Connect WhatsApp

This is the step that people get stuck on with every tool in this category, so it is worth ten minutes of reading. Most of the difficulty is not the flow itself — it is the phone number rules underneath it.

Alondio uses Meta Embedded Signup, which runs inside your Shopify admin. You create or connect a WhatsApp Business Account without leaving the app.

Before you open the flow

Check your phone number first. A number can only be attached to one WhatsApp account at a time — personal, Business app, or API. If the number you want to send from is currently in use by the WhatsApp Business app on someone’s phone, it cannot be used here until it is deleted from that app.

Concretely, a number is usable if:

• It can receive an SMS or a voice call for verification.
• It is not registered to any WhatsApp account, or it has been fully deleted from the WhatsApp Business app first (uninstalling the app is not enough — the account has to be deleted from within it).
• It is a real number you control. Numbers that cannot receive international SMS frequently fail verification.

Choosing a new number is usually less painful than reclaiming one you already use.

Running Embedded Signup

1. In Alondio, open Settings → WhatsApp and choose Connect WhatsApp.
2. A Meta window opens. Log in with the Facebook account that should own the business assets. This is a decision, not a formality — see below.
3. Create a new Meta Business account or select an existing one.
4. Create a WhatsApp Business Account, or select one you already have.
5. Add your display name and business details. The display name is what customers see, and Meta reviews it.
6. Add and verify your phone number by SMS or voice call.
7. Approve the permissions and close the flow.

Which account should own it

Use an account that belongs to the business, not to an individual employee. Meta business assets are painful to transfer later, and a WABA owned by someone who leaves is a genuine operational problem. If you are setting this up on behalf of a client, have them run the flow.

When it goes wrong

The window closed before I finished. Nothing is lost. Reopen Connect WhatsApp and the flow resumes from where Meta last saved it. It usually remembers the business but not the phone number step.

“This phone number is already registered.” The number is attached to another WhatsApp account. Delete it there first, then wait a few minutes and retry.

The verification code never arrives. Try the voice call option instead of SMS. If both fail, the number’s carrier is likely blocking international automated messages, and a different number is the fastest fix.

Business verification is being requested. Meta sometimes asks for business verification immediately and sometimes defers it. You can send messages at a reduced limit while it is pending, so do not treat it as a blocker — continue and complete it in Meta Business Manager when you can.

Confirming it actually worked

Return to Settings → WhatsApp in Alondio. A working connection shows:

• Your WhatsApp Business Account, connected.
• Your phone number, with a status of Connected.
• A quality rating and a messaging limit.

If the phone number is missing, the number step did not complete — reopen the flow. A connected WABA with no number is the most common half-finished state, and it will not send anything.

Next

Send your first message and read its delivery status.