WhatsApp Ultimate

Everything you can do in WhatsApp, your AI agent can do too.

This skill documents all WhatsApp capabilities available through OpenClaw's native channel integration. No external Docker services, no CLI wrappers — just direct WhatsApp Web protocol via Baileys.

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Prerequisites

• OpenClaw with WhatsApp channel configured
• WhatsApp account linked via QR code (openclaw whatsapp login)

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Capabilities Overview

Total: 22 distinct actions + searchable history

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Messaging

Send Text

message action=send channel=whatsapp to="+34612345678" message="Hello!"

Send Media (Image/Video/Document)

message action=send channel=whatsapp to="+34612345678" message="Check this out" filePath=/path/to/image.jpg

Supported: JPG, PNG, GIF, MP4, PDF, DOC, etc.

Send Poll

message action=poll channel=whatsapp to="+34612345678" pollQuestion="What time?" pollOption=["3pm", "4pm", "5pm"]

Send Sticker

message action=sticker channel=whatsapp to="+34612345678" filePath=/path/to/sticker.webp

Must be WebP format, ideally 512x512.

Send Voice Note

message action=send channel=whatsapp to="+34612345678" filePath=/path/to/audio.ogg asVoice=true

Critical: Use OGG/Opus format for WhatsApp voice notes. MP3 may not play correctly.

Send GIF

message action=send channel=whatsapp to="+34612345678" filePath=/path/to/animation.mp4 gifPlayback=true

Convert GIF to MP4 first (WhatsApp requires this):

ffmpeg -i input.gif -movflags faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p -vf "scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2" output.mp4 -y

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Interactions

Add Reaction

message action=react channel=whatsapp chatJid="34612345678@s.whatsapp.net" messageId="ABC123" emoji="🚀"

Remove Reaction

message action=react channel=whatsapp chatJid="34612345678@s.whatsapp.net" messageId="ABC123" remove=true

Reply/Quote Message

message action=reply channel=whatsapp to="34612345678@s.whatsapp.net" replyTo="QUOTED_MSG_ID" message="Replying to this!"

Edit Message (Own Messages Only)

message action=edit channel=whatsapp chatJid="34612345678@s.whatsapp.net" messageId="ABC123" message="Updated text"

Unsend/Delete Message

message action=unsend channel=whatsapp chatJid="34612345678@s.whatsapp.net" messageId="ABC123"

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Group Management

Create Group

message action=group-create channel=whatsapp name="Project Team" participants=["+34612345678", "+34687654321"]

Rename Group

message action=renameGroup channel=whatsapp groupId="123456789@g.us" name="New Name"

Set Group Icon

message action=setGroupIcon channel=whatsapp groupId="123456789@g.us" filePath=/path/to/icon.jpg

Set Group Description

message action=setGroupDescription channel=whatsapp groupJid="123456789@g.us" description="Team chat for Q1 project"

Add Participant

message action=addParticipant channel=whatsapp groupId="123456789@g.us" participant="+34612345678"

Remove Participant

message action=removeParticipant channel=whatsapp groupId="123456789@g.us" participant="+34612345678"

Promote to Admin

message action=promoteParticipant channel=whatsapp groupJid="123456789@g.us" participants=["+34612345678"]

Demote from Admin

message action=demoteParticipant channel=whatsapp groupJid="123456789@g.us" participants=["+34612345678"]

Leave Group

message action=leaveGroup channel=whatsapp groupId="123456789@g.us"

Get Invite Link

message action=getInviteCode channel=whatsapp groupJid="123456789@g.us"

Returns: https://chat.whatsapp.com/XXXXX

Revoke Invite Link

message action=revokeInviteCode channel=whatsapp groupJid="123456789@g.us"

Get Group Info

message action=getGroupInfo channel=whatsapp groupJid="123456789@g.us"

Returns: name, description, participants, admins, creation date.

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Access Control

DM Policy

Control who can DM your agent in openclaw.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "dmPolicy": "allowlist",
      "allowFrom": ["+34612345678", "+14155551234"],
      "triggerPrefix": "Jarvis"
    }
  }
}

Group Policy

{
  "channels": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "groupPolicy": "open",
      "groupAllowFrom": ["+34612345678", "+14155551234"]
    }
  }
}

Self-Chat Mode

{
  "channels": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "selfChatMode": true
    }
  }
}

Allows messaging yourself (your "Note to Self" chat) to interact with the agent.

