Feature Request: Ability to Send WhatsApp Media Templates

[ldaniel-jmz]

Feature Request: Ability to Send WhatsApp Media Templates

Description:

The current implementation lacks support for sending WhatsApp Media Templates. While text-only and dynamic (variable) text templates are supported, templates containing media (images, videos, documents, locations) cannot be sent. This severely limits the richness of WhatsApp communication.

Motivation:

WhatsApp Media Templates are essential for:

• Product Showcases: Sending images/videos of products.
• Promotions: Sharing visual offers and advertisements.
• Order Updates: Including maps or PDF invoices.
• Support: Providing visual guides and documentation.
• Interactive Campaigns: Send media, then offer options for the user to choose from.

Without this, businesses must resort to less effective text-only communication or manage media messages externally, negating the platform's benefits. It's also a competitive disadvantage, as other platforms offer this.

Expected Behavior:

1. Template Selection: Users should select from pre-approved media templates.
2. Media Upload: Users upload the media asset (image, video, PDF) directly within Chatwoot.
3. Variable Population (if applicable): Like dynamic text templates, fill in any variable placeholders.
4. Send & Track: The media template is sent via the WhatsApp Cloud API and delivery status is tracked.

Conclusion:

Support for WhatsApp Media Templates is a crucial addition that would greatly enhance value and effectiveness for WhatsApp communication. I believe this would be a valuable addition and would be grateful if the team could consider it for a future release.

[sarahmanning190]

Joining this request! This is a must needed feature, I don't think it's that complicated to implement @sojan-official @pranavrajs

[qentri]

@pranavrajs yep, would be useful to have this

[muhsin-k]

We have already fixed via #11997

[ldaniel-jmz]

Nice! great addition!

[ldaniel-jmz]

Hi @muhsin-k , @sojan-official , and the Chatwoot team,

I have now tested the functionality on v4.6.0, and while it works, I've found that the current workflow presents a significant usability challenge for day-to-day operations.

Currently, sending a media template requires the agent to first upload the file (e.g., an image or a PDF) to an external cloud service, copy the public URL, and then paste it into the "Document URL" field in the Chatwoot interface (as shown in the screenshot below).

For common use cases, like an agent confirming an appointment by sending a unique PDF to a customer, this multi-step process is very cumbersome and inefficient, especially when it needs to be done hundreds of times a day.

My Key Finding and Suggestion:

I've confirmed that if I use a URL from a file that was already uploaded to Chatwoot in a previous conversation, the media template sends perfectly. Crucially, the recipient on WhatsApp can open and view the file without any login or permission restrictions. This proves that Chatwoot's existing Active Storage is already capable of acting as a CDN, serving publicly accessible files in the exact way the WhatsApp API requires.

Therefore, I would like to propose an enhancement to this feature: Could you enable direct file uploads from the template sending interface?

This would allow an agent to simply click an "Upload File" button, select the media from their computer, and Chatwoot would handle uploading it via Active Storage and populating the URL field automatically. This would make the feature immensely more user-friendly and practical for real-world business scenarios.

Thank you again for all your hard work on this amazing open-source project. I believe this enhancement would be a game-changer for the WhatsApp integration.

[sarahmanning190]

We have already fixed via #11997

What about uploading media directly within the UI, not via URL link?