Sticker messages

Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Sticker messages display animated or static sticker images in a WhatsApp message.

Request syntax

Use the Messages API to send a sticker message to a WhatsApp user.

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages' \  
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \  
-d '  
{  
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",  
  "recipient_type": "individual",  
  "to": "<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>",  
  "type": "sticker",  
  "sticker": {  
    "id": "<MEDIA_ID>", <!-- Only if using uploaded media -->  
    "link": "<MEDIA_URL>", <!-- Only if using hosted media (not recommended) -->  
  }  
}'

Post body parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
<ACCESS_TOKEN> String	Required. System token or business token.	EAAA...
<API_VERSION> String	Optional. Graph API version.	v25.0
<MEDIA_ID> String	Required if using uploaded media, otherwise omit. ID of the uploaded media asset.	1013859600285441
<MEDIA_URL> String	Required if using hosted media, otherwise omit. URL of the media asset hosted on your public server. For better performance, we recommend using id and an uploaded media asset ID instead.	https://www.luckyshrub.com/assets/animated-smiling-plant.webp
<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID> String	Required. WhatsApp business phone number ID.	106540352242922
<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER> String	Required. WhatsApp user phone number.	+16505551234

Supported sticker formats

WhatsApp supports the following sticker file formats and size limits for sticker messages.

Sticker Type	Extension	MIME Type	Max Size
Animated sticker	.webp	image/webp	500 KB
Static sticker	.webp	image/webp	100 KB

Example request

Example request to send an animated sticker image to a WhatsApp user.

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/106540352242922/messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '
{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "+16505551234",
  "type": "sticker",
  "sticker": {
    "id" : "798882015472548"
  }
}'

Example response

{  
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",  
  "contacts": [  
    {  
      "input": "+16505551234",  
      "wa_id": "16505551234"  
    }  
  ],  
  "messages": [  
    {  
      "id": "wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgARGBI1RjQyNUE3NEYxMzAzMzQ5MkEA"  
    }  
  ]  
}

Error handling

A request fails if the <MEDIA_ID> is invalid or has expired, if the sticker isn't a supported WebP type, or if the file exceeds the maximum size listed in Supported sticker formats. When a request fails, the API returns an error response instead of a message ID.

For the full list of error codes and recommended handling, see WhatsApp Cloud API error codes.