Updated on October 25, 2026
A WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) is the account that, on the official WhatsApp Business API, used to hold a company’s phone numbers, templates and billing. Under Meta’s new account model, rolled out between September and October 2026, it split in two: the WhatsApp account, which holds the number and the business identity, and the Messaging account, which holds templates, billing and webhooks. The waba_id you already use keeps working and now identifies the Messaging account.
This glossary covers more than 40 terms that show up in Meta’s documentation, payloads and dashboards, grouped by topic. Each definition is a sentence or two, with a link to a deeper article where one exists.
Accounts and assets
| Term | What it is | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Business portfolio | A company’s account at Meta (formerly Business Manager). Holds WhatsApp accounts, Messaging accounts, users and apps. Required. | business_id, Meta Business Suite |
| WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) | The account that used to hold numbers, templates and billing. Under the new model, its ID identifies the Messaging account. | waba_id |
| Messaging account | Holds templates, the payment method and webhook subscriptions. Each partner serving the same number gets its own. | waba_id, “Messaging Accounts” tab |
| WhatsApp account (WAAC) | Holds the number, business profile and, in the future, the business username. Always owned by the business and shareable with partners. | “WhatsApp Accounts” tab |
| Business phone number | A number registered on Cloud API to send and receive messages. Can be mobile, landline or virtual. | WhatsApp Manager |
| Phone Number ID | The number’s identifier in the API. It goes in the send URL. It is not the phone number itself. | phone_number_id, POST /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages |
| display_phone_number | The formatted number as people see it. | Webhooks, GET /phone_numbers |
| wa_id | The WhatsApp user ID, usually the number without +. It may not match what you sent in to. | Send response, webhooks |
| Display name | The business name shown on the profile and, once approved, at the top of the chat. See display names on the WhatsApp API. | verified_name, name_status |
| Business profile | Address, website, description, email and category shown on the number’s profile. | whatsapp_business_profile |
| Official Business Account (OBA) | A number from a verified business that gets a blue checkmark next to its name. | WhatsApp Manager |
| Business verification | Meta’s process to confirm a portfolio belongs to a real business. Unlocks higher limits. | Security Center |
| Two-step verification PIN | Six-digit PIN set when registering the number. Needed to change the PIN or delete the number from the platform. | POST /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/register |
| WhatsApp Manager | Meta’s dashboard for numbers, templates, quality and analytics. | business.facebook.com |
| Billing Hub and credit line | Billing Hub is where you add a payment method. A credit line is credit a Solution Partner extends to a client. | Meta Business Suite |
Sources: About the platform, Updates to WhatsApp Business accounts, Business phone numbers, Official Business Accounts.
Messages
| Term | What it is | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Template (message template) | A Meta-approved message with variables. The only type you can send outside the customer service window. | type: "template" |
| Template category | Marketing, utility or authentication. Drives review and price. | category |
| Named and positional parameters | Template variables in the {{first_name}} or {{1}} format. | parameter_format |
| Service message | A free-form message (text, media, buttons) sent inside the customer service window. | service category |
| Customer service window (24 h) | The 24-hour period opened by each message or call from the customer. Outside it, templates only. | Error 131047 |
| Free entry point window (FEP) | A window of up to 7 days opened when the business replies to someone who came from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad. Messages in it aren’t charged. | pricing.type |
| Click-to-WhatsApp (CTWA) | A Facebook or Instagram ad that opens a WhatsApp chat. | referral object in the webhook |
| wamid | The WhatsApp message ID. Returned in the send response and used in status webhooks. | messages[0].id |
| Interactive messages | Reply buttons (up to 3), lists, CTA URL buttons, location requests. | type: "interactive" |
| WhatsApp Flows | Multi-screen forms inside the chat, for bookings, sign-ups or surveys. | interactive.type: "flow" |
| Media ID | The ID returned when you upload a file, used instead of a link when sending media. | image.id, document.id |
| Message status | sent, delivered, read and failed, among others, received by webhook. See message statuses. | statuses webhook |
| Meta Business Agent | Meta’s own AI agents that handle WhatsApp conversations, with their own pricing category. | Pricing category |
Sources: Templates, Service messages, Pricing, Status webhook.
Limits, quality and pricing
| Term | What it is | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging limit | How many unique recipients a portfolio can reach in 24 hours outside the window: 250, 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 or unlimited. Set per portfolio, not per number. | whatsapp_business_manager_messaging_limit |
| Throughput (mps) | Messages per second a number can send: 80 by default, up to 1,000 with automatic upgrade, fixed at 20 in coexistence. | Error 130429 |
| Quality rating | The number’s rating based on blocks, reports and other signals from the last 7 days. | quality_rating (e.g. GREEN) |
| Per-user marketing limit | A cap on how many marketing templates each person receives from all businesses, based on their engagement. | Error 131049 |
| Template pausing | A low-quality template gets paused; after repeated pauses, it is disabled. | Errors 132015 and 132016 |
| Opt-in | The customer’s permission to receive messages from the business. Required by WhatsApp policy. | Messaging policy |
| Per-message pricing (PMP) | The model in effect since July 1, 2025: Meta charges each delivered message by category and country. | pricing_model: "PMP" |
| Pricing object | The status webhook block that says whether a message is billable, its category and its pricing type. | billable, category, type |
Sources: Messaging limits, Throughput, Error codes, Pricing.
