WhatsApp Coexistence glossary
The terms around WhatsApp Coexistence are easy to confuse, and most of the confusion in practice comes from two people using one word for different things. These are the definitions this site uses, each linked to the page that covers it properly.
- Coexistence
Meta's official mode for running the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API on one number at the same time. Not a separate API: the same Cloud API, onboarded so the app keeps working.
WhatsApp Coexistence- Cloud API
Meta's hosted WhatsApp Business Platform API. Every send, template and webhook on this site runs through it.
Cloud API or Coexistence- WhatsApp Business app
The app a business uses on a phone. Distinct from the consumer WhatsApp app, and a number must be on it before Coexistence can connect it.
- WhatsApp Business AccountWABA
The Meta object that holds phone numbers and templates. Sits inside a Business Portfolio. Webhook overrides are applied at this level rather than per number.
- Business Portfolio
The company level container in Meta Business Manager. Holds one or more WhatsApp Business Accounts. A client's number stays in their portfolio, not a provider's.
Meta Tech Provider- Phone number id
Meta's identifier for one connected number. Sending targets this rather than the number itself, and it appears in every inbound webhook payload.
- Embedded Signup
Meta's own onboarding popup. Picks the portfolio, the account and the number, and for Coexistence includes a code scanned in the WhatsApp Business app.
How a number connects- Tech Provider
A Meta status permitting a company to connect other businesses' numbers through its own approved app. Free to obtain, gated on business verification and App Review. Not an endorsement.
What it means- BSPBusiness Solution Provider
A company selling a messaging platform, usually a shared inbox. Overlaps with Tech Provider but describes the product rather than the Meta status.
Coexistence or a BSP- Webhook destinationwebhook override
Where Meta delivers a WhatsApp Business Account's events. Set as an override on an app's subscription, which is why removing a connection uninstalls it.
WhatsApp webhooks- hub.challenge
A value Meta sends in its verification GET. The endpoint must return it as the raw body. Returning JSON instead is the most common reason a webhook never receives anything.
Webhook verification- messages
The webhook field carrying what customers send. Part of the message path, which is what a webhook override routes away from a provider.
- smb_message_echoes
The webhook field carrying what a team sends from the WhatsApp Business app. Only exists on Coexistence numbers, and is how software sees a human's replies.
- Customer service windowthe 24 hour window
Twenty four hours from the customer's last message, during which free text delivers. Outside it, only an approved template does.
Error 131047- Template
A message submitted to Meta for review in advance. The only thing that delivers outside the customer service window, and on a Coexistence number it can only be sent through the API.
Error 132001- Quality rating
Green, yellow or red, assigned by Meta from how recipients react. Falls before it costs anything, and nothing announces the fall.
Error 131048- Messaging tier
How many unique customers a number may start conversations with per day. Moves in both directions. Distinct from throughput, which is a rate.
- Throughput
Messages per second a number may send. Fixed by Meta on a Coexistence number rather than scaling with quality and tier.
Error 130429- Linked device
The consumer WhatsApp client signed in elsewhere, as WhatsApp Web does. What unofficial tools automate, what WhatsApp's terms prohibit, and what gets numbers banned.
Unofficial API risks- MCPModel Context Protocol
How an AI assistant reaches a tool it does not own. Request and response only: an MCP server cannot be woken by an incoming message.
WhatsApp MCP server
Why does the vocabulary cause so much trouble?
Because several of these terms name things at different levels that all feel like the same level.
A Business Portfolio holds a WhatsApp Business Account, which holds phone numbers, each with a phone number id. In conversation all four get called the account, and a sentence like check the account is working can mean four different checks. The same happens with the two twenty four hour windows on this platform, which measure unrelated things and are constantly swapped for one another.
The other half of it is that Meta and providers use different words for the same thing, and providers do not agree with each other either. This page uses Meta's own vocabulary where it exists, and says plainly when a term is ours.
Which distinctions actually matter in practice?
Three, and each one has cost somebody a day.
The customer service window and the synchronization window are both twenty four hours and have nothing to do with each other. One governs whether free text delivers, counted from the customer's last message. The other governs whether chat history can still be pulled across, counted from onboarding.
A linked device is not an API. It is the consumer WhatsApp client signed in somewhere else, which is what unofficial tools automate and what gets numbers banned.
And a webhook destination is not a setting on a number. It is an override on an app's subscription to an account, which is why it disappears when a connection is removed and has to be put back on reconnection.
Frequently asked questions
Is Coexistence a different API from the Cloud API?
No. Coexistence is a way of onboarding a number onto the Cloud API that leaves the WhatsApp Business app working on it. The endpoints, the message format and the rules are identical.
What is the difference between a Business Portfolio and a WABA?
The Business Portfolio is the company level container in Meta Business Manager. A WhatsApp Business Account sits inside it and holds the phone numbers. One portfolio can hold several WABAs.
Is a BSP the same as a Tech Provider?
They overlap but describe different things. Tech Provider is a Meta status permitting a company to connect other businesses' numbers through its own app. BSP usually describes a company selling a messaging platform, which may or may not hold that status itself.
What does MCP have to do with WhatsApp?
Nothing inherently. MCP is a protocol for giving an AI assistant access to a tool, and a WhatsApp MCP server exposes a number as one of those tools. It cannot receive messages, only act when asked.
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