Other General Errors
Other General Error List for WhatsApp Business API solution
General and service errors cover a wide range of issues including unknown errors, temporary service unavailability, invalid parameters, and miscellaneous failures that do not fit into other specific categories.
These errors can be returned both synchronously (in the API response) and asynchronously (via webhook). Always log the full error object including fbtrace_id for support escalation.
Error 1 — API Unknown
API Unknown — Invalid Request or Server Error
ERROR CODE
1
ERROR SUMMARY
API Unknown — Invalid Request or Server Error
ERROR DESCRIPTION
This is a broad error code indicating either an invalid request or a possible server-side error. It is one of the lowest-level Graph API error codes and can surface for a wide variety of underlying causes.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Check the WhatsApp Business Platform Status page at https://metastatus.com/whatsapp-business-api for any active service disruptions.
2. If no outage is reported, review the endpoint's reference documentation and verify that your request is correctly formatted.
3. Check all required parameters, their types, and formats.
4. Include the fbtrace_id when filing a support ticket if the error persists.
OTHER NOTES
Error code 1 is a catch-all at the Graph API layer. If you see it alongside a specific 'details' message, focus on the details for diagnosis.
Error 2 — API Down
API Service — Temporary Downtime or Server Overload
ERROR CODE
2
ERROR SUMMARY
API Service — Temporary Downtime or Server Overload
ERROR DESCRIPTION
The API service is temporarily unavailable, either due to a planned or unplanned downtime, or because the servers are overloaded. This is a transient error.
HTTP Status: 503 Service Unavailable.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Check the WhatsApp Platform Status page immediately.
2. Implement exponential backoff and retry. Start with a 5-second delay and double it up to a maximum of a few minutes.
3. Do not hammer the API with rapid retries during an outage — this can worsen the situation.
4. Set up status page monitoring (e.g., via PagerDuty or StatusPage integrations) to be alerted of Meta outages automatically.
OTHER NOTES
This is a temporary error. All messages queued during a service outage should be retried once the service recovers. Chakra Chat's message queue handles this automatically.
Error 33 - Phone Deleted
Parameter Value Is Not Valid — Business Phone Number Deleted
ERROR CODE
33
ERROR SUMMARY
Parameter Value Is Not Valid — Business Phone Number Deleted
ERROR DESCRIPTION
A parameter value in the request is not valid. In the context of the WhatsApp API, this typically means that the specified business phone number has been deleted from the WABA.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Verify that the phone number ID specified in the request endpoint still exists in your WhatsApp Business Account.
2. Check WhatsApp Manager to confirm the phone number has not been deleted.
3. If the number was accidentally deleted, you will need to re-add and re-register it.
4. Update your application configuration to use the correct, active phone number ID.
OTHER NOTES
Phone number IDs in the Cloud API are unique identifiers distinct from the actual phone number. Deleting and re-adding a phone number generates a new ID.
Error 100 - Invalid Parameters
Invalid Parameter — Unsupported or Misspelled Parameters
ERROR CODE
100
ERROR SUMMARY
Invalid Parameter — Unsupported or Misspelled Parameters
ERROR DESCRIPTION
The request includes one or more parameters that are not supported by the endpoint, are misspelled, or have values that are out of the acceptable range. This is a broad parameter validation error.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request. Common specific cases include: invalid RSA public key format for WhatsApp Flows Endpoint, phone number ID mismatch during registration, or parameter values exceeding length restrictions.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Carefully review the endpoint's reference documentation and compare every parameter in your request against the documented spec.
2. Check spelling — parameter names are case-sensitive.
3. For WhatsApp Flows with Endpoint: verify that the business public key is a valid 2048-bit RSA key in PEM format.
4. For phone number registration: ensure there is no mismatch between the phone number ID in the URL and any previously stored phone number IDs.
5. Verify that string parameter values do not exceed any documented length limits.
OTHER NOTES
When debugging Error 100, the 'details' field is critical — it usually specifies exactly which parameter is invalid. Always log complete error responses.
Error 130472 - User Experiment
User's Number Is Part of an Experiment
ERROR CODE
130472
ERROR SUMMARY
User's Number Is Part of an Experiment
ERROR DESCRIPTION
The message was not sent because the recipient phone number is participating in a Meta-controlled experiment. Meta periodically runs A/B and other experiments that may affect message delivery to a subset of users.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Refer to the Marketing Message Experiment documentation at https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/support/experiments#marketing-message-experiment.
2. This is not an error you can resolve on your end — it is controlled by Meta.
3. If the user needs to be reached urgently, use a non-WhatsApp channel.
4. For campaign analytics, track these errors separately to understand the impact of Meta experiments on deliverability.
OTHER NOTES
Experiment-related delivery failures are rare and typically affect a very small percentage of users. They should not be retried aggressively.
