template_category_update webhook reference

Updated: Jun 17, 2026

This reference describes trigger events and payload contents for the WhatsApp Business account template_category_update webhook.

The template_category_update webhook notifies you of changes to template's category.

Triggers

• The existing category of a WhatsApp template is going to be changed by an automated process.
• The existing category of a WhatsApp template is changed manually or by an automated process.

Syntax

{  
  "object": "whatsapp_business_account",  
  "entry": [  
    {  
      "id": "<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>",  
      "time": <WEBHOOK_TRIGGER_TIMESTAMP>,  
      "changes": [  
        {  
          "field": "template_category_update",  
          "value": {  
            "message_template_id": <TEMPLATE_ID>,  
            "message_template_name": "<TEMPLATE_NAME>",  
            "message_template_language": "<TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE>",  
  
            <!-- impending category change notifications only -->  
            "correct_category": "<CORRECT_CATEGORY>",  
            "new_category": "<CURRENT_CATEGORY>",  
            "category_update_timestamp": <CATEGORY_UPDATE_TIMESTAMP>  
  
            <!-- completed category change notifications only -->  
            "previous_category": "<PREVIOUS_CATEGORY>",  
            "new_category": "<NEW_CATEGORY>"  
  
          }  
        }  
      ]  
    }  
  ]  
}

Parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example value
<CORRECT_CATEGORY> String	The category that the template will be recategorized as in 24 hours.	MARKETING
<CURRENT_CATEGORY> String	The template's current category.	MARKETING
<NEW_CATEGORY> String	The template's new category.	MARKETING
<CATEGORY_UPDATE_TIMESTAMP> Integer	The Unix timestamp (in seconds) indicating when the template's category will be updated to the <CORRECT_CATEGORY> specified in the webhook. This value represents the moment the update is scheduled to occur.	1760711433
<PREVIOUS_CATEGORY> String	The template's previous category.	UTILITY
<TEMPLATE_ID> Integer	Template ID.	278077987957091
<TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE> String	Template language and locale code.	en-US
<TEMPLATE_NAME> String	Template name.	welcome_template
<WEBHOOK_TRIGGER_TIMESTAMP> Integer	Unix timestamp indicating when the webhook was triggered.	1739321024
<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID> String	WhatsApp Business Account ID.	102290129340398

Examples

This example webhook describes a template that will be recategorized as MARKETING in 24 hours. Note that new_category indicates its current category:

{  
 "entry": [  
   {  
     "id": "102290129340398",  
     "time": 1746082800,  
     "changes": [  
       {  
         "field": "template_category_update",  
         "value": {  
           "message_template_id": 278077987957091,  
           "message_template_name": "welcome_template",  
           "message_template_language": "en-US",  
           "new_category": "UTILITY",  
           "correct_category": "MARKETING",  
           "category_update_timestamp": 1746169200  
         }  
       }  
     ]  
   }  
 ],  
 "object": "whatsapp_business_account"  
}

This example webhook describes a template that has been recategorized as MARKETING:

{  
 "entry": [  
   {  
     "id": "102290129340398",  
     "time": 1746169200,  
     "changes": [  
       {  
         "field": "template_category_update",  
         "value": {  
           "message_template_id": 278077987957091,  
           "message_template_name": "welcome_template",  
           "message_template_language": "en-US",  
           "previous_category": "UTILITY",  
           "new_category": "MARKETING"  
         }  
       }  
     ]  
   }  
 ],  
 "object": "whatsapp_business_account"  
}