PHP QUICKSTART

Send your first WhatsApp message in under 5 minutes. You need a WA Bridges API key - get one from the dashboard.

1. INSTALL

PHP has no required dependencies. The examples use built-in curl functions.

ENV

export WA_API_KEY="sk_..."

2. PROVISION A BRIDGE

One bridge = one WhatsApp number. customer_ref is your internal identifier (user ID, slug, etc.).

PHP

<?php
$apiKey = getenv('WA_API_KEY');
$base   = 'https://wabridges.com/api';

function waPost(string $path, array $body) use ($apiKey, $base): array {
    $ch = curl_init($base . $path);
    curl_setopt_array($ch, [
        CURLOPT_POST           => true,
        CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS     => json_encode($body),
        CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
        CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER     => [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . $apiKey,
            'Content-Type: application/json',
        ],
    ]);
    $res = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
    curl_close($ch);
    return $res;
}

$bridge = waPost('/instances', [
    'customer_ref' => 'user-123',
    'webhook_url'  => 'https://yourbackend.com/hook',
]);
print_r($bridge);

RESPONSE

{"id": 42, "customer_ref": "user-123", "state": "running"}

3. PAIR A PHONE

Request a pairing code. Open WhatsApp on the phone, go to Linked Devices → Link a device → Link with phone number, then enter the code.

PHP

$result = waPost('/instances/user-123/proxy/pair', ['phone' => '15550001234']);
echo "Enter this code on the phone: " . $result['code'];

RESPONSE

{"code": "ABCD-EFGH"}

Once paired, the bridge fires a connected webhook event. Poll /proxy/status or wait for the event.

4. SEND A MESSAGE

PHP

$msg = waPost('/instances/user-123/proxy/send/text', [
    'chat' => '15559876543',
    'body' => 'Hello from the API!',
]);
echo $msg['message_id'];

RESPONSE

{"message_id": "ACE41E...", "timestamp": 1777180605}

5. RECEIVE EVENTS

Inbound messages and events are delivered via POST to your webhook_url. Return 200 immediately.

PHP

<?php
$payload = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);
http_response_code(200);

if (($payload['event'] ?? '') === 'message' && empty($payload['from_me'])) {
    error_log("{$payload['name']}: {$payload['body']}");
}

See the webhook guide for all event types and fields.