Send your first WhatsApp API message

This walks through one real request. By the end you will have sent a template message and know where to look for what happened to it.

Before you start

• A connected WhatsApp Business Account with a registered phone number.
• At least one approved template — a business-initiated message needs one.
• An API key pair created in the console. Keys are scoped to one account and shown once.

Authentication

Requests carry two headers rather than a bearer token. Both are required, and the secret key belongs on your server only — never in browser or mobile code.

x-access-key: ak_…x-secret-key: sk_…

Send the message

The phoneNumberId identifies which of your numbers it comes from, and the recipient is in E.164 digits without a plus or spaces.

curl -X POST https://wa.draskenapis.com/messages \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -H "x-access-key: $WA_ACCESS_KEY" \  -H "x-secret-key: $WA_SECRET_KEY" \  -d '{    "phoneNumberId": "123456789012345",    "to": "919876543210",    "type": "template",    "templateName": "order_update",    "templateLanguage": "en_US"  }'

Read the response

Every response uses the same envelope, so a failure is shaped like a success. Keep metaMessageId — it is what later delivery events reference.

{  "statusCode": 200,  "message": "Success",  "data": {    "id": 1842,    "metaMessageId": "wamid.HBgLOTE5…",    "to": "919876543210",    "type": "template",    "status": "sent"  }}

When it does not work

A 422 names the exact field that failed validation, which is usually a malformed recipient or a missing template field. A 401 means the key headers are missing, invalid, or the key is not scoped to an account.