How to Connect WATI to ChatGPT via MCP

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → WATI, paste your credentials, mint an MCP API key and you're done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server.

WATI + ChatGPT

Run your WATI WhatsApp Business inbox from your AI: list approved templates, find, add and update contacts, read a contact's chat history, assign conversations to team members, and send a template message. Session, interactive and bulk sends are installed switched off.

Prerequisites

See the full setup instructions baked into the connector (visible in the in-app store when you select the connector). The required environment variables for this connector are:

WATI_API_ENDPOINT, WATI_ACCESS_TOKEN

Step 1 — Get credentials

Setting up takes about 2 minutes. You need a WATI workspace on the Growth plan or higher, and its API Endpoint and Access Token.

1. Sign in to WATI and open API Docs in the menu (in newer workspaces Connector → API).
2. Copy the API Endpoint into WATI_API_ENDPOINT as WATI shows it, e.g. https://live-mt-server.wati.io/123456, without /api/v1 at the end. The number at the end is your workspace (tenant) id.
3. Copy the Access Token into WATI_ACCESS_TOKEN without the word Bearer: WATI shows it as Bearer eyJ..., so paste only the part from eyJ on.
4. Install the connector and run wati_list_message_templates: it lists your WhatsApp templates and shows that endpoint and token belong together.

API v1 only: the connector works with WATI's API v1. WATI's newer API v3 does not accept the token from the API Docs screen, so its extra features (conversation tags and status, channels, campaigns, credits) are not part of this connector. The token is sent only to your API Endpoint, and it stops working when the account password changes.

What it reads: your message templates with category, status (APPROVED, PENDING, REJECTED), language, header, body with its placeholders, footer and buttons; your contacts with WhatsApp number, name, opt-in, broadcast permission, custom attributes and teams, filtered by name, by an attribute or by creation date; and the chat history with one contact, newest first, with delivery status, operator and ticket events.

Numbers: WhatsApp numbers go in international format with the country code and without + or spaces, e.g. 919876543210. Where a tool asks for a contact you can also pass a WATI contact id. If your workspace has several WhatsApp numbers, the AI can choose which business number to use.

Templates and the 24-hour window: outside the 24 hours after the customer's last message, WhatsApp only allows approved templates, and only templates with status APPROVED can be sent. Inside the window, free text and reply buttons are allowed. Meta charges template messages per conversation.

Asks before every change: wati_send_template_message sends one template to one number and the customer receives it at once; wati_add_contact adds a contact with a name and custom attributes; wati_update_contact_attributes sets attributes such as order status or lead stage and leaves the others as they are. Before each of them the AI shows you the number, the template and values or the change, and waits for your yes. wati_assign_operator hands a chat to a team member by email, or back to the bot, and only changes the shared inbox.

Switched off at install: wati_send_session_message (free text in an open 24-hour session), wati_send_interactive_buttons (a message with up to three reply buttons) and wati_send_template_broadcast (one template to up to 1,000 numbers per call, and every recipient is messaged and charged). They reach customers directly, so an administrator turns them on deliberately, and even then the AI confirms every send with you.

Limits: about 10 requests per 10 seconds for contacts and messages, and 30 to 100 template sends per 10 seconds depending on your plan. A 429 means wait a few seconds and try again.

Common errors: 401 means the token is wrong, expired or still starts with Bearer. 403 means the token or your plan does not allow the call. 404 usually means a wrong API Endpoint. WATI also answers some failures with HTTP 200 and result false, for example an invalid number or a template that is not approved: the connector turns these into errors with WATI's text. A contact who never chatted with you has no chat history (Can't find Conversation). A successful send means WATI accepted the message, not that it was delivered.

The connector does not use API v3, create or delete templates, schedule campaigns or CSV sends, send media, files, list or CTA messages, build chatbots or segments, set up webhooks, handle WhatsApp Pay, or rotate the token.

Step 2 — Install the adapter

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml -o docker-compose.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d

Step 3 — Add the connector in ChatGPT

Your server URL: in AnythingMCP, open MCP Servers → the server this connector is on, and copy its URL (https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/…). Use it wherever this guide shows YOUR_SERVER_ID.

ChatGPT adds MCP servers as plugins on its Plugins page, on the web and on paid plans. Developer mode is no longer needed. In a Business workspace only admins and owners can add one; in Enterprise and Edu an admin can grant the Create plugins with MCPs permission.

1. Go to chatgpt.com/plugins, click +, then Add custom MCP server.
2. Enter a name, e.g. Name: WATI.
3. Under Connection, enter the Server URL https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID and keep Authentication on OAuth.
4. Select I understand and want to continue, then Create as a plugin. When ChatGPT asks, sign in to AnythingMCP and allow access.
5. Install the new plugin from your personal plugins, then type @ in a chat and pick it.

Available tools

Example prompts

• "Find the contact Priya Sharma and show me her last WhatsApp messages with us."
• "Which of our approved templates fit an order shipped update, and which values do they need?"
• "Send the order_shipped template to 919876543210 with name Rahul and order number 4512. Show me everything before it goes out."
• "Set lead_stage to qualified for 919812345678 and assign the chat to [email protected]."
• "List the contacts created today whose city is Pune."

FAQ

Does the free ChatGPT plan work with custom MCP servers? OpenAI documents custom MCP servers for paid plans only; the Free plan is not on its list.

Next steps

• Connector landing page
• Connect to Claude
• Connect to Cursor
• Connect to Gemini
• Connect to Meta Muse