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Getting started

Welcome to Wazzly. You own this thing — pay once, self-host it, reply forever. This guide takes you from a blank install to a live WhatsApp inbox in five short steps.

You can do the whole thing in an afternoon. The only part you wait on is Meta, and we’ll flag exactly where that happens.

1. Start your 7-day trial

The trial unlocks every feature — no card, no seat limits, no trimmed-down “starter” version. It’s the full product, yours to poke at.

  1. Open your Wazzly install and go to Settings → License.
  2. Click Start free trial and enter the email you want tied to the workspace.
  3. Check your inbox for the activation link and click it. The license badge in the top bar flips to Trial — 7 days left.
  4. Invite a teammate or two from Settings → Team if you want a second pair of hands while you set things up.

That’s it — you’re live locally. Nothing here touches WhatsApp yet, so feel free to click around first.

When you’re ready to buy: the trial converts to a permanent license with one payment. No subscription, no clock. Your data and config stay exactly where they are.

2. Connect your WhatsApp Business number

This is the one step that depends on Meta. You’re linking Wazzly to a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) through Meta’s Cloud API, so a few fields come from the Meta/Facebook side.

Heads up — Meta approval required. Steps 4 and 5 below depend on Meta reviewing your business and your number. Approval is usually fast (minutes to a couple of days) but it is not instant and it is not controlled by Wazzly. Plan for it.

Before you start, have these ready from business.facebook.com:

  • A Meta Business account (verified, ideally — verification raises your messaging limits).
  • A WhatsApp Business App created in the Meta developer dashboard.
  • A phone number that is not currently registered to the regular WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business mobile app.

Connect it:

  1. In Wazzly, go to Settings → Channels → WhatsApp and click Connect number.
  2. Paste your Phone number ID and WhatsApp Business Account ID from the Meta dashboard (App → WhatsApp → API Setup).
  3. Generate a permanent access token in Meta (System Users → Generate token, with whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management scopes) and paste it into Wazzly.
  4. Click Verify. Wazzly registers the webhook with Meta and sends a test ping.
Webhook callback URL:   https://your-wazzly-domain.com/api/whatsapp/webhook
Verify token:           (copy the value Wazzly shows you)

Paste those two into Meta → WhatsApp → Configuration → Webhook and subscribe to the messages field.

  1. Register the number. In Meta’s API Setup, request the verification code for your phone number, then enter it back in Wazzly under Settings → Channels → WhatsApp → Register.

Once the badge reads Connected, you can send and receive messages. If it’s stuck on Pending review, that’s Meta — not Wazzly. Give it time, then re-check; the badge updates automatically once Meta approves.

3. Import your contacts

Bring your existing audience in so you have someone to talk to.

  1. Go to Contacts → Import.
  2. Upload a CSV with at least a phone column in full international format (e.g. +15551234567). Add name, email, and any custom fields you like.
  3. Map your columns. Wazzly guesses the obvious ones; fix anything it got wrong.
  4. (Optional) Tag the whole batch on import — say, imported-june — so you can target them later.
  5. Click Import. Duplicates are merged by phone number, so re-importing is safe.

A note on consent: only import people who’ve agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp. Meta enforces opt-in, and a clean list keeps your number’s quality rating high — which is what protects your sending limits.

4. Send your first broadcast

A broadcast is a message sent to a segment of contacts at once. To start a fresh conversation (outside the 24-hour customer service window), WhatsApp requires an approved message template.

Heads up — Meta approval required. New message templates are reviewed by Meta before you can send them. Approval typically lands within a few minutes to a few hours. Submit your template a little ahead of when you actually need it.

  1. Go to Templates → New template. Give it a name, pick a category (e.g. Marketing or Utility), and write the body. Use {{1}}, {{2}} placeholders for personalization.
  2. Submit it. The status shows Pending while Meta reviews, then flips to Approved (or Rejected, with a reason you can fix and resubmit).
  3. Once approved, go to Broadcasts → New broadcast.
  4. Pick your audience — a tag, a saved segment, or your whole list.
  5. Choose your approved template and fill in the placeholder values (or map them to contact fields like name).
  6. Hit Send now, or Schedule it for later.

Delivery, read, and reply stats stream back into the broadcast’s report as they come in. Replies land straight in your shared inbox.

5. Set up your first automation

Automations let Wazzly reply, tag, and route on its own — so the obvious stuff happens without you lifting a finger.

Let’s build a simple welcome auto-reply:

  1. Go to Automations → New automation.
  2. Pick a trigger: choose Inbound message and set the condition to First message from a new contact.
  3. Add an action: Send message. Type a short, friendly greeting — e.g. “Hey! Thanks for reaching out. A human will jump in shortly. In the meantime, what can we help with?”
  4. (Optional) Chain a second action: Add tag → new-lead so these conversations are easy to spot.
  5. Toggle the automation On and save.

One caveat: auto-replies that start a new conversation outside the 24-hour window still need an approved template (see step 4). Replies inside an open 24-hour window can be free-form text — no template needed.

Send a test message to your number from another phone and watch the reply fire. That’s your first automation live.

You’re up and running

Here’s what you just did:

  • Started a trial of the full product — pay once when you’re ready, then reply forever.
  • Connected a WhatsApp Business number through Meta’s Cloud API.
  • Imported a consented contact list.
  • Sent your first template broadcast.
  • Automated a welcome reply.

Next steps:

  • Build out your shared inbox views and assign conversations to teammates.
  • Create reusable canned replies for your common questions.
  • Explore flows for multi-step automations (qualification, booking, hand-off).

Anything Meta-side moving slowly is approval, not a bug — once it clears, Wazzly picks it up automatically. The rest is yours to own and extend.