# Connect WhatsApp to Luca WhatsApp runs on your own Cloud API account, so this is the long one: about ten minutes inside Meta's tooling, and Meta bills you for the messages you send. > WhatsApp is not open for new connections yet. It needs Meta's review before we can connect coach accounts safely. Join the waitlist inside Luca and we will email you the day it opens. ## What Luca does on WhatsApp It can: - Read the messages sent to your WhatsApp Business number - Draft a reply in your voice for each one - Send a reply once you approve it, within WhatsApp's 24-hour window - Send an approved template when the window has closed - Send at a human pace and take breaks like a person, so activity stays natural 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 Luca, 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 ## The steps 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: Luca 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. Luca 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 Luca.** In Luca, 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. Luca checks each one with Meta before storing anything, registers the number, and subscribes to your account. 6. **Point your app's webhook at Luca.** This is the step Luca cannot do for you. In your app's WhatsApp settings, set the callback URL and verify token that Luca 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 Luca with a draft reply within a few 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 Luca subscription. Meta's current rates are on its WhatsApp pricing page. See every [Luca 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. Delete that account from the app first, then add the number to Cloud API. ### You can send, so why does nothing ever arrive? Your app's webhook is not set. Go back to the callback URL and verify token from the connect screen and enter both in your app's WhatsApp settings. ### Why does inbound stop working after you rotate the app secret? Your app signs every message Meta forwards to us, so the old secret no longer matches. Reconnect the number in Luca with the current secret. ### What does it mean that your display name is still under review? Meta reviews the business name shown to leads. Connecting, receiving, and replying all work while it is pending; only the name a lead sees changes when it clears. Still stuck? Email hello@setluca.com and tell us which step you are on. ## What connecting gives us - Luca never posts, follows, or comments. It reads DMs and drafts replies. - Every reply waits in your review queue. Nothing sends until you approve it. - Your DMs stay inside Luca. Never sold, never shared with other coaches, never used to train outside models. - Disconnect any time from Settings -> Channels. Access ends the moment you do. Every reply still waits in your [review queue](/features/review-queue). More on how we protect your accounts: [Trust and account safety](/trust). Luca is the product; SetLuca is the company that builds it.