Integration and authentication
| Term | What it is | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud API | WhatsApp’s official messaging and calling API, hosted by Meta. See WhatsApp Cloud API. | graph.facebook.com |
| Graph API | Meta’s HTTP API that Cloud API is built on. It’s versioned (e.g. v26.0). | Base URL |
| Business Management API | The part of the platform that manages accounts, numbers, templates and analytics. | WABA endpoints |
| Marketing Messages API | An API for sending marketing messages with optimizations Cloud API doesn’t have. | Meta documentation |
| On-Premises API | The old, self-hosted version. Meta sunset it on October 23, 2025. | Legacy docs |
| Webhook | A URL on your system that receives messages and statuses as JSON. | object: "whatsapp_business_account" |
| Verify token and hub.challenge | During setup, Meta sends a GET with hub.verify_token and hub.challenge; you check the token and return the challenge. | Query string |
| X-Hub-Signature-256 | A header with an HMAC-SHA256 of the body, computed with your app secret, to confirm the webhook came from Meta. | HTTP header |
| System user | A technical portfolio user that represents a service rather than a person. Can be admin or employee. | Business settings |
| System user token | A long-lived token for direct integrations. See permanent token. | Authorization: Bearer |
| Business token | A token scoped to one client, obtained by a partner at the end of Embedded Signup. | Partner flow |
| Embedded Signup | A Meta window that creates the portfolio, accounts and number and authorizes a partner’s app. | Provider’s website |
| App Review and Advanced access | Meta’s app review, required for partners to access other businesses’ accounts. Without it, error 200. | App Dashboard |
| Coexistence | Using the same number on the WhatsApp Business app and Cloud API. | is_on_biz_app |
| smb_message_echoes | A webhook field that tells you when the business replied from the app in coexistence. | Webhook subscription |
Sources: About the platform, Create a webhook endpoint, Access tokens, Embedded Signup, On-Premises API Sunset.
Partners
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| Solution Partner (BSP) | A Meta Business Partner with a credit line that can invoice API usage directly to the client. |
| Tech Provider | Offers platform services without a credit line; Meta bills the client directly. |
| Tech Partner | A Tech Provider that is also a Meta Business Partner. |
The differences are explained in what a BSP and a Tech Provider are.
How the IDs fit together in a real call
A Cloud API send brings several of these terms together: the Phone Number ID in the URL, the token in the header, the customer’s number in to and the template in the body.
curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/PHONE_NUMBER_ID/messages' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer SYSTEM_USER_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"to": "+5584999999999",
"type": "template",
"template": { "name": "appointment_reminder", "language": { "code": "en_US" } }
}'The response includes the customer’s wa_id and the message’s wamid. You use that wamid to match status webhooks to the send. More examples in how to send a message with the WhatsApp API.
The same terms on Vectalk
Vectalk is a proxy for the official WhatsApp Cloud API: payloads and webhooks are Meta’s, so this whole glossary applies as is. Only access changes. In Vectalk’s documentation, each connected number becomes an instance that stores the phone_number_id, waba_id, business_id and Meta token. You authenticate with an organization token, which reaches every instance and requires phone_number_id in the send body, or an instance token, which resolves the number on its own. Details are in Instances and Authentication. To get started, create your account.
Frequently asked questions
Is a WABA the same as the WhatsApp Business account on my phone?
No. The WhatsApp Business app on your phone is an account for manual use. WABA is the platform term for the account the API uses. With coexistence, the app account can be converted so it also works on the API.
What’s the difference between the Phone Number ID and the phone number?
The phone number is what the customer sees, such as +55 84 99999-9999. The Phone Number ID is a numeric identifier Meta generates for that number inside the API, and it’s what goes in the send URL.
What changed when the WABA was split?
The WABA became two accounts: the WhatsApp account, with the number, and the Messaging account, with templates and billing. Old IDs, endpoints and tokens keep working. The main change is that one number can be shared with several partners, each with its own Messaging account.
Is wa_id always the same as the number I sent?
Not necessarily. Meta notes that wa_id may not match the value you sent in to. For Brazil and Mexico, the API may adjust the number’s prefix. Store the wa_id returned by the API as the contact’s identifier.
Official sources consulted on October 25, 2026: About the platform, Updates to WhatsApp Business accounts, Business phone numbers, Display names, Official Business Accounts, Templates, Service messages, Status webhook, Messaging limits, Throughput, Pricing, Error codes, Access tokens, Create a webhook endpoint, Embedded Signup, Partners, On-Premises API Sunset.