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WhatsApp error 131000: something went wrong

Error 131000 means a message failed for a reason Meta did not classify. It is the unclassified bucket, so the practical approach is to retry once with a backoff and, if it persists, escalate with the trace id from the response.

131000

Meta's code for an unknown message send failure.

131016

The related code for a service that is explicitly unavailable.

trace id

The response field Meta support asks for on an unclassified failure.

What it actually covers

Anything Meta's send path failed at without mapping the failure to a named code. That includes genuine transient faults, internal problems, and occasionally a condition that has a specific code in a newer version of the API but did not at the time.\n\nBecause the bucket is broad, no single response is right. A single occurrence is noise. The same recipient failing repeatedly with it is a pattern worth a ticket.

What to do with it

In order, stopping as soon as one works.

  • Retry once with a short backoff. A proportion of these are transient.
  • Log the full response including the trace id, which is what support will ask for.
  • Check whether it is one recipient or all of them. One recipient points at that number; all of them points at the platform.
  • If it persists across retries, open a ticket quoting the trace id and the timestamps.

Common mistakes

  • Retrying indefinitely. If two attempts fail, it is not transient.
  • Discarding the trace id. It is the only thing that makes a support ticket actionable.
  • Assuming it means your number is broken. It usually does not.
Doing this with EasyCoexistence

EasyCoexistence records connection events with timestamps, so an unclassified send failure can be checked against whether the number was healthy at that moment.

Frequently asked questions

Should I retry?

Once, with a backoff. Beyond that it is not transient.

What is a trace id?

An identifier in the error response that lets Meta support find the specific request.

Does it mean my number is down?

Usually not. Check whether other sends are succeeding.

When should I open a ticket?

When it repeats across retries, with the trace id and timestamps.

Keep reading

WhatsApp error 131016: service unavailableError 131016 means a WhatsApp service is temporarily unavailable. It is transient, and one of the few errors that a backoff retry actually resolves.WhatsApp error 131053: media upload failedError 131053 means Meta could not upload the media you sent. Size limits, unsupported formats and unreachable URLs account for nearly all of them.A number stopped working: how to find out whyA checklist in the order these failures actually happen: token, webhook override, inactivity disconnection, quality, and account restriction.WhatsApp Coexistence: the app and the API on one numberCoexistence runs the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API on the same number at once. What it changes, what it does not, and how a number gets connected.WhatsApp error 131021: sender and recipient are the sameError 131021 means you tried to send a message to your own number. It has exactly one cause and one fix.WhatsApp error 131045: phone number not registeredError 131045 means the number is not registered for messaging. What registration is, why it is separate from onboarding, and how Coexistence handles it.

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WhatsApp Error 131000