# WhatsApp image messages

An image message carries a public URL WhatsApp fetches at send time, with an optional caption underneath it.

## Send an image

Set `image.url`:

<!-- bird:tabs typescript,python,go,php,cli,curl -->

```typescript
const msg = await bird.whatsapp.send({
  to: "+16505551234",
  from: "+13124495648",
  image: { url: "https://cdn.example.com/receipt.png" },
});
console.log(msg.id, msg.status);
```

```python
msg = client.whatsapp.send(
    to="+16505551234",
    from_="+13124495648",
    image={"url": "https://cdn.example.com/receipt.png"},
)
print(msg.id, msg.status)
```

```go
package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"os"

	bird "github.com/messagebird/bird-sdk-go"
	"github.com/messagebird/bird-sdk-go/option"
)

func main() {
	client, err := bird.NewClient(option.WithAPIKey(os.Getenv("BIRD_API_KEY")))
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	msg, err := client.Whatsapp.Send(context.Background(), bird.WhatsappSendParams{
		To:   "+16505551234",
		From: "+13124495648",
		Image: &bird.WhatsAppImageSend{Url: "https://cdn.example.com/receipt.png"},
	})
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	fmt.Println(msg.Id, *msg.Status)
}
```

```php
$image = (new WhatsAppMessageSendRequestImage())
    ->setUrl('https://cdn.example.com/receipt.png');
$message = $bird->whatsapp->send(
    to: '+16505551234',
    from: '+13124495648',
    image: $image,
);
echo $message->getId(), ' ', $message->getStatus();
```

```cli
bird whatsapp send \
  --to +16505551234 \
  --from +13124495648 \
  --image https://cdn.example.com/receipt.png
```

```curl
curl -X POST "https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/whatsapp/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BIRD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
      "to": "+16505551234",
      "from": "+13124495648",
      "image": {
        "url": "https://cdn.example.com/receipt.png"
      }
    }'
```

<!-- /bird:tabs -->

The full shape adds an optional `caption`:

```json
{
  "to": "+16505551234",
  "from": "+13124495648",
  "image": {
    "url": "https://cdn.example.com/receipts/a1b2c3.png",
    "caption": "Your receipt for order A1B2C3"
  }
}
```

`image` has no `filename` field. `from` is required on every service message: a number your workspace owns, not a Bird-managed one.

## Limits

| Field     | Bound                                       | Enforced by                     |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| File size | 5 MB                                        | WhatsApp only, at fetch (async) |
| File type | JPEG or PNG                                 | WhatsApp only, at fetch (async) |
| `caption` | up to 1024 characters                       | Bird, at accept (`422`)         |
| `url`     | absolute, `https`, has a host, no raw space | Bird, at accept (`422`)         |

Bird checks the URL's shape and the caption's length before anything is enqueued. It does not check the file's actual size or type; only WhatsApp's own fetch at send time can. See the hub's [sending media by URL](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types#sending-media-by-url) for what that shape check covers, and [when media fails](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types#when-media-fails) for what happens when WhatsApp's fetch rejects the file.

## Reading an inbound image

An inbound image carries the same `image` object, plus an `id` and `mime_type` Bird learned by fetching the file:

```json
{
  "id": "wam_01kya19eknftrs2s6p82asmvnh",
  "direction": "inbound",
  "from": { "phone_number": "+14155550100" },
  "to": { "phone_number": "+13124495569" },
  "image": {
    "id": "waf_01kyb2m4xq7whs0d8n3prv6tez",
    "url": "https://platform.bird.com/v1/whatsapp/messages/wam_01kya19eknftrs2s6p82asmvnh/media/waf_01kyb2m4xq7whs0d8n3prv6tez",
    "mime_type": "image/jpeg",
    "caption": "Is this the right part?"
  },
  "status": "received"
}
```

`id` and `mime_type` are absent on an outbound read-back, since Bird never fetched the file it sent. To fetch the bytes behind an inbound image, see [Receiving WhatsApp messages](/docs/guides/whatsapp/receiving-whatsapp).

## Limits and failure modes

- **The customer service window has to be open.** Images are service messages, deliverable only inside an open window; see the hub's [customer service window](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types#the-customer-service-window).
- **Bird rejects `http`; WhatsApp itself would fetch it.** That distinction, and the rest of the URL shape check, live on the hub's [sending media by URL](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types#sending-media-by-url).
- **An oversize file, a wrong MIME type, or an unreachable URL all fail the same way, and after you're charged.** See the hub's [when media fails](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types#when-media-fails) for `media_rejected` and the charge-on-failure fact.
- **WhatsApp caches a fetched URL for about 10 minutes.** Resending the identical URL inside that window re-serves the first fetch rather than fetching again; vary the URL (a query parameter, for instance) to force a fresh one.

## Next steps

- [WhatsApp service messages](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types): the customer service window and the model every service message shares
- [Video](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types/video): the same shape for a video clip
- [Documents](/docs/guides/whatsapp/message-types/documents): for a PDF, spreadsheet, or other file
- [How sending works](/docs/guides/whatsapp/sending-whatsapp): the request envelope, the `202` model, and safe retries