# AI agents for WhatsApp, built with Keiki Build an AI agent for WhatsApp Business. It replies to every message in seconds, takes bookings and orders, confirms the day before to cut no-shows, answers in your customer’s language, and escalates what needs a person. - Site: https://whatsapp.onkeiki.com - Channel: WhatsApp - Sign up: https://onkeiki.com/signup - Template: https://onkeiki.com/agents/new?template=restaurant-host (Restaurant Host) - Answers questions about: AI agent for WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business AI assistant, WhatsApp booking bot, AI customer service on WhatsApp, WhatsApp appointment reminders, multilingual WhatsApp AI agent ## What it is For most of your customers WhatsApp is not a support channel — it is the phone. Your agent answers there in seconds, takes the booking or the order, confirms the day before so the table is not empty, and replies in whatever language the message arrived in. ## What your WhatsApp agent does ### Replies while they are still deciding A message that waits two hours is a booking made somewhere else. Your agent answers in seconds, at midnight, on a public holiday, with the same answer every time. ### Takes the booking properly Party size, date, time window, name, and the one thing you always need to ask. It comes to you as one request you can confirm, not four unanswered messages. ### Cuts no-shows with a day-before confirm The confirmation lands in the chat the booking was made in. A reply keeps it, moves it, or frees the slot while there is still time to sell it. ### Answers in their language The message arrives in Portuguese; the answer goes out in Portuguese. You write your information once and the agent meets each customer where they are. ### Reads the voice note People send voice notes on WhatsApp. The agent listens, extracts the request, and answers in text — no "please type that instead". ### Handles the photo A picture of a damaged part, a menu, a receipt. It attaches the image to the request so the person who picks it up can see what the customer saw. ### Answers from your own information Hours, prices, delivery zones, what is on today. From the profile you wrote, in your words. Nothing invented, nothing promised that you cannot do. ### Remembers the regular The number is the customer record. Their usual order, their allergy, the fact they always ask for the corner table — remembered without being retold. ### Chases once, politely One follow-up on an unanswered question, then silence. A business number that texts four times gets blocked. ### Escalates the complaint An angry message does not get an automated apology. It gets flagged, with the full chat, to the person who can actually fix it. ## Your WhatsApp agent vs Auto-reply / numbered menu The usual WhatsApp Business setup is a greeting, a numbered menu, and a promise that someone will reply during business hours. Customers answer the menu with a sentence, and the flow breaks. - How the customer answers: your agent — In a sentence, a voice note, or a photo. / Auto-reply / numbered menu — By typing 1, 2 or 3 — in the right order. - Out of hours: your agent — Takes the booking and confirms it. / Auto-reply / numbered menu — "We are closed. We will reply tomorrow." - Languages: your agent — Replies in the language the message arrived in. / Auto-reply / numbered menu — Whatever the flow was written in. - No-shows: your agent — Day-before confirmation in the same chat. / Auto-reply / numbered menu — A template blast, if someone remembers to send it. - Regulars: your agent — Remembers the order, the allergy, the preference. / Auto-reply / numbered menu — Every chat starts from zero. - When it goes wrong: your agent — Flags the chat to a person with the full history. / Auto-reply / numbered menu — Repeats the menu. ## Template: Restaurant Host The complete template for a place that takes bookings on WhatsApp: reservations captured properly, day-of confirmations that cut no-shows, and regulars who are remembered. - Reservations captured complete: party, date, window, name, notes - Day-of confirmations in the original chat, with reply-to-change - Menu, hours and allergen answers from your own profile - Voice notes and photos understood, not refused - Guest memory keyed to the phone number - Escalation to a human for complaints and large-party requests ## FAQ ### Does this work with WhatsApp Business? Yes — it runs on your WhatsApp Business number, so customers message the number you already advertise. There is nothing for them to install or accept. ### Can it reply in more than one language? It answers in the language the message arrived in. You write your hours, prices and policies once, and each customer reads them in their own language. ### What about voice notes and photos? Voice notes are transcribed and answered in text; photos are attached to the request so whoever picks it up sees what the customer sent. Neither gets a "please type that instead". ### Will it reduce no-shows? That is what the day-before