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Get a WhatsApp message

GET
/v1/whatsapp/messages/{message_id}
const msg = await bird.whatsapp.get("wa_abc123");
msg.status; // "accepted" | "delivered" | …
Réponse200
{
  "id": "wam_01kya19eknftrs2s6p82asmvnh",
  "direction": "outbound",
  "from": {
    "phone_number": "+15550001111"
  },
  "to": {
    "group_id": "wag_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg"
  },
  "text": {
    "body": "Tuesday's route sheet is up."
  },
  "status": "delivered",
  "recipient_count": 2,
  "delivered_count": 2,
  "read_count": 2,
  "created_at": "2026-09-15T14:03:10Z",
  "sent_at": "2026-09-15T14:03:11Z",
  "delivered_at": "2026-09-15T14:03:12Z",
  "read_at": "2026-09-15T14:04:02Z"
}

Returns a single WhatsApp message: its current delivery status, per-stage timestamps (sent_at, delivered_at, read_at), and failure detail when it failed. It carries the one content object it was built from: template, or free-form text, image, video, audio, sticker, document, location, interactive or contact_cards. An inbound message carries interactive_reply when the contact tapped a reply button or a list row. An inbound message whose content WhatsApp models and we do not carries unsupported instead, naming the type rather than reading back empty. The status advances asynchronously as delivery progresses, so poll this endpoint (or subscribe to whatsapp.* webhook events) after a send to confirm delivery. For the per-event timeline, use List events for a WhatsApp message instead.

Paramètres

message_idstring

ID of the message, as returned in the send response's id field.

Contenu de la réponse

id
string
obligatoire

ID of the message, assigned when the send is accepted. Pass it as message_id to the get-message and list-events endpoints.

direction
string
obligatoire

Whether the message was sent by the business (outbound) or received from the contact (inbound).

Possible values: outbound, inbound

from
object
obligatoire

Sender of the message. On outbound messages, the business number it was sent from; on inbound, the WhatsApp contact.

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to
object
obligatoire

Recipient of the message. On outbound messages, the WhatsApp contact; on inbound, the business number.

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template
object

The template the message was sent from. For authentication templates the filled-in values are not returned.

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text
object

Text the message carried.

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image
object

Image the message carried.

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video
object

Video the message carried.

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audio
object

Audio the message carried.

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sticker
object

Sticker the message carried.

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document
object

Document the message carried.

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document.id
string

ID of the stored file, to pass as media_id when fetching it. Absent on a message sent through Bird, whose file we never stored.

document.url
string

Where to fetch the media. On an inbound message, or one from the WhatsApp Business app, this is a Bird URL you fetch with your API key; it is absent when the file could not be retrieved from WhatsApp. It stays populated after the stored bytes expire, and the link returns 410 from then on. On a message sent through Bird it is the URL the sender supplied, whose availability is the sender's to guarantee.

document.mime_type
string

Media type WhatsApp reported for the file, for example image/jpeg. Absent on messages sent through Bird.

document.caption
string

Text shown beneath the document. Absent when the sender wrote none.

document.filename
string

The sender's own name for the file.

location
object

Location the message carried.

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contact_cards
array of object

Contact cards on this message: cards the contact shared, either by tapping a button that asked for their number or by sending one from their address book, or the cards this workspace sent.

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interactive
object

Interactive content the message carried. Outbound only: a contact cannot send one. A tap on a reply button or a list row reads back as interactive_reply on the contact's inbound message; a cta_url link sends nothing back, and the two request kinds are answered by an inbound location or contact_cards message.

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in_reply_to_message_id
string

The message this one answers. On an inbound message it is what WhatsApp reports as the reply's target: a tap on a button or a list row, and equally a text or media message the contact sent as a quoted reply. An outbound message echoes the in_reply_to_message_id it was sent with. Absent when the message answers nothing, and absent on an inbound message whose target we cannot match to a message we hold, which is the case for one sent before this workspace started recording them or one already past the 15-day window we keep provider ids for.

interactive_reply
object

What the contact tapped, on a message answering an interactive message or a template's quick-reply button. Inbound only.

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unsupported
object

Set when a message that did not come from a Bird send carries content we do not model, naming the WhatsApp content type so the message is not silently empty. Never on a message sent through Bird.

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reactions
array of object

Emoji reactions standing on this message right now, one per sender. Absent when the message has none. A reaction that was replaced by a different emoji, or taken back, is not listed; the message's reaction log keeps that history. WhatsApp accepts a reaction on a message up to 30 days old, and we keep provider ids for 15, so a reaction placed on a message older than that cannot be matched to it and does not appear here.

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status
string
obligatoire
origin
string

Where the message came from when it did not come through Bird live. Absent when your workspace sent the message through Bird, or the contact sent it to Bird.

recipient_count
integer

How many recipients a group send was addressed to, taken when the send was accepted. It is the group's membership at that moment, not its membership now: someone joining through the invite link while the message is in flight does not receive it and does not change this count.

Absent on a one-to-one message, along with delivered_count and read_count. A message with one recipient has no fan-out to report, and its delivery is what status, delivered_at and read_at already say. Absent for the same reason on a group message sent before Bird recorded the count, and on a send to a group nobody had joined yet: there is no denominator to report, and none can be recovered after the fact, since membership has moved on. to.group_id is what tells a group message from a one-to-one one in every case, including those two. With no denominator to resolve against, status is read as stored, the way a one-to-one message's is: it reaches sent when the message is handed to WhatsApp and stops there, because delivery is confirmed per participant and a send with no participants collects no confirmations.

It is also the denominator status is resolved against: on a group message status reports the furthest point every recipient has reached, so it turns delivered only once delivered_count equals this number, and stays sent while some have confirmed and others have not. failed and rejected are never per recipient: there is one hand-off to the WhatsApp network and one way for that to be refused. delivered_at and read_at are the first recipient's, not the last.

delivered_count
integer

How many of the recipient_count recipients WhatsApp has confirmed the message reached. A recipient who reported only a read counts here too: WhatsApp skips the delivery receipt when someone is already looking at the chat, so waiting for one would leave that person uncounted for ever.

Absent on a one-to-one message, which has no fan-out to count, and on a group message with no recipient_count to count against.

read_count
integer

How many of the recipient_count recipients have opened the message. Read receipts do not move status, which has no read value; they surface here and in read_at.

Absent on a one-to-one message, which has no fan-out to count, and on a group message with no recipient_count to count against.

last_error
nullable object

Failure detail for a message that did not reach the recipient. Present only when the message failed or was rejected.

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created_at
string
obligatoire

When the message was accepted for delivery.

sent_at
nullable string

When the message was handed to the WhatsApp network. Null until then.

delivered_at
nullable string

When delivery was confirmed. Null until then.

read_at
nullable string

When the message was read. On an outbound message this is the recipient opening it. On an inbound one it is when Bird acknowledged the message to WhatsApp for the business, which a read receipt sets. Null until then.

cost
nullable object

What the message cost, split into Bird's charge and any third-party fees passed through. Null on an inbound message, which is never priced, on an outbound message that has not been priced yet, and on one rejected before pricing. The rate depends on the message category and the recipient's country.

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tags
array of object

Structured {name, value} filter labels applied to this message.

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metadata
object

Arbitrary JSON metadata stored on the message.