# Receiving WhatsApp group messages

Anything a participant writes in a group arrives the way any other inbound WhatsApp message does: the same `whatsapp.received` event, the same content arms, the same media fetch. Two things are particular to a group. The message names both the participant who wrote it and the group it came through, and your reply goes to the group rather than to that person.

[Receiving WhatsApp messages](/docs/guides/whatsapp/receiving-whatsapp) covers the parts that are not group-specific: every content arm, [fetching inbound media](/docs/guides/whatsapp/receiving-whatsapp#fetching-inbound-media), and quoted replies.

## What a group message carries

An inbound group message reads back with two addresses rather than one:

- **`from` is the participant who wrote it**, never the group. It carries their `bsuid` ([business-scoped user ID](/docs/guides/whatsapp/business-scoped-user-ids)), their `phone_number` when your business knows it, and their `username` and `display_name` when they publish a profile. A participant who has not shared their number with you is identified by the `bsuid` alone, which is enough to address them.
- **`to` carries your business number and the group.** `phone_number` is the number that received the message, and `group_id` is the group it arrived through.

`group_id` appears on `to` and nowhere else, so its presence there is what tells a group message from a one-to-one one, in either direction. A group message carries no counters: `recipient_count`, `delivered_count`, and `read_count` report an outbound fan-out, and an inbound message has none.

To read one group's thread, both directions at once, filter the message list by `group_id` as [Sending to a WhatsApp group](/docs/guides/whatsapp/groups/sending#4-read-one-groups-conversation) shows.

## Replying to the group

A participant writing in the group opens a single 24-hour [customer service window](/docs/knowledge-base/whatsapp/customer-service-window) for the whole group, not one per person. While it is open, free-form content reaches the group; once it lapses, a template does. Address the reply to the group, with the group ID in `to` and no `from`. See [Sending to a WhatsApp group](/docs/guides/whatsapp/groups/sending).

Writing to that participant privately is a separate conversation with its own window, and the group message does not open it. A free-form message addressed to their phone number or `bsuid` is refused with a `422` [`E15044`](/docs/api/errors/E15044) unless they have separately messaged your business in the last 24 hours. A template reaches them either way.

## Acknowledging and reacting

Both acknowledgements work on a group message and take the same calls as they do on any other inbound message:

- [Mark it as read](/docs/guides/whatsapp/mark-message-as-read) with the message's own ID. Nothing about the call changes for a group.
- [React to it](/docs/guides/whatsapp/reactions) with one emoji. The reaction goes to the group, so every participant sees it. A group that is not active refuses the change with a `409` [`E15047`](/docs/api/errors/E15047), which is the one refusal a reaction on a group message has that a one-to-one reaction does not.

## The webhook

`whatsapp.received` carries a group message on the same envelope as any other, with the group on `to`:

```json
{
  "type": "whatsapp.received",
  "timestamp": "2026-09-15T14:05:41.204Z",
  "data": {
    "whatsapp_id": "wam_01kya1b3xdq7fe8m2v5t9rncgs",
    "workspace_id": "ws_01ky7m235keycbnwyajabe1a6b",
    "direction": "inbound",
    "from": { "phone_number": "+15550002222", "bsuid": "US.AbC1", "display_name": "Dana Reyes" },
    "to": { "phone_number": "+15550001111", "group_id": "wag_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg" },
    "text": { "body": "Got it, thanks." },
    "tags": null,
    "metadata": null
  }
}
```

Read `data.to.group_id` to route the message to the group's thread, and `data.from` to attribute it to a participant. A subscriber that keys conversations on `from` alone folds every participant of a group into a separate thread and loses the group.

There is no event for the group itself. Someone joining or leaving, a name change, or a pin produces no webhook, so the [**Groups**](https://bird.com/dashboard/w/whatsapp/groups) page is where a group's membership is read.

## Next steps

- [Sending to a WhatsApp group](/docs/guides/whatsapp/groups/sending): addressing the group, what it takes, and its per-participant receipts
- [WhatsApp groups](/docs/guides/whatsapp/groups): creating a group, invite links, and what WhatsApp limits
- [Receiving WhatsApp messages](/docs/guides/whatsapp/receiving-whatsapp): every content arm, media, and quoted replies
- [Business-scoped user IDs](/docs/guides/whatsapp/business-scoped-user-ids): addressing a participant whose phone number you do not have

## Related resources

- [Connecting WhatsApp to Bird: from buying a number to a live channel](/learn/whatsapp/connecting-whatsapp-to-bird) (video)
- [What is the 24-hour customer service window on WhatsApp?](/explained/whatsapp/what-is-the-24-hour-customer-service-window) (answer)
- [WhatsApp message builder](/tools/whatsapp-message-builder) (tool)
- [WhatsApp](/products/whatsapp) (product)

[Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=whatsapp)