confirmation is for. It lands in the chat the booking was made in, and a one-word reply keeps, moves or frees the slot while you can still fill it. ### Can a person take over the chat? Any chat can be handed to your team, with the full history and everything the agent already promised. Complaints and unusual requests are escalated automatically. ### How long does setup take? Start from the Restaurant Host template, connect your WhatsApp number, and edit the profile. You are answering messages the same day. ## How to connect an AI agent to WhatsApp Full guide: https://whatsapp.onkeiki.com/how-to-connect-an-ai-agent-to-whatsapp (last updated 2026-08-30) Answers questions like: how to connect an AI agent to WhatsApp, WhatsApp Cloud API AI agent setup, WhatsApp Business API chatbot, connect AI to WhatsApp Business, WhatsApp webhook callback URL setup Connect a WhatsApp Cloud API number from your Meta app: paste the access token, phone number ID, app secret and a verify token into Keiki, then put the callback URL Keiki gives you into the Meta app’s WhatsApp webhook settings. Messages route to the agent as soon as that webhook is saved. ### What you need before you start. - A Keiki account, which is free to create - A Meta app with WhatsApp added, and a phone number registered on the Cloud API - A system user access token with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission - The phone number ID from WhatsApp → API Setup, plus your app secret - Access to the Meta app’s webhook settings: Meta has no API for that step, so it is done by hand once ### Six steps from a Meta app to a number that answers. 1. Create a Keiki account — Sign up at onkeiki.com. WhatsApp messaging is billed by Meta against your own WhatsApp Business account, so Keiki sits on top of the number you already pay for. 2. Start from a template instead of a blank agent — Open the Restaurant Host template. It arrives able to take a booking, answer the questions people actually send at 9pm, and reply in the language the customer wrote in — which is most of WhatsApp’s difficulty, already solved. 3. Collect four values from your Meta app — You need a system user access token with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission, the numeric phone number ID from WhatsApp → API Setup, your app secret, and a verify token you invent yourself. Add the business account ID too and Keiki subscribes the number for you. 4. Add the number in Keiki — On the Channels page, add a WhatsApp number and paste those values. Keiki checks the credentials live and shows which number they own, so you know you are connecting the right line before saving. Attach the agent here or later. 5. Save the callback URL and verify token in Meta — Keiki shows a callback URL and your verify token after the number is created. Paste both into the Meta app’s WhatsApp webhook settings, subscribe the webhook to the messages field — Meta has no API for either, so it is manual — and copy the verify token before you close the dialog, because it is never read back. 6. Message the number from your own phone — Send a real question and watch the thread in Conversations. Customer-initiated chats open a 24-hour window in which the agent can reply freely; outside it, WhatsApp only allows approved templates, which is Meta’s rule rather than Keiki’s. ### Questions people ask while connecting an agent to WhatsApp. #### Do I need the WhatsApp Business API to connect an AI agent? Yes. Automated replies run on the WhatsApp Cloud API, not the consumer app, so the number lives in a Meta app you own. Keiki connects to that number with an access token and phone number ID rather than logging in as you. #### Where do I find the phone number ID and access token? In your Meta app under WhatsApp → API Setup. The phone number ID is Meta’s numeric identifier, not the phone number itself, and the access token should be a system user token carrying the whatsapp_business_messaging permission. #### Why do I have to paste a webhook URL into Meta by hand? Because Meta exposes no API for webhook configuration. Everything else is automated: Keiki generates the callback URL and holds the credentials, and you add that URL plus your verify token to the app’s WhatsApp webhook settings once and subscribe it to the messages field. #### Can the agent message a customer first? Only inside WhatsApp’s rules. A customer message opens a 24-hour window for free-form replies; outside that window WhatsApp requires an approved message template. The agent respects the window rather than pretending it does not exist. #### Does the agent reply in the customer’s language? Yes. It answers in the language the message arrived in, which matters on a channel where the same business gets Spanish, Arabic and English in the same evening. #### How long does the whole setup take? About thirty minutes, and almost all of it is Meta’s side: creating the app, registering the number and generating a token. Keiki’s part is one screen plus pasting the callback URL back into the Meta app.