Trigger Prefix

{
  "channels": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "triggerPrefix": "Jarvis"
    }
  }
}

Messages must start with this prefix to trigger the agent. Works in:

• Self-chat
• Allowed DMs
• Any DM where you (the owner) message with the prefix

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JID Formats

WhatsApp uses JIDs (Jabber IDs) internally:

When using to= with phone numbers, OpenClaw auto-converts to JID format.

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Tips

Voice Notes

Always use OGG/Opus format:

ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libopus -b:a 64k output.ogg

Stickers

Convert images to WebP stickers:

ffmpeg -i input.png -vf "scale=512:512:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=512:512:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:color=0x00000000" output.webp

Rate Limits

WhatsApp has anti-spam measures. Avoid:

• Bulk messaging to many contacts
• Rapid-fire messages
• Messages to contacts who haven't messaged you first

Message IDs

To react/edit/unsend, you need the message ID. Incoming messages include this in the event payload. For your own sent messages, the send response includes the ID.

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Comparison with Other Skills

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Message History & Search (v1.2.0+)

OpenClaw now stores all WhatsApp messages in a local SQLite database with full-text search (FTS5). Never lose a conversation again.

How It Works

Live Messages (Baileys) ──┐
                          ├──→ SQLite + FTS5 ──→ whatsapp_history tool
WhatsApp Exports (.txt) ──┘

• Live capture: Every new message automatically saved
• Historical import: Bulk import from WhatsApp chat exports
• Full-text search: Find any message by content, sender, or chat

Searching History

Use the whatsapp_history tool (available to your agent automatically):

# Search by keyword
whatsapp_history action=search query="meeting tomorrow"

# Filter by chat
whatsapp_history action=search chat="Family Group" limit=50

# Find what you said
whatsapp_history action=search fromMe=true query="I promised"

# Filter by sender
whatsapp_history action=search sender="John" limit=20

# Date range
whatsapp_history action=search since="2026-01-01" until="2026-02-01"

# Database stats
whatsapp_history action=stats

Importing Historical Messages

WhatsApp doesn't expose infinite history via API. To get older messages:

1. Export from phone: Settings → Chats → Chat history → Export chat → Without media
2. Save the .txt files somewhere accessible
3. Import:

whatsapp_history action=import path="/path/to/exports"

Or import a single chat:

whatsapp_history action=import path="/path/to/chat.txt" chatName="Family Group"

Database Location

~/.openclaw/data/whatsapp-history.db

SQLite file with WAL mode for concurrent access.

Use Cases

• "What did I tell Sarah about the meeting?"
• "Find all messages mentioning 'deadline'"
• "Show my recent messages to the work group"
• "When did John mention the quarterly report?"

The agent can now answer these questions by searching your complete WhatsApp history.

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Troubleshooting

Messages from family/friends not reaching agent

Symptom: You added someone to groupAllowFrom but their DMs don't work.

Fix: Add them to allowFrom too. groupAllowFrom only controls group message access, not DMs.

{
  "allowFrom": ["+34612345678", "+14155551234"],
  "groupAllowFrom": ["+34612345678", "+14155551234"]
}

Can't tell who sent which message in a DM

Symptom: All messages in a DM conversation show the same phone number.

Cause: Prior to OpenClaw 2026.2.1, DM messages showed the chat ID (the other person's number) instead of the actual sender.

Fix: Update to latest OpenClaw. The agent now correctly distinguishes between messages you send and messages the other person sends in the same conversation.

Voice notes won't play on WhatsApp

Symptom: Audio file sends but shows as unplayable.

Fix: Use OGG/Opus format, not MP3:

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -c:a libopus -b:a 64k output.ogg

Then send with asVoice=true.

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Architecture

Your Agent
    ↓
OpenClaw message tool
    ↓
WhatsApp Channel Plugin
    ↓
Baileys (WhatsApp Web Protocol)
    ↓
WhatsApp Servers

No external services. No Docker. No CLI tools. Direct protocol integration.

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Credits

Created by Oscar Serra with the help of Claude (Anthropic).

The skill that finally made WhatsApp work the way it should.

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License

MIT — Part of OpenClaw

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Links

• OpenClaw Fork: https://github.com/globalcaos/clawdbot-moltbot-openclaw
• Baileys: https://github.com/WhiskeySockets/Baileys
• ClawHub: https://clawhub.com