Want to make your business communication on WhatsApp more effective? This tutorial will show you how to send messages to phone numbers stored in a CSV file using Node.js, the Axios library, and the Wassenger API. You’ll learn to read phone numbers and messages from the CSV file and send them automatically with Wassenger.
This article gives you a quick look into the features of the Wassenger API.
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Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of JavaScript and Node.js
- Node.js installed on your computer
- A text editor for writing code (e.g: Visual Studio Code, Atom, Vim)
- A Wassenger API token (you can obtain this by signing up here)
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Install required packages
First, create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your terminal. Then, run the following commands to create a new package.json file and install the necessary libraries:
npm init -y
npm install axios csv-parse
Create the CSV file
Create a new file named numbers.csv in your project directory with two columns:
- First column: phone number in E164 format with the country prefix.
- Second column: text message to send to the target phone number.
The spreadsheet document should look like this:
The equivalent spreadsheet document exported as CSV should look like this:
(+1234567890,
'👋 Welcome to {{your-business-name}}! Thanks for signing up.We are just a message away!' +
1234567890,
"💐 Your order has been shipped.Tracking number is {{tracking-number}}.Don't hesitate to reach out to if you need help! 🤗");
You can export any Office Excel or Google Sheets document as a CSV file by following these instructions:
- Learn how to export an Excel spreadsheet as a CSV file
- Learn how to export Google Sheet as a CSV file
Create a file with the code
Send text messages
Create a new file named send_messages.js in your project directory and add the following code:
const axios = require('axios');
const fs = require('fs/promises');
const { parse } = require('csv-parse/sync');
// Set local path of the CSV file
// You can export any Excel/Google Sheets document as CSV
const csvFile = 'file.csv';
// Replace this with your Wassenger API token
// Get your API token here: https://app.wassenger.com/apikeys
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE';
// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Wassenger
// you want to use for messages delivery(24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE';
// Set the download URL of the file to be sent.
// The file must be publicly accessible from the Internet and return the file binary content
// You can also upload a local file in Google Drive and make the file publicly available for download
// Accepted file formats are: images(JPEG, WEBP, PNG), video(MP4), audio(MP3, OGG) and documents(PDF, XLSX, DOCX, ZIP...)
const fileUrl = 'https://picsum.photos/seed/picsum/600/500';
// Define the headers for the API request
const headers = {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Authorization: `${token}`
};
// Define the URL for the Wassenger API
const url = 'https://api.wassenger.com/v1/messages';
const normalizePhone = phone => {
return `+${phone.replace(/\D/g, '')}`;
};
const sendMessage = async (phone, message) => {
const body = { device, phone, message: message.trim() };
try {
const response = await axios.post(url, body, { headers });
console.log(`=> Message created: ${phone}`);
} catch (error) {
console.error(
'Failed to create message to ${phone}:',
error.response ? error.response.data : error
);
}
};
const main = async () => {
try {
console.log('=> Reading CSV file...');
const data = await fs.readFile(csvFile, 'utf-8');
const records = parse(data, { columns: false, skip_empty_lines: true });
console.log('=> Processing messages...');
for (const [phone, message] of records) {
if (!phone || !message) {
continue;
}
const number = normalizePhone(phone);
if (number && number.length >= 8 && message) {
await sendMessage(number, message);
}
}
} catch (err) {
console.error('Error:', err);
}
};
main();
🤩 🤖 Wassenger is a complete communication platform and API solution for WhatsApp. Explore more than 100+ API use cases and automate anything on WhatsApp by signing up for a free trial and get started in minutes**!**
Send media messages
In this example, we will create a different program called send_media.js to send multiple image media messages to different phone numbers loaded from a Google Sheets document.
The easiest way to send a media message is to provide a file download URL. If your file is not already uploaded somewhere, you can upload it to Google Drive and make it publicly available to be downloaded by Wassenger to send it later.
Example download URL from a public file in Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1RG3CAPiwiFlFATUlIIwhk0RrbEU4PgVP&export=download
Important: the given download URL must return the file binary content, otherwise it will fail.
Create a new file named send_media.js in your project directory and add the following code:
const axios = require('axios');
const { parse } = require('csv-parse/sync');
// Set local path of the CSV file
// You can export any Excel/Google Sheets document as CSV
const csvFile = 'file.csv';
// Set the download URL of the file to be sent.
// The file must be publicly accessible from the Internet and return the file binary content
// You can also upload a local file in Google Drive and make the file publicly available for download
// Accepted file formats are: images(JPEG, WEBP, PNG), video(MP4), audio(MP3, OGG) and documents(PDF, XLSX, DOCX, ZIP...)
const fileUrl = 'https://picsum.photos/seed/picsum/600/500';
// Replace this with your Wassenger API token
// Get your API token here: https://app.wassenger.com/apikeys
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE';
// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Wassenger
// you want to use for messages delivery(24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE';
// Define the headers for the API request
const headers = {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Authorization: `${token}`
};
// Define URLs for the Wassenger API
const baseUrl = 'https://api.wassenger.com/v1';
const url = `${baseUrl}/messages`;
const filesUrl = `${baseUrl}/files`;
const uploadFile = async url => {
const body = { url };
try {
const response = await axios.post(filesUrl, body, { headers });
return response.data.id;
} catch (error) {
// If the file already exists, obtain the file ID from the response
if (
error.response &&
error.response.status === 409 &&
error.response.data
) {
return error.response.data.meta.file;
}
console.error(
'Failed to upload file:',
error.response ? error.response.data : error
);
}
};
const normalizePhone = phone => {
return `+${phone.replace(/\D/g, '')}`;
};
const sendMessage = async (phone, message, file) => {
const body = {
phone,
message: message.trim(),
device,
media: { file }
};
try {
await axios.post(url, body, { headers });
console.log(` == > Message created: ${phone}`);
} catch (error) {
console.error(
'Failed to create message to ${phone}:',
error.response ? error.response.data : error
);
}
};
const main = async () => {
try {
if (!fileUrl) {
throw new Error('Missing required fileUrl');
}
console.log('=> Reading CSV file...');
const data = await fs.readFile(csvFile, 'utf-8');
const records = parse(data, { columns: false, skip_empty_lines: true });
console.log('=> Uploading file...');
const file = await uploadFile(fileUrl);
if (!file) {
throw new Error('Failed to upload file: check the error');
}
console.log('=> Processing messages...');
for (const [phone, message] of records) {
if (!phone || !message) {
continue;
}
const number = normalizePhone(phone);
if (number && number.length >= 8 && message) {
await sendMessage(number, message, file);
}
}
} catch (err) {
console.error('Error:', err);
}
};
main();
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Replace the API token
In the send_messages.js file, make sure you have defined the API token of your actual Wassenger account:
// Replace this with your Wassenger API token
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE';
Optionally, suppose you have multiple WhatsApp numbers connected in your Wassenger account. In that case, you can specify which WhatsApp number you want to use for the message delivery by specifying the Wassenger unique device ID (24 characters hexadecimal value) in the following line:
// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Wassenger
// you want to use for messages delivery(24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE';
🤩 🤖 Wassenger is a complete communication platform and API solution for WhatsApp. Explore more than 100+ API use cases and automate anything on WhatsApp by signing up for a free trial and get started in minutes**!**
Run the program
️➡️ Run the program in the cloud ⬅