WhatsApp coexistence troubleshooting

Coexistence setup runs in Meta's window. Meta decides whether your number takes the WhatsApp Business app path after you enter it, so you don't turn anything on in your Bird workspace first. Connect your WhatsApp Business app number walks through a successful setup.

The sections quote Meta's messages and the code after #, so match the one Meta shows you. For problems that also affect numbers connected without the app, such as Meta's security check or a locked business account, see WhatsApp number troubleshooting.

Meta shows Text message and Phone call options

After you enter your number, Meta's phone step lists Text message and Phone call verification options. It looks like standard number setup, and no QR code appears yet.

This screen is expected. Meta shows the same phone step before it switches to the WhatsApp Business app path.

1. Choose Enter a new phone number and type the number you use in the WhatsApp Business app. If Meta lists your number as ineligible to share, ignore that entry and type the number.
2. Leave the verification option as it is and select Next.
3. Continue through your business profile and business portfolio. The QR code comes after them.

If a later screen asks you to enter a six-digit code, Meta has started standard registration instead. Close the window and follow Meta asks for a six-digit verification code.

Meta says the number is already registered to a WhatsApp account

As soon as you type the number, Meta shows this under the phone field (#2494064): "This phone number is already registered to a WhatsApp account. To use this number, disconnect it from the existing account. Then, return to this page and try again. It can take up to 3 minutes for the number to refresh."

This error usually means the number is registered in WhatsApp, the personal app, and not in the WhatsApp Business app. Coexistence connects WhatsApp Business app accounts, so Meta refuses a personal WhatsApp number.

1. On your phone, check which app the number is registered in.
2. If it is WhatsApp, move the account to the WhatsApp Business app. WhatsApp's guide to moving your WhatsApp Messenger account to WhatsApp Business covers backing up and bringing your chats across.
3. In Bird, choose New number, then Keep using the Business app, and start again.

Don't delete the account to disconnect the number, as the message suggests. Deleting it erases its chats, and coexistence needs the number to stay in the WhatsApp Business app.

If the number already runs in the WhatsApp Business app, an entry left by an earlier attempt can cause the same error. Follow The number shows Failed with Cannot Create Certificate to remove it.

Meta asks for a six-digit verification code

After you select Next on the phone step, a later screen asks you to type a six-digit code that Meta sent by text message or phone call. No QR code appears.

The Text message and Phone call options on the phone step itself are expected, and you select Next there. A later screen that asks you to type the code means Meta started standard number registration instead of the WhatsApp Business app path. Leave the code empty, close Meta's window, and check these once:

1. In Bird, choose Keep using the Business app before you select Connect WhatsApp.
2. Update the WhatsApp Business app to the latest version. Meta requires version 2.24.17 or later.
3. In the app, open Settings > Account > Business Platform. If a business platform is connected, disconnect it and wait 15 minutes.
4. In WhatsApp Manager, open Phone numbers and look for an entry for the number marked as disconnected, pending, or unverified. Open its Two-step verification tab and select Turn off two-step verification, so the number can register again without its PIN. Then delete the entry.
5. Start again in Bird from a computer with Chrome or Safari.

Meta can't send a verification code

Meta shows "Request code failed: Our servers are temporarily unavailable..." (#2388091) on its phone verification step.

This error comes from the code step of standard number registration, so the signup is not on the WhatsApp Business app path. Another code request doesn't connect the number with coexistence. Follow the checks in Meta asks for a six-digit verification code, then start again.

Meta asks you to contact Bird B.V. after you scan the QR code

You scan the QR code, and Meta's window says to contact the partner Bird B.V. to resolve the phone number connection issue. The number doesn't appear in Bird.

An entry for the number from an earlier attempt is still on a WhatsApp Business Account, and it blocks the WhatsApp Business app connection.

1. In the WhatsApp Business app, open Settings > Account > Business Platform. If a business platform is connected, disconnect it and wait 15 minutes.
2. In WhatsApp Manager, open Phone numbers and find the entry for the number marked as disconnected, pending, or unverified.
3. Open the entry's Two-step verification tab and select Turn off two-step verification, so the number can register again without its PIN. Then delete the entry.
4. In Bird, choose New number, then Keep using the Business app, and start again.

The number shows Failed with Cannot Create Certificate

After Meta's setup, the number in Bird shows Failed with "Cannot Create Certificate: This number is registered to an existing WhatsApp account."

Meta ran the attempt as standard number registration, which can't take a number that is active in the WhatsApp Business app. The attempt also left an entry for the number in WhatsApp Manager, which blocks the next attempt.

1. Disconnect the failed number in Bird.
2. In WhatsApp Manager, open Phone numbers and find the entry for the number marked as disconnected, pending, or unverified.
3. Open the entry's Two-step verification tab and select Turn off two-step verification, so the number can register again without its PIN. Then delete the entry.
4. Wait a few minutes, then in Bird choose New number, then Keep using the Business app, and start again.

Meta reports an eligibility error

Meta checks each number when you enter it. It publishes no list of supported countries, and Bird can't check a number's eligibility in advance. Meta's Business app onboarding errors reference lists most of these messages:

Meta says you don't have permission to view this asset

Meta shows "You don't have the necessary permissions to view this asset. Contact the asset owner to get permission or complete this action with the owner's account." (#3441038), usually right after you enter the number.

