Click "Generate Token". Choose your Meta Developer app (step 5).
Tick the permissions: whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging.
Select "Token never expires".
Copy the displayed token immediately. It starts with EAA.... Meta will never show it again.

Screenshot coming: Business Settings > System Users > token generation with permissions ticked

Save the token immediately. Put it in a password manager or another safe place. If you lose it, you will have to generate a new one (which will invalidate the old one).

8

Retrieve the App Secret (optional but recommended)

⏱ 1 min

In the Meta Developer Console, inside your app, go to Settings > Basic. Click "Show" next to "App Secret". Copy the value.

This key is used by the Homenichat relay to verify that incoming webhooks really come from Meta (HMAC signature). Without it, webhooks still work but without signature verification.

Screenshot coming: Settings > Basic with the App Secret displayed

9

Launch the Homenichat assistant on your phone

⏱ 2 min

Open the Homenichat app, go to Settings > Official Meta WhatsApp. Tap "Assisted Meta Setup" and follow the screens.

When you reach the "Configure the webhook in Meta" screen, Homenichat shows you two values to copy into Meta:

The public Callback URL. It looks like https://webhooks.homenichat.com/meta/<your-id>.
A Verify Token generated by Homenichat (a random string of characters). Meta uses it to make sure it's really you configuring the webhook.

Tap "Copy" on each field, or write the values down.

Screenshot coming: "Webhook setup" screen in the Homenichat app with the two Copy buttons

10

Wire the webhook into Meta

⏱ 3 min

Go back to the Meta Developer Console > your app > WhatsApp > Configuration > Webhooks. Click "Configure a webhook".

In Callback URL, paste the value from Homenichat.
In Verify Token, paste the token generated by Homenichat.
Click "Verify and Save". Meta sends a verification request to Homenichat; it takes a few seconds.

If Meta says "Verified", great. Otherwise, check that you pasted the right values (no extra spaces) and that your HomeniBOX is online.

Then, under "Webhook fields", subscribe to at least: messages, message_template_status_update, account_update.

Screenshot coming: "Webhooks" page in Meta Developer with callback URL and verify token pasted in

11

Paste the credentials into the Homenichat assistant

⏱ 2 min

Go back to the Homenichat assistant on your phone, move on to the "Enter your Meta credentials" screen, and paste:

Homenichat field	Value to paste
phoneNumberId	Retrieved at step 6
businessAccountId	Retrieved at step 6
accessToken	EAA... token from step 7
appSecret	Retrieved at step 8 (optional)

Tap "Verify".

12

Final validation

⏱ 1 min

Homenichat automatically runs three checks:

Meta Graph API connection: tests that your token is valid.
Templates listing: checks that you can send/receive templates.
Relay activation: Homenichat registers your callback URL so it can forward Meta webhooks to your BOX.

Three green lights? You're done. Your WhatsApp messages will land in Homenichat from the next customer message onward.

Recommended test Ask someone (your spouse, a friend) to send a WhatsApp message to your business number from their own WhatsApp. The message should appear in the Homenichat inbox within a second. If nothing arrives within 30 seconds, see the troubleshooting section below.

Recap of the values you collected

The 4 Meta credentials

phoneNumberId	number, e.g. 589510807587130
businessAccountId	number, e.g. 578793621992297
accessToken	long string starting with EAA...
appSecret	32-character hex string (optional)

Troubleshooting

Meta rejects my callback URL ("Verification failed")

Check that your HomeniBOX is online (the indicator should be green).
Check that you pasted the verify token with NO space before or after.
Generate a new session in the Homenichat app and try the wiring again.
If it persists: contact us, we can diagnose the challenge handoff from our servers.

The access token is rejected with "Invalid OAuth access token"

Check that you used the permanent System User token (step 7), not the temporary one that expires in 24 hours.
Check that the System User has both whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions.
Check that your System User has your WABA in its assets, with full permissions.

No incoming message lands in Homenichat

Check that you are subscribed to the messages field in the Meta Webhooks (step 10).
Check in the app that the box is online.
Ask Meta to send a test event: Meta Developer Console > Webhooks > "Test".

Meta asks for a payment method before I can send

That's normal for marketing conversations and beyond 1,000 service conversations per month. In Business Settings > Payments, add a card or a bank account. You won't be billed if you stay within the free tier. Homenichat never charges you for your messages: Meta collects directly.

Need help?

If you're stuck, write to us at support@homenichat.com. Tell us which step is blocking and include a screenshot of the error message if possible. We'll help you. For Team users (9 euros/month), this assistance is prioritised.

Need the HomeniBOX first?

Without the box, the wizard won't be able to activate the webhook relay at the end. See our hardware configurations.

Hardware configurations