A step-by-step guide from a fresh Meta Developer account to a live BossBot integration receiving your first webhook. Free (Meta gives 1,000 conversations/month), no BSP required.
Go to developers.facebook.com/apps, sign in with your Facebook account, click Create App and pick the Business use case. Any Facebook account can become a developer account for free — it's instant.
Inside your new app → left sidebar → Add Product → find WhatsApp → click Set Up. Meta will provision a test phone number automatically, so you can start immediately without a real number.
Go to WhatsApp → API Setup. You'll see a Phone Number ID — a long number like 123456789012345 — and an Access token starting with EAA.... For a permanent token: Business Settings → System Users → Add → generate token with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission.
In WhatsApp → Configuration → Webhook → Edit: set the Callback URL to https://bossbot.uk/webhook (exact, no trailing slash) and the Verify Token to the value BossBot generates for you at signup. Subscribe to the messages field, then click Verify and Save.
Create a BossBot account at bossbot.uk/signup — 7-day free trial, no credit card. During onboarding, paste your Phone Number ID and access token. BossBot validates them against Meta's API live and starts routing messages within seconds.
No. BossBot connects directly to your own Meta Cloud API app. No paid BSP required (like 360dialog, Wati, or Twilio) — messages flow through Meta Cloud API.
Meta gives 1,000 free service conversations per month per phone number. Beyond that, standard WhatsApp conversation rates apply (varying by country). BossBot's platform fee is separate and starts at $19/month.
The Phone Number ID is a 15-digit internal ID Meta assigns — not the human-readable phone number. Look for it in WhatsApp → API Setup under "From". Pasting the phone number instead of the Phone Number ID is the most common setup error.
Temporary tokens expire after 24 hours. Either regenerate on API Setup page, or switch to a permanent token via Business Settings → System Users → generate with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission.
Callback URL is exactly https://bossbot.uk/webhook (no trailing slash, https not http). Verify Token is copied exactly (case-sensitive) from the BossBot dashboard.
Meta Cloud API is available in most countries. Meta restricts business API access from a small set of regions — check the current Meta list at business.whatsapp.com. BossBot supports customers everywhere Meta does, plus Telegram + Viber for regions where WhatsApp Business API isn't practical.