Contextual replies

Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Contextual replies are a special way of responding to a WhatsApp user message. Sending a message as a contextual reply makes it clearer to the user which message you are replying to by quoting the previous message in a contextual bubble:

Limitations

• You cannot send a reaction message as a contextual reply.

The contextual bubble does not appear at the top of the delivered message if:

• The previous message has been deleted or moved to long term storage (messages are typically moved to long term storage after 30 days, unless you have enabled local storage).
• You reply with an audio, image, or video message and the WhatsApp user is running KaiOS.
• You use the WhatsApp client to reply with a push-to-talk⁠ message and the WhatsApp user is running KaiOS.
• You reply with a template message.

Request syntax

POST /<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages

Post body

{  
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",  
  "recipient_type": "individual",  
  "to": "<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>",  
  "context": {  
    "message_id": "WAMID_TO_REPLY_TO"  
  },  
  
  /* Message type and type contents goes here */  
  
}

Post body parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
<WAMID_TO_REPLY_TO> String	Required. WhatsApp message ID (wamid) of the previous message you want to reply to.	wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgASGBQzQTdCNTg5RjY1MEMyRjlGMjRGNgA=
<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER> String	Required. WhatsApp user phone number.	+16505551234

Example request

Example of a text message sent as a reply to a previous message.

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v19.0/106540352242922/messages' \  
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \  
-d '  
{  
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",  
  "recipient_type": "individual",  
  "to": "+16505551234",  
  "context": {  
    "message_id": "wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgASGBQzQTdCNTg5RjY1MEMyRjlGMjRGNgA="  
  },  
  "type": "text",  
  "text": {  
    "body": "You're welcome, Pablo!"  
  }  
}'