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Catalog messages
Updated: Jun 18, 2026
Catalog messages let you showcase your product catalog entirely within WhatsApp.
Catalog messages display a product thumbnail header image of your choice, custom body text, a fixed text header, a fixed text sub-header, and a View catalog button.

When a customer taps the View catalog button, your product catalog appears within WhatsApp.

Requirements
You must have inventory uploaded to Meta in an ecommerce catalog connected to your WhatsApp Business account.
Request syntax
Use the Messages API to send a catalog message.
POST /<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messagesPost body
{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"recipient_type": "individual",
"to": "<TO>",
"type": "interactive",
"interactive" : {
"type" : "catalog_message",
"body" : {
"text": "<BODY_TEXT>"
},
"action": {
"name": "catalog_message",
/* Parameters object is optional */
"parameters": {
"thumbnail_product_retailer_id": "<THUMBNAIL_PRODUCT_RETAILER_ID>"
}
},
/* Footer object is optional */
"footer": {
"text": "<FOOTER_TEXT>"
}
}Properties
| Placeholder | Description | Sample Value |
|---|---|---|
<BODY_TEXT> String | Required. Text to appear in the message body. Maximum 1024 characters. | Hello! Thanks for your interest. Ordering is easy. Just visit our catalog and add items to purchase. |
<FOOTER_TEXT> String | Optional. Text to appear in the message footer. Maximum 60 characters. | Best grocery deals on WhatsApp! |
<THUMBNAIL_PRODUCT_RETAILER_ID> String | Optional. Item SKU number. Labeled as Content ID in the Commerce Manager. WhatsApp uses the thumbnail of this item as the message's header image. If you omit the parameters object, WhatsApp uses the product image of the first item in your catalog. | 2lc20305pt |
<TO> String | Customer phone number. | +16505551234 |
Example request
curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v17.0/106540352242922/messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '
{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"recipient_type": "individual",
"to": "+16505551234",
"type": "interactive",
"interactive": {
"type": "catalog_message",
"body": {
"text": "Hello! Thanks for your interest. Ordering is easy. Just visit our catalog and add items to purchase."
},
"action": {
"name": "catalog_message",
"parameters": {
"thumbnail_product_retailer_id": "2lc20305pt"
}
},
"footer": {
"text": "Best grocery deals on WhatsApp!"
}
}
}'Example response
{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"contacts": [
{
"input": "+16505551234",
"wa_id": "16505551234"
}
],
"messages": [
{
"id": "wamid.HBgLMTY1MDM4Nzk0MzkVAgARGBI0ODVEREUwQzEzQkVBRjQ1RUUA"
}
]
}