How to Make WhatsApp Bots: A Complete Guide for Modern Businesses

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jigneshmayani90@gmail.com

Post Date

November 24, 2025

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How to Make WhatsApp Bots: A Complete Guide for Modern Businesses

Written by

Debasish D.

Post Date

Nov 24, 2025

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In today’s fast-paced digital world, customers expect instant replies, 24/7 support, and frictionless communication. WhatsApp — being one of the most widely used messaging apps globally — has become the most powerful channel for businesses to communicate with their users.

But here’s the problem:

The Problems Businesses Face

1. Customer queries pile up during peak hours
2. Support teams are overworked
3. High response-time leads to lost leads
4. No tracking of previous messages
5. Repetitive questions waste human effort
6. Scaling support means hiring more people → increasing cost

This is where WhatsApp Chatbots become a game-changing solution.

How WhatsApp Bots Solve These Problems

A WhatsApp bot acts as a virtual agent that:

Responds instantly
Understands user intent using AI
Automates repetitive queries
Saves human hours
Provides accurate info
Integrates with databases & internal tools
Handles payments, forms, rich messages, menus, and more
Much more robust than SMS Agents

With tools like Meta WhatsApp Cloud API, 360Dialog, Twilio, and OpenAI API, building your own bot has never been easier.

This guide will walk you through the end-to-end architecture, algorithm, logic, database design, advanced AI memory, and benefits.

System Requirements for Building WhatsApp Chatbots

To build a production-ready WhatsApp bot, you need:

WhatsApp API Provider

Choose one:

Backend (Any Programming Language)

Popular options:

OpenAI API (or any LLM service)

Used for:

Database

Preferably PostgreSQL.
(We will use it to store chats & memory context.)

Webhook Endpoint

Required to receive incoming WhatsApp messages.

Architecture & Flow

Here is a basic flow diagram for the implementation:

How the WhatsApp Bot Works

Below is the step-by-step algorithm that explains how your bot behaves whenever a user sends a message.

User Sends Message

A user sends a WhatsApp message →
Message reaches 360Dialog, Meta API, or Twilio.

Webhook Triggered to Your Server

The WhatsApp API forwards that message to your backend via Webhook URL.

Example:

POST https://yourdomain.com/webhook

Parse the Webhook Data

At your backend:

Chat Memorization (The Important Part)

Multiple users may send multiple messages.

Your bot must respond contextually — not blindly.

To maintain memory, you can use ANY of these approaches:

Option A: Use OpenAI’s conversation response_id

OpenAI returns:

Store the conversation_id per user and send it with every new request.
The model remembers context automatically.

Option B: Retrieve last 5–6 messages from PostgreSQL

Steps:

Option C: Maintain a running summary

The most scalable approach:

This ensures:

Evaluate Business Logic

Every business has unique workflows.

Some examples:

Real estate → property recommendation
Ecommerce → product catalog lookup
Support → ticket creation
Finance → payment links
HR → leave system
Restaurants → order system

Your backend should:

Generate Final Response with OpenAI API

Send structured information to OpenAI:

Send Response Back to User

Use the WhatsApp API (360Dialog/Twilio/Meta) to send the final message.

You can send:

Text
Buttons
Product catalogs
Images
Videos
PDF
Templates
Payment links

Store Everything in Database

For:

This helps in:

Step-by-Step Development Flow

Here’s a clean, production-grade workflow:

1. Create Route

routes/api.php

use App\Http\Controllers\WebhookController;
Route::post('/whatsapp/webhook', [WebhookController::class, 'handle']);

2. Create Webhook Controller

app/Http/Controllers/WebhookController.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Services\OpenAIService;
use App\Services\WhatsAppService;
use App\Models\Chat;

class WebhookController extends Controller
{
  public function handle(Request $request, OpenAIService $openai, WhatsAppService $whatsapp)
  {
    $data = $request->all();
    
    // - - - - - 1. VALIDATE WEBHOOK - - - - -
    if (!isset($data['messages'][0])) {
      return response()->json(["error" => "Invalid Webhook"], 400);
    }
    
    $msg = $data['messages'][0];
    
    // Prevent duplicate processing
    if (Chat::where('message_id', $msg['id'])->exists()) {
      return response()->json(["status" => "Duplicate Webhook Ignored"]);
    }
    
    // - - - - - 2. PARSE → DTO - - - - -
    $dto = [
      "sender" => $msg['from'] ?? '',
      "text" => $msg['text']['body'] ?? '',
      "type" => $msg['type'] ?? '',
      "message_id" => $msg['id'],
      "timestamp" => $msg['timestamp'] ?? now()->timestamp,
    ];
    
