# Get a WhatsApp Business Account

`GET /v1/whatsapp/business-accounts/{business_account_ref}`

Returns one WhatsApp Business Account your workspace has connected, addressed
by either the `id` the account list reports (`waa_` prefix) or the `waba` value
WhatsApp reports for it. Both forms resolve to the same account.

Only accounts whose setup finished can be read: an account is readable once
WhatsApp has reported its name and at least one of its phone numbers has
finished connecting. An account the list hides is `404` here too, in either form.

The account carries the state WhatsApp last reported for it: its own status,
how far WhatsApp's review of it has got, whether Meta has verified the
business behind it, and the Meta business portfolio that owns it.

An account WhatsApp has banned carries `ban`, with an `appeal_url` to Meta Business
Support once Bird knows the account's portfolio. `ban` is what WhatsApp announced on
its own notification, not part of the reading `meta_synced_at` dates, because WhatsApp
reports a ban's state and timing nowhere else. It is absent on an account in good
standing and on one whose ban Bird was never told about, so `status` is what says
whether an account can send.

## Code samples

### TypeScript

```ts
const account = await bird.whatsapp.businessAccounts.get("waa_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg");
console.log(account.account_review_status, account.business_verification_status);
```

### Python

```py
account = client.whatsapp.business_accounts.get("waa_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg")
print(account.account_review_status, account.business_verification_status)
```

### Go

```go
account, err := client.Whatsapp.BusinessAccounts.Get(context.Background(), "waa_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg")
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println(account.Name, account.Status)
```

### PHP

```php
$account = $bird->whatsapp->businessAccounts->get('waa_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg');
echo $account->getAccountReviewStatus(), ' ', $account->getBusinessVerificationStatus(), "\n";
```

### CLI

```sh
bird whatsapp business-accounts get <business-account-ref>
```

### cURL

```sh
curl -X GET "https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/whatsapp/business-accounts/{business_account_ref}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
```

## Example response `200`

```json
{
  "id": "waa_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "waba": "102290129340398",
  "name": "Acme Inc",
  "status": "active",
  "account_review_status": "approved",
  "business_verification_status": "verified",
  "marketing_messages_onboarding_status": "onboarded",
  "portfolio": {
    "meta_id": "178563218361309",
    "name": "Acme Holdings",
    "marketing_messages_onboarding_status": "not_started"
  },
  "ban": {
    "state": "disabled",
    "occurred_at": "2026-04-10T09:12:00Z",
    "appeal_url": "https://business.facebook.com/business-support-home/178563218361309/102290129340398"
  }
}
```

## Path parameters

- `business_account_ref` (string): WhatsApp Business Account ID (`waa_` prefix) or the WhatsApp Business Account ID Meta reports in `waba`. A value that parses as a valid ID resolves by ID; any other value resolves as Meta's ID.

## Response body

- `id` (string, required): Unique identifier for the WhatsApp Business Account.
- `waba` (string, required): Meta's own identifier for this WhatsApp Business Account. This is the value to send when creating a template on the account.
- `name` (string, required): The account's name, as WhatsApp reports it.
- `status` (string, required): WhatsApp's own state for this account as of `meta_synced_at`. The status is `active` until WhatsApp reports otherwise. WhatsApp already considers an account usable if Bird could connect a number under it. The absence of a reading is therefore not evidence of another state.
- `account_review_status` (string): How far WhatsApp's review of this account had got as of `meta_synced_at`. Absent until WhatsApp has reported it.
- `business_verification_status` (string): Whether Meta had verified the business behind this account as of `meta_synced_at`. Absent until Meta has reported it.
- `marketing_messages_onboarding_status` (string): Whether this account can use WhatsApp's Marketing Messages API, as of `meta_synced_at`. Absent until WhatsApp has reported it. Distinct from the owning portfolio's `marketing_messages_onboarding_status` (`portfolio.marketing_messages_onboarding_status`), which Meta gives the same field name but a different vocabulary: this one is the account's own eligibility, that one is the portfolio's Terms-of-Service progress.
- `portfolio` (object): The Meta business portfolio that owns this account. Absent until Meta has reported it. The portfolio is where a messaging limit is set, so every account it owns shares one.
- `portfolio.meta_id` (string, required): Meta's identifier for the portfolio. Treat it as an opaque string.
- `portfolio.name` (string): The portfolio's name, as Meta reports it. Absent when Meta returned none.
- `portfolio.marketing_messages_onboarding_status` (string): How far this portfolio has got through Meta's Marketing Messages terms of service. Absent until Meta has reported it. Distinct from the account's own `marketing_messages_onboarding_status`, which Meta gives the same field name but a different vocabulary: that one is the account's own eligibility, this one is the portfolio's Terms-of-Service progress.
- `ban` (object): WhatsApp's ban on this account, absent unless Bird was told of one. `status` is what the account said when Bird last read it; this is what WhatsApp announced, which arrives only on the webhook that announces it and is never re-read.
- `ban.state` (string, required)
- `ban.occurred_at` (string, required): When WhatsApp reported the ban, by WhatsApp's own clock. Bird can learn of a ban later than this, so it is not when Bird recorded it.
- `ban.appeal_url` (string): Where to appeal WhatsApp's decision with Meta Business Support, because neither Bird nor this API can lift one. Absent when Bird does not know the account's Meta business portfolio, since there is no support-home path to build without one.
- `meta_synced_at` (string): When Bird last read this account's state from WhatsApp. `status`, `account_review_status`, `business_verification_status`, `marketing_messages_onboarding_status` and `portfolio` are all that reading rather than live values; Bird re-reads roughly hourly. Absent for an account Bird has never read back.
- `created_at` (string, required): When this account was connected.
- `updated_at` (string, required): When this account was last changed.

## Related resources

- [Should I use a Bird SDK or call the API directly?](/explained/platform/should-i-use-an-sdk-or-call-the-api-directly) (answer)
- [Build your first integration](/learn/paths/integration) (course)
- [Send your first email](/docs/get-started/send-your-first-email) (docs)

[Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=api-basics)