# Connect WhatsApp to SetLuca Coming soon. WhatsApp will use your own Cloud API account, and Meta will bill that account for messages sent once the connection is available. > WhatsApp is coming soon. It cannot be connected today. The setup steps below are a preview for later. ## What SetLuca does on WhatsApp It will be able to: - Read the messages sent to your WhatsApp Business number - Write a reply to each one, the way you write - Send it on its own with auto-send, or hold it for your approval in review, within WhatsApp's 24-hour window - Send an approved template when the window has closed It cannot: - Use a number that is already on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app; the number has to be free - Message anyone who has not written to you first - Read your personal WhatsApp ## Before you start About ten minutes, and not all of it in SetLuca, once you have these. - A Meta app of your own, created at developers.facebook.com, with the WhatsApp product added - A WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) in your Meta Business - A phone number that can receive an SMS or a call and is not currently registered on WhatsApp - A payment method on the WABA, because Meta bills you directly for messages - A System User access token with whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging - Your app secret, from the app's Settings -> Basic - The number's six-digit two-step verification PIN ## Setup preview for later 1. **Create the app and add WhatsApp.** At developers.facebook.com, create a Business app and add the WhatsApp product to it. This creates a WhatsApp Business Account under your Meta Business. 2. **Add and verify your number.** In the WhatsApp product settings, add the phone number and complete the SMS or call verification. Set a six-digit two-step verification PIN when asked, and write it down: SetLuca needs it once. 3. **Add a payment method.** In WhatsApp Manager, attach a payment method to the WhatsApp Business Account. Meta bills you for messages directly. SetLuca never sits in that billing relationship. 4. **Create a System User token.** In Business Settings -> Users -> System users, create a system user, give it access to your app and your WhatsApp Business Account, and generate a permanent token with the whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions. 5. **Paste the five values into SetLuca.** In SetLuca, pick WhatsApp, choose Set up WhatsApp, and paste the WhatsApp Business Account ID, the phone number ID, the System User token, the app secret, and the PIN. SetLuca checks each one with Meta before storing anything, registers the number, and subscribes to your account. 6. **Point your app's webhook at SetLuca.** This is the step SetLuca cannot do for you. In your app's WhatsApp settings, set the callback URL and verify token that SetLuca shows you on the connect screen. Without it, replies send but nothing ever arrives. 7. **Send yourself a test message.** Message your business number from a personal phone. It appears in SetLuca, and the reply goes out within seconds. ## What it costs Meta charges you per message, at rates that vary by country and message type, and bills the WhatsApp Business Account you own. That is separate from your SetLuca subscription. Meta's current rates are on its WhatsApp pricing page. See every [SetLuca plan](/pricing) and its limits. ## If something goes wrong ### Why is the number rejected during registration? It is still registered on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, and SetLuca needs a number that is on neither. Delete that account from the app first. Then add the number again in your Meta app's WhatsApp product settings, complete the SMS or call verification, and paste its phone number ID into SetLuca. ### You can send, so why does nothing ever arrive? Your app's webhook is not set, and it is the one step SetLuca cannot do for you. Copy the callback URL and verify token from the connect screen in SetLuca, then enter both in your Meta app's WhatsApp settings. To check, message your business number from a personal phone and watch it appear in SetLuca. ### Why does inbound stop working after you rotate the app secret? Meta signs every message it forwards to SetLuca with your app secret, and SetLuca checks that signature before accepting anything. After a rotation the old secret no longer matches, so incoming messages are refused. Copy the current secret from your app's Settings -> Basic and reconnect the number in SetLuca with it. ### What does it mean that your display name is still under review? Meta reviews the business name shown to leads before it appears on your messages. Connecting, receiving, and replying all work while the review is pending, so there is no need to wait before you start. Only the name a lead sees changes when it clears. You can follow its status in WhatsApp Manager. Still stuck? Email support@setluca.com and tell us which step you are on. ## What connecting gives us - SetLuca never posts, follows, or comments. It reads DMs and replies to them. - Every reply is written the way you write and passes a critic check first. Auto-send is on by default; switch a channel to review to approve each reply before it goes out. - Your DMs stay inside SetLuca. Never sold, never shared with other customers, never used to train outside models. - Disconnect any time from Settings -> Channels. Access ends the moment you do. Auto-send is on by default. Switch any channel to review and its replies wait for your approval. More on account protection: [Trust and account safety](/trust).