How to Connect Whatsapp Business to Gemini — via MCP

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → WhatsApp Business, paste your permanent System User access token + WhatsApp Business Account ID, then connect Gemini — done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server to run. You can skip the local-install steps below and jump straight to the client-wiring section.

Connect WhatsApp Business to Gemini

WhatsApp Business Cloud API is Meta's hosted gateway for sending WhatsApp messages programmatically — text, templates, media, voice notes, interactive buttons, location pins. With AnythingMCP you drive all of it from Gemini CLI in plain English. No SDK to glue, no JSON-by-hand for every message type.

What you can ask Gemini

• "Send 'Your order has shipped — track it at https://acme.com/t/12345' to +49 151 5123 4567." Uses whatsapp_send_text_message (only inside the 24-hour window, see below).
• "Send the order_confirmation template (en_US) to +1 555 123 4567, fill in 'John' and 'ORD-9912'." Uses whatsapp_send_template_message.
• "Send the invoice PDF at https://acme.com/inv/9912.pdf to my customer with caption 'Invoice 9912'." Uses whatsapp_send_document.
• "List the approved templates on my WABA, then send the welcome one in Italian to this new lead." Uses whatsapp_list_message_templates, then whatsapp_send_template_message.
• "Ask the customer to pick a delivery slot: morning, afternoon or evening." Uses whatsapp_send_interactive_buttons (up to three reply buttons).
• "Update our WhatsApp business profile: new address and opening hours in the description." Uses whatsapp_update_business_profile.

What you need

• A WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) with at least one verified sending number. Meta's test number works for trying things out, but only sends to numbers you have added as testers.
• A permanent System User access token with whatsapp_business_messaging + whatsapp_business_management permissions (the temporary 24h dev token works for testing but expires).
• Approved message templates for anything you send outside the 24-hour window. You create them in Meta Business Suite; Meta has to approve them before they can be sent.
• AnythingMCP running locally or on cloud.anythingmcp.com (3-minute setup).
• Gemini CLI installed.

Meta charges for WhatsApp Business messages according to its own price list, separately from AnythingMCP; see Meta's WhatsApp pricing page for your countries.

Step 1 — Get your WhatsApp Business credentials

1. Open https://developers.facebook.com/ → your App → WhatsApp → API Setup. Note the WhatsApp Business Account ID (WABA ID).
2. Go to Meta Business Suite → Business Settings → System Users, create a System User, assign your WABA, and Generate a New Token with both whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management permissions. Copy it — you can't see it again.
3. Make sure your sending phone number is verified in API Setup (the test number works out of the box; for production, add and verify your own).

Step 2 — Install the WhatsApp Business 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

Open http://localhost:3000/connectors/store, click WhatsApp Business, and fill in:

Click Install — the adapter is now in your catalog with 14 tools.

Step 3 — Find your phoneNumberId once

Ask Gemini to call whatsapp_list_phone_numbers. It reads the numbers on the WABA you configured and returns the id of each sending number — pin that value, every send tool needs it as phoneNumberId. The connector does not pick a default number for you.

Recipients go in the to field in international format, country code first and without the +: 4915151234567 for a German mobile, 15551234567 for the US.

Step 4 — Add the connector in Gemini

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.

Gemini CLI reads MCP servers from ~/.gemini/settings.json (on Windows %USERPROFILE%\.gemini\settings.json). Add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anythingmcp": {
      "httpUrl": "https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID",
      "headers": { "X-API-Key": "YOUR_MCP_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

1. Create an MCP API key in AnythingMCP under MCP Servers → your server → API keys, and paste it in place of YOUR_MCP_API_KEY.
2. Save the file and restart gemini.
3. Run /mcp inside Gemini CLI (or gemini mcp list in your shell) — anythingmcp should show as connected.
4. Start prompting — Gemini CLI can now call the WhatsApp Business tools.

Available tools (14 total)

The 24-hour window — what your agent needs to know

WhatsApp only lets you send free-form messages (text, media, interactive, location) inside the 24 hours following the user's last inbound message to your number. Outside that window the only allowed sends are pre-approved templates — call whatsapp_send_template_message with the template name and language.

The adapter's instructions block tells Gemini this rule, so when you ask "send a follow-up to that customer" days after their last reply, Gemini will reach for whatsapp_send_template_message instead of free-form text.

Voice notes

Use whatsapp_send_audio with link pointing to an OGG-Opus file hosted on a public HTTPS URL. WhatsApp renders OGG-Opus as a true voice message (waveform + play button). MP3 and AMR also work but render as plain audio attachments.

Troubleshooting

• Everything worked yesterday, now every call is refused. You are probably still on the temporary access token from API Setup, which expires after 24 hours. Generate a permanent System User token and replace WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN.
• Sending fails, reading templates works. The System User token lacks whatsapp_business_messaging, or the System User is not assigned to this WABA. Both permissions are needed: whatsapp_business_management for templates and numbers, whatsapp_business_messaging for sending.
• A template send is rejected. The template is not yet APPROVED, or the name or language code doesn't match exactly. Have Gemini check with whatsapp_list_message_templates first.
• An image or document never arrives. The link has to be a public HTTPS URL that Meta's servers can download, within WhatsApp's size limits (image 5 MB, audio and video 16 MB, document 100 MB).
• The recipient number is rejected. Use the international format without +, spaces or a leading zero, for example 4915151234567.

FAQ

Does this work without a verified business number? Meta's test number works for testing (only sends to numbers you've added as testers). For production sends to any recipient, your sending number must be verified and registered to your WABA.

What happens if I send free-form text outside the 24h window? Meta returns error code 131047 ("Re-engagement message"). Use whatsapp_send_template_message instead.

Can the adapter receive inbound messages? Not directly — Meta uses webhooks for inbound, and the AnythingMCP REST engine is outbound-only. Host a small webhook receiver next to AnythingMCP and use this connector for outbound + whatsapp_mark_message_as_read for receipts.

Is it free? AnythingMCP is open source under AGPL-3.0, so self-hosting is free, including commercial use inside your own company; AnythingMCP Cloud comes with a 7-day free trial. WhatsApp messages themselves are billed by Meta according to its pricing.

Is my data stored by AnythingMCP? Your Meta access token is stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM) in your workspace and is never shown to Gemini. AnythingMCP passes each send request to Meta and the response back to Gemini, and every call is recorded in your workspace's audit log. Inbound messages never reach AnythingMCP; they go to your own webhook.

Where does Gemini CLI look for MCP servers? In ~/.gemini/settings.json for your user, or in .gemini/settings.json inside a project. gemini mcp list shows each server and whether it connects.

Next steps

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