Error 131000 - Unknown Internal
Something Went Wrong — Unknown Internal Error
ERROR CODE
131000
ERROR SUMMARY
Something Went Wrong — Unknown Internal Error
ERROR DESCRIPTION
The message failed to send due to an unknown internal error. This is a server-side error that does not have a more specific classification.
HTTP Status: 500 Internal Server Error. For WhatsApp Flows with Endpoint, this may indicate a failure to calculate the signature, a failure to call the GraphQL endpoint, or the GraphQL endpoint returned an error when setting a business public key.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Retry the request once — transient server errors often resolve on retry.
2. If the error persists, open a Direct Support ticket at https://business.facebook.com/direct-support and include the fbtrace_id.
3. For WhatsApp Flows with Endpoint: verify the business public key configuration and the GraphQL endpoint accessibility.
4. Check the WhatsApp Platform Status page for any active incidents.
OTHER NOTES
Always preserve the fbtrace_id for 500-level errors. Meta Support uses this to trace the exact internal failure.
Error 131005 - API Permission
Access Denied — Cloud API Permission Not Granted
ERROR CODE
131005
ERROR SUMMARY
Access Denied — Cloud API Permission Not Granted
ERROR DESCRIPTION
This is the Cloud API-layer equivalent of a permission denied error. The operation was refused because the required permission has not been granted or has been revoked at the Cloud API level.
HTTP Status: 403 Forbidden.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Use the Access Token Debugger to verify the permissions granted to your token.
2. Ensure the token has the 'whatsapp_business_messaging' and 'whatsapp_business_management' permissions.
3. If permissions were recently revoked (e.g., due to a policy violation), address the policy issue and re-request permissions.
OTHER NOTES
Error 131005 is specific to the Cloud API and is distinct from the Graph API-level permission errors (codes 3, 10, 200-299). Both may need to be addressed in separate flows.
Error 131008 - Parameter Missing
Required Parameter Is Missing
ERROR CODE
131008
ERROR SUMMARY
Required Parameter Is Missing
ERROR DESCRIPTION
The API request is missing one or more required parameters. The endpoint cannot process the request without all required fields.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Review the error 'details' field to identify which parameter is missing.
2. Consult the endpoint reference documentation to confirm all required parameters and their correct names.
3. Add the missing parameter and retry the request.
OTHER NOTES
This error is straightforward but frequently occurs when API responses change and new required parameters are added in updated API versions. Regularly review the WhatsApp API changelog.
Error 131009 — Parameter Invalid
Parameter Value Is Not Valid — Cloud API Layer
ERROR CODE
131009
ERROR SUMMARY
Parameter Value Is Not Valid — Cloud API Layer
ERROR DESCRIPTION
One or more parameter values in the request are invalid at the Cloud API layer. This may include invalid phone number formats, invalid media IDs, invalid template names, or other value-level validation failures.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Review the 'details' field for specifics on which parameter is invalid.
2. See the Phone Numbers documentation to learn how to correctly add and reference phone numbers.
3. Verify media IDs are valid (not expired — media IDs expire after 30 days).
4. Ensure all enum-type parameters use the correct allowed values as specified in the documentation.
OTHER NOTES
E.164 format is required for all phone numbers in the WhatsApp API (e.g., +15551234567). Numbers not in this format will trigger this error.
Error 131016 - Service Unavailable
Service Unavailable — Temporary API Unavailability
ERROR CODE
131016
ERROR SUMMARY
Service Unavailable — Temporary API Unavailability
ERROR DESCRIPTION
A specific Cloud API service component is temporarily unavailable. This is a transient error.
HTTP Status: 500 Internal Server Error.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Check the WhatsApp Business Platform Status page for any service degradation notices.
2. Implement retry with exponential backoff.
3. If the service remains unavailable for an extended period, contact Meta Support.
OTHER NOTES
This is a Cloud API-specific variant of the service unavailability error (as opposed to Error 2, which is at the Graph API layer).
Error 134011 — Payments Terms
WhatsApp Payments Terms of Service Not Accepted
ERROR CODE
134011
ERROR SUMMARY
WhatsApp Payments Terms of Service Not Accepted
ERROR DESCRIPTION
The message failed because the WhatsApp Payments Terms of Service have not been accepted for this WhatsApp Business Account. This error specifically affects messages that involve payment interactions.
HTTP Status: 400 Bad Request.
RESOLUTION & TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
1. Follow the link provided in the error message to accept the WhatsApp Payments Terms of Service.
2. Ensure the account administrator completes the acceptance process.
3. Retry sending the message after acceptance is confirmed.
OTHER NOTES
This error only affects accounts using WhatsApp Payments features (available in India and Brazil). Standard messaging accounts do not require Payments ToS acceptance.