Claude Desktop
Add the server once under connectors and every new conversation opens with the WhatsApp tools already loaded.
- Desktop
- Remote MCP
MCP is the open protocol that gives an assistant real tools. Ours lets the client you already work in read a thread, draft the reply and queue the campaign.
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Your assistant already knows how to call tools. What it lacks is a way into WhatsApp. The MCP server is that way in: it publishes a catalogue of WhatsApp actions, the model picks the ones the request needs, and every call lands on your number through the same account and permissions your agents work under.
Two reads ran on their own. The third wrote to a customer, so it asked first.
Nothing on this page is a one-off integration. Any client that can add a remote MCP server can work your WhatsApp inbox, and it keeps working when you switch to the next one.
Add the server once under connectors and every new conversation opens with the WhatsApp tools already loaded.
One command registers it in the CLI, so a terminal session can pull a thread or check a campaign between commits.
Drop the endpoint into the editor's MCP settings and ask for a customer's history without leaving the file you are in.
Register the server in your workspace config and the agent side of Copilot chat can call the same WhatsApp tools.
Where your account allows custom connectors, point one at the endpoint and the tools show up in the chat you already use.
Other editors, other desktop clients, an agent you wrote yourself. The protocol is public, so the server does not care what sits on the other end.
There is no syntax to memorise and no tool name to remember. You describe the outcome you want; the assistant works out which calls that takes and shows you the plan before it acts.
The server is remote, so there is no package to install and no process to babysit. Copy the endpoint, put your API key on the end of it, restart the client.
https://api.wali.chat/mcp?key=YOUR_API_KEYSwap YOUR_API_KEY for a key from your account settings. It is the same credential the REST API uses, with the same permissions, so revoking it there cuts the assistant off on its next call.
> Anything unread on WhatsApp?From the API keys panel in your account, using the same credential the REST API uses. One key per assistant keeps the trail readable.
Into your client's MCP settings, with the key on the end of the URL. That is the whole configuration.
Restart the client and the WhatsApp tools appear in its tool list. Start with a read so you can watch it work.
The server exposes the working parts of WaliChat rather than a thin messaging slice of it. These are the tool names your client will list once it connects.
Send text, media and documents, pull the history of a thread, and act on what is already in it.
send_whatsapp_messageget_whatsapp_chat_messagesmanage_whatsapp_message_interactionsList and search the inbox, filter by status, date or contact type, and surface what nobody has answered.
get_whatsapp_chatsget_whatsapp_unread_chatssearch_whatsapp_chats_by_nameget_whatsapp_chats_by_statusHand work to the right person, move a thread into a department, and check what is stacking up in the queue.
manage_whatsapp_teammanage_whatsapp_departmentsmanage_whatsapp_queueBuild the audience, schedule the send, and read back what happened recipient by recipient.
manage_whatsapp_campaignsmanage_whatsapp_campaign_contactslist_whatsapp_templatesLabel a conversation, group by segment, and confirm a number is reachable before you write to it.
manage_whatsapp_labelsverifyWhatsAppNumberExistsget_whatsapp_chats_by_contact_typeAttach a file, find one that was sent months ago, and pull statistics or a full export of a thread.
upload_whatsapp_file_from_urlsearch_whatsapp_chat_filesget_whatsapp_chat_statisticsexport_whatsapp_chatsThey reach the same account and the same numbers. The difference is who is driving, and whether anyone is watching while it happens.
| Aspect | MCP server | REST API & webhooks |
|---|---|---|
| Who drives | A person, thinking out loud through an assistant. | Your code, on a schedule or an incoming event. |
| How you ask | Plain language, one request at a time. | An HTTP call per action, written once and reused. |
| Best for | Ad-hoc work like triage, drafting and digging through history. | Repeatable work like order updates, alerts and keeping a CRM in step. |
| Runs when | You are there to read what it proposes. | Unattended, day and night. |
| Approval | Your client puts a write in front of you first. | Whatever your own code decides. |
| Setup | Paste one URL into a settings panel. | Write the integration and host it somewhere. |
Most teams run both, using an assistant for the work that needs judgement and the API for the work that repeats. See the developer side.
Giving an assistant a live customer channel is a real decision. Four things make it a reversible one.
The server authenticates with an ordinary WaliChat API key. It reaches the account that key was issued for and nothing beyond it. Delete the key and the next call fails.
Reading a chat is harmless and runs on its own. Sending, assigning or launching a campaign is a tool call, and any client that supports approval, Claude included, shows it to you before it goes anywhere.
Issue a separate key for each place you connect the server. If you ever need to cut one off, you cut off one connection rather than the whole team.
Anything the assistant sends arrives in the shared inbox as a normal outbound message. Your team sees it in the thread, not weeks later in a log.
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It is an open specification for describing tools to an AI assistant: what each one does, what it takes and what it gives back. A client that speaks it can pick up any MCP server and start working without a bespoke integration being built first. WaliChat runs one of those servers for WhatsApp.
No. Connecting the server is a URL and an API key in your client's settings panel. Code only enters the picture if you are assembling your own agent, and even then the protocol handles the introductions.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers over HTTP. Claude Desktop and Claude Code do, as do Cursor, VS Code and several other editors, and ChatGPT where your account allows custom connectors. Because the standard is open, the list keeps widening without anything changing on our side.
No. The server is hosted and maintained for you; your client just points at a URL. There is no package to install, no port to open and no version to keep current.
The server authenticates with a WaliChat API key passed on the endpoint URL, and it reaches the account that key belongs to and nothing else. Keys are issued and withdrawn from the API keys panel in your account, and withdrawing one takes effect on the very next call.
That is decided by your client, not by the server. Clients with tool approval show you the call and wait for a yes. If you deliberately run an agent unattended, give it a key issued only for that job so its reach stays narrow.
Yes. The MCP server sits on the same API as the rest of WaliChat, so it works with the numbers and the team structure already in your account. Nothing has to be reconnected or migrated to switch it on.
It is the same account seen from a different angle. The API is for software you write and leave running, while MCP is for a person working through an assistant. Most teams end up with both, and the API half is covered on the developers page.
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