The Facebook account you signed in with can't open the business portfolio that Meta links to the number.

1. Sign in to Meta with a Facebook account that has full control of the business portfolio your WhatsApp Business app account belongs to.
2. In the WhatsApp Business app, open the Facebook and Instagram settings. Depending on the app version, they are under Settings or Business tools. If no Facebook Page is linked, link your business's Page, then start again.
3. If the number belongs to a portfolio that nobody on your team can access, recover access through Meta. Bird can't see or release it.

The number connected in the WhatsApp Business app but isn't in Bird

Meta's last screen says your account is connected to Bird B.V., and the app lists Bird B.V. under Business Platform, but Numbers in Bird does not show the number. Bird can also show "Meta did not complete the app connection. Start the flow again."

Bird adds the number when Meta's window returns the result to the Bird page that opened it. A phone or in-app browser, a blocked pop-up, a refreshed Bird page, or a window closed before Meta's last button can stop that result from reaching Bird.

1. Use a computer with Chrome or Safari, and allow pop-ups for bird.com.
2. In Bird, choose New number, then Keep using the Business app, and select Connect WhatsApp.
3. Keep the Bird page open, and don't refresh it while Meta's window is open.
4. On Meta's last screen, select Continue to feature setup. Closing the window instead can leave Bird without the result.

Each attempt disconnects the app's linked devices, so reconnect them when the number shows Connected.

The number fails with a currency mismatch

The number shows Failed with credit_currency_mismatch and a message such as "This WhatsApp Business Account already bills in BRL, and the credit line we attach bills in USD."

Bird pays Meta for messages sent through Bird with a credit line in your organization's billing currency, USD in this example. Meta allows one currency per WhatsApp Business Account, and an account's billing currency can't change once WhatsApp sets it. Coexistence connects the account your WhatsApp Business app already uses, so choosing a new account during setup does not avoid the mismatch.

The number can't connect to Bird with coexistence while its account bills in a different currency from your organization. Disconnect the failed number in Bird, and disconnect Bird B.V. in the WhatsApp Business app under Settings > Account > Business Platform.

Business profile changes return E15088

Updating the business profile of a coexistence number through the API returns 412 with E15088: "This number's business profile is managed in the WhatsApp Business app and cannot be updated through the API." In the dashboard, the number's Business profile shows "Manage this profile in the WhatsApp Business app" instead of the edit form. Reading the profile works.

Meta does not support business profile changes through the API for WhatsApp Business app numbers, so retrying returns the same error. Edit the description, address, website, or photo in the WhatsApp Business app under Business tools > Business profile.

Imported chat history isn't in the message list

You shared your chat history during setup, and Conversations shows the older chats. List WhatsApp messages returns messages from the day the number connected, and filtering for earlier dates returns none.

The WhatsApp message list starts when the number connects, so it doesn't include imported history. Read imported history from a conversation instead:

• In the dashboard, select the imported messages count on the number's Coexistence card to open the chats in Conversations.
• From the CLI or an AI agent, list a conversation's messages with bird whatsapp conversations list-messages. The Bird MCP server offers the same tool.

WhatsApp messages are kept for 30 days, so the import brings in shared messages from the last 30 days, and older messages stay in the WhatsApp Business app. Select the contacts count on the Coexistence card to open the audience that holds the imported contacts.

Some first messages from customers can arrive as unavailable with error 131060 after you connect. Meta expects this for WhatsApp Business app numbers. See unsupported messages.

The number shows Disconnected

A coexistence number that was Connected now shows Disconnected.

Meta notifies Bird when someone disconnects Bird from the number, for example by selecting Disconnect Account under Settings > Account > Business Platform in the WhatsApp Business app.

1. Select Reconnect on the number in Bird.
2. Complete Meta's steps with the WhatsApp Business app open on your phone.
3. Send a message to the number and check that it arrives in Bird.

Groups aren't available through Bird

You can't create or message WhatsApp groups from Bird with a coexistence number, and the groups you have in the WhatsApp Business app don't appear in Bird.

Group chats stay in the app, as coexistence limits describe, and Meta does not offer groups to WhatsApp Business app numbers through the API. Groups from Bird need a number connected with standard setup that has Official Business Account status.

The number is already connected without coexistence

You connected the number with Set up a number and now want your team to reply from the WhatsApp Business app.

A number connected with standard setup can't switch to coexistence in place. Connect it again:

1. Disconnect the number in Bird. It can't send through Bird until the new connection completes.
2. Register the number in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. For a landline, choose verification by phone call.
3. In Bird, choose New number, then Keep using the Business app, and follow the coexistence setup.

The number gets a new ID in Bird. If Meta connects it under a different WhatsApp Business Account, submit your templates again in that account.

Next steps

• WhatsApp coexistence: limits, app changes, and costs.
• Connect your WhatsApp Business app number: each screen of the setup.
• WhatsApp number troubleshooting: locked accounts, security checks, and other problems that affect any number.