Create your Meta app

About 15 minutes · Last checked 31 October 2026 · Plugin 2.10.0

Your store talks to Meta’s official WhatsApp Cloud API through a Meta app that you own. At the end of this guide you have a developer account, a business portfolio in your own name and an app for WhatsApp, ready for your phone number.

What you need

• A Facebook account. You sign in to Meta’s developer site with it. Use your own account, not a shared one.
• Your business name, address and an e-mail address that you read. Use the same details as on your official papers, because Meta checks them if you verify your business later.
• A computer with a browser. Meta’s developer site is hard to use on a phone.
• The address of your store’s privacy-policy page, for example https://your-store.com/privacy-policy/. WordPress → Settings → Privacy → “Policy Guide” shows suggested text from the plugin that you can add to it.

Steps

1. Register as a Meta developer

   Open developers.facebook.com and log in with your Facebook account. The first time, press “Get started”. Meta asks you to accept its terms, confirm your phone number or e-mail and say what describes you best. When it is done, you see “My Apps” at the top of the page.

2. Create or choose your business portfolio

   A business portfolio (Meta used to call it Business Manager) holds your app, your WhatsApp account and your number. Open business.facebook.com. If you already run Facebook or Instagram ads for your store, you probably have one: use it. If not, choose “Create a business portfolio” and enter your business name, your name and your business e-mail.

   You need full control (admin access) of the portfolio. Setting this up for a client? Use the client’s own portfolio and ask them to give you access, so the number and its history stay with them.

3. Create the app

   Back on developers.facebook.com, open “My Apps” and press “Create app”. Under “App details”, type a name (your store’s name works well) and your contact e-mail, then press “Next”.

4. Pick the use case for WhatsApp

   Under “Use cases”, choose “Connect with customers through WhatsApp” and press “Next”. If the list is long, it may sit under a filter such as “Business messaging”.

5. Connect your business portfolio

   Choose the business portfolio from step 2 and press “Next”. Meta then shows what the use case needs and a summary. Press “Go to dashboard” (or “Create app”). Meta may ask for your Facebook password.

6. Open the WhatsApp part of your app

   In the app dashboard, open “Use cases” and press “Customize” next to “Connect with customers through WhatsApp”. In older dashboards, WhatsApp has its own item in the left menu. Follow Meta’s prompts to start using the API: Meta links a WhatsApp Business account to your portfolio and gives you a test number.

   You now have the two pages you need in the next guides: API Setup (your numbers, the Phone Number ID and the WhatsApp Business Account ID) and Configuration (the webhook).

7. Fill in the basic settings

   Open “App settings” → “Basic”. Type your store’s privacy-policy address in “Privacy Policy URL” and press “Save changes”. You need it to switch the app to Live at the end of the webhook guide.

   The same page shows your App ID and your App Secret (behind “Show”). The webhook guide tells you where to paste the App Secret. Keep it private, like a password.

Check that it worked

• “My Apps” on developers.facebook.com lists your app.
• In your Business settings (business.facebook.com/settings), “Accounts” → “Apps” lists the same app, so it belongs to your portfolio.
• Your app has an API Setup page with a test number from Meta.

Next, add your own number: your phone number.

Common problems