    // - - - - - 3. APPLY BUSINESS LOGIC - - - - -
    $context = $this->evaluateBusinessLogic($dto);
    
    // - - - - - 4. GENERATE RESPONSE USING OPENAI - - - - -
    $reply = $openai->generate($context);
    
    // - - - - - 5. SEND RESPONSE THROUGH 360DIALOG - - - - -
    $whatsapp->sendMessage($dto['sender'], $reply);
    
    // - - - - - 6. SAVE CHAT IN DATABASE - - - - -
    Chat::create([
      'user' => $dto['sender'],
      'message' => $dto['text'],
      'reply' => $reply,
      'message_id' => $dto['message_id'],
    ]);
    
    return response()->json(["status" => "success"]);
  }
  
  private function evaluateBusinessLogic($dto)
  {
    $text = strtolower($dto['text']);
    if (str_contains($text, 'hello')) {
      return "User greeted. Respond politely.";
    }
    if ($text === 'price') {
      return "User asked for product price.";
    }
    return "General conversation from user: {$dto['text']}";
  }
}

3. Create OpenAI Service

app/Services/OpenAIService.php

<?php

namespace App\Services;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

class OpenAIService
{
  public function generate($context)
  {
    $response = Http::withToken(env('OPENAI_API_KEY'))
      ->post("https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions", [
        "model" => "gpt-4o-mini",
        "messages" => [
          ["role" => "system", "content" => "You are a business chatbot."],
          ["role" => "user", "content" => $context]
        ]
      ]);

    return $response->json()['choices'][0]['message']['content'] ?? "Error generating AI response.";
  }
}

4. Create WhatsApp (360Dialog) Service

app/Services/WhatsAppService.php

<?php

namespace App\Services;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

class WhatsAppService
{
  public function sendMessage($to, $message)
  {
    return Http::withHeaders([
      "Content-Type" => "application/json",
      "D360-API-KEY" => env("WABA_API_KEY")
    ])->post("https://waba.360dialog.io/v1/messages", [
      "to" => $to,
      "type" => "text",
      "text" => ["body" => $message]
    ]);
  }
}

5. Setup Environment Variables

.env

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
WABA_API_KEY=your_360dialog_api_key_here

Advanced Features

To take your bot to the next level:

Use Vector Database for Semantic Search

Connect:

Then:

Use LangChain

Benefits:

Benefits of WhatsApp Chatbots for Businesses

24/7 customer support

No need for employees during night hours.

Reduce support team size

Automate up to 80% repetitive queries.

Zero waiting time

Instant reply → happier users.

Higher conversion rate

Lead nurturing bots increase sales.

Personalised responses

Using memory + history.

Lower operational cost

A chatbot is cheaper than hiring staff.

Scalable

Whether 100 or 1M messages — bots handle everything.

Multi-format communication

Send:

…effortlessly into the chat.

Conclusion

WhatsApp chatbots are no longer a luxury — they are a business necessity.
With the power of WhatsApp API + OpenAI + PostgreSQL + Webhooks, any business can build an intelligent, automated communication system that works 24/7.

The architecture is simple, the flow is scalable, and the benefits are enormous.

Whether you’re building it for:

…a WhatsApp bot can transform your business completely.

If you build it right — with proper memory, smart business logic, and advanced AI models — your bot becomes your best virtual employee.

How to Make WhatsApp Bots: A Complete Guide for Modern Businesses

How to Make WhatsApp Bots: A Complete Guide for Modern Businesses

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The Problems Businesses Face

How WhatsApp Bots Solve These Problems

System Requirements for Building WhatsApp Chatbots

WhatsApp API Provider

Backend (Any Programming Language)

OpenAI API (or any LLM service)

Database

Webhook Endpoint

Architecture & Flow

How the WhatsApp Bot Works

User Sends Message

Webhook Triggered to Your Server

Parse the Webhook Data

Chat Memorization (The Important Part)

Option A: Use OpenAI’s conversation response_id

Option B: Retrieve last 5–6 messages from PostgreSQL

Option C: Maintain a running summary

Evaluate Business Logic

Generate Final Response with OpenAI API

Send Response Back to User

Store Everything in Database

Step-by-Step Development Flow

1. Create Route

2. Create Webhook Controller

3. Create OpenAI Service

4. Create WhatsApp (360Dialog) Service

5. Setup Environment Variables

Advanced Features

Use Vector Database for Semantic Search

Use LangChain

Benefits of WhatsApp Chatbots for Businesses

24/7 customer support

Reduce support team size

Zero waiting time

Higher conversion rate

Personalised responses

Lower operational cost

Scalable

Multi-format communication

…effortlessly into the chat.

Conclusion

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