A WhatsApp number in Lynomia Chat is a channel, listed under Settings → Inboxes with its own inbox. The connection itself is made with Meta, not with Lynomia Chat: your number lives on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, and Lynomia Chat holds the credentials that let it read and write on that number's behalf.
What a WhatsApp Business Account is
Meta groups your WhatsApp assets into a WhatsApp Business Account, often shortened to WABA. It is not a phone number and not a Facebook page. It is the container that owns your numbers, your message templates and your messaging limits, and it has an id — the WhatsApp Business Account ID — that you will be asked for at least once.
Two consequences matter more than the terminology:
- Templates belong to the business account, not to the inbox. If two inboxes in Lynomia Chat are two numbers on the same business account, they see and send the same templates. If they are on different business accounts, a template with the same name in each is two separate templates.
- One account in Lynomia Chat can hold several numbers and several business accounts. Nothing assumes one of either.
The three ways to connect
| Route | Use it when | What you supply |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp Cloud — quick setup through Meta | you are connecting a number through Meta and want the connection configured for you | a Meta login with admin rights; you pick the number inside Meta's own window |
| WhatsApp Cloud — manual setup | the number is already on the WhatsApp Business Platform, or you manage your own Meta app | Phone Number ID, WhatsApp Business Account ID, a permanent access token |
| WhatsApp Business | the number is in use in the WhatsApp Business app on a phone and you want to keep using it there | a Meta login; you confirm on the phone |
| Twilio | WhatsApp already runs through your Twilio account | your Twilio credentials |
The WhatsApp Business card is shown only when your installation has a Meta app configured for it. If you see only WhatsApp Cloud and Twilio, that is an installation-level setting, not something you can change in your account. See using the WhatsApp Business app and Lynomia Chat on one number.
What you need first
- Administrator access in Lynomia Chat. Every step below is administrator-only.
- A Meta business portfolio you have admin rights on, and a phone number that is not currently signed in to personal WhatsApp and not already connected to another WhatsApp Business Platform account.
- For manual setup only: a Meta app with the WhatsApp use case, the number added and verified inside it, and a
permanent access token from a Meta system user carrying both
whatsapp_business_managementandwhatsapp_business_messaging. Meta shows that token once — copy it before closing the dialog.
Steps
- Settings → Inboxes → Add inbox → WhatsApp.
- Choose a route from the table above.
- Quick setup: choose Connect with WhatsApp Business. Meta's own window opens; log in, choose or add the number, and finish. Lynomia Chat exchanges the result on the server, registers the webhook with Meta and subscribes it. The access token is never handled in your browser.
- Manual setup: the screen walks you through Meta in four stages — create or select the Meta app, add and verify the number and copy its two identifiers, generate the permanent token, then enter the three values. Verify details checks number access, template access, the webhook callback and the webhook subscription before the inbox is created, and shows you the webhook URL it registered.
- Choose the agents who will work in this inbox. An agent who is not a member sees nothing of it; administrators see every inbox without being added.
- Finish. The last screen offers a code to scan with a phone, which opens a chat to the new number — send a test message and watch it arrive in Conversations.
After the inbox exists, Settings → Inboxes → the inbox → Account Health reports what Meta says about the number: display phone number, display name and its review status, phone number status, quality rating, business messaging limit, throughput, and the business account's name and id.
A worked example
A clinic in Kuwait has a landline-free mobile number that has never been on WhatsApp. An administrator opens Add inbox → WhatsApp → WhatsApp Cloud, uses the quick setup, logs in to the clinic's Meta portfolio, adds the number inside Meta's window and verifies it by SMS. Back in Lynomia Chat the inbox appears, two receptionists are added as agents, and the QR code is scanned to send a test "hello" — which lands in Conversations, unassigned, within seconds.
Who can do this
Administrators only — adding an inbox, viewing Configuration, viewing Account Health and syncing templates. Agents can work in an inbox they are a member of, and cannot change its connection.
Limits
- A phone number can be connected once in the whole installation. The same number cannot be added to two accounts or two inboxes.
- Meta owns the outcomes, not Lynomia Chat. Number registration, display-name review, quality rating, business messaging limit and template approval are all Meta's decisions. Account Health reports them; nothing in Lynomia Chat changes them.
- Quick setup can be unavailable when Meta has an issue on its side. The page says so and offers manual setup for eligible numbers.
- On Twilio, templates are not managed in Lynomia Chat — the templates page links out to Twilio instead. WhatsApp campaigns also refuse to run on a Twilio inbox: a campaign requires a WhatsApp Cloud number.
- Deleting the inbox behaves differently per route. A number connected through quick setup is released from the Meta app on delete, so it can be connected elsewhere. A manually connected number is deliberately left registered, because deregistering it would disable the number on your own Meta app. Move a manual number in Meta, not by deleting the inbox.
Related
- The WhatsApp 24-hour window
- Using the WhatsApp Business app and Lynomia Chat on one number
- WhatsApp templates
- When WhatsApp does not work
If it does not work
I only see two provider cards. Your installation has no Meta app configured for the WhatsApp Business app route. Use WhatsApp Cloud, or ask whoever runs your installation.
Meta's window finished but no inbox was created. If the message says the setup finished without a WhatsApp phone number that can be connected, the Meta flow ended on a business portfolio with no usable number. Run it again and add a phone number inside Meta's window.
"This access token is invalid or expired." The token is not a permanent system-user token, has expired, or is missing one of the two required permissions. Generate a new one and paste it again.
The inbox exists but no messages arrive. The webhook is not registered. Open Account Health — if it shows Webhook not configured or a URL mismatch, use Register Webhook there.