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I am using the node-whatsapi library

I am getting the number blocked. I am following the exact protocol as mentioned in the WIKI.

The flow that i follow is:

  1. Create Adapter
  2. Connect()
  3. On Connect - Login
  4. On Login
    • sendIsOnline()
    • requestPrivacySettings()
    • requestServerProperties()
    • requestContactsSync()
    • For Each Contact sendPresenceSubscription(), getStatus() and getProfilePicture()

And when i receive a message:

  1. adapter.requestContactsSync('1234567890', 'delta', 'background');
  2. getProfilePicture()
  3. Save to DB

Now, what we do and why do we use WhatsApi

We enable our existing Customers to talk to their internal teams on WhatsApp. So, a customer initates a chat and a help desk team responds to them on an application.

Got the number blocked now. Unable to understand where am i going wrong.

Also, the total number of messages exchanged between the customer and the helpdesk team is around 1k a day.

nathanchere
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Guns
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    It is unlikely that folks can help you if you don't show us your actual code. Questions about code that doesn't work should always contain the relevant code that has the problem. – jfriend00 Jul 07 '15 at 07:23
  • Reference your question on Github, https://github.com/hidespb/node-whatsapi/issues/84 – sbarow Jul 10 '15 at 07:30
  • Thanks @sbarow, this question is asked by me. I will add a link in my question as well – Guns Jul 10 '15 at 07:35

2 Answers2

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What you're "doing wrong" is using a third party API which is against WhatsApp's terms of service and, if detected, will get your relevant accounts blocked. It's not a fault with WhatsAPI itself or how you are using it.

WhatsApp openly publishes the only approved/compliant way to programmatically interact with their network.

Outside of that, you are going to get blocked whenever you are detected as using an unapproved means of interacting with their network.

In your particular example you're using a Node.js port of the original WhatsAPI. As of May 2015 this is the kind of pressure they are dealing with from WhatsApp (despite many years of trying to negotiate an amicable compromise with them around things like message limits and identity verification):

enter image description here

It sucks but that's just how it is. You can look at some alternatives which are still actively updated and may continue working for a while, but given that WhatsApp is now owned by Facebook and considering the kind of legal resources at their disposal, you should be able to see why one might be reluctant to continue updating a rogue API.

nathanchere
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  • Thanks for the reply, but there are companies like Casengo, Wasify, etc selling customer service via whatsapp. I am not making money out of it, its just an in-house project... – Guns Jul 15 '15 at 15:37
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    Making money out of it or not is irrelevant. If you are detected accessing the network via an unapproved method, you will end up blocked. If companies are selling customer service via WhatsApp I see only a few possibilities. 1) They are using actual WhatsApp apps 2) They have some agreement with WhatsApp directly, possibly exposing an official API subject and almost certainly subject to an NDA 3) They are doing as you are and will sooner or later end up with their accounts blocked too. – nathanchere Jul 15 '15 at 15:43
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    Also "I am not making money out of this" - contradicts "We enable our existing Customers to talk to their internal teams on WhatsApp". It doesn't have to be the direct source of revenue to be considered as for commercial gain. – nathanchere Jul 15 '15 at 15:45
  • Well, by Customers i mean Internal customers. We at our company say that different departments are IT Customers. Sorry for the miscommunication though. – Guns Jul 15 '15 at 16:17
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Well, got a satisfactory answer from WhatsApi collaborator matteocontrini.

Here is the answer that i got, if somebody is intrested.

It says:

the reason of getting blocked doesn't have to be because you wrote wrong code. It could be a filter on the kind of messages you send or a report from someone about your number.

Guns
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  • What kind of messages were you sending? – Volatil3 Jun 07 '16 at 10:16
  • Well, it was only a conversation that was happening. Anyways, I have given up with WhatsApi. Its very unstable. Cannot even use for internal purposes. – Guns Jun 09 '16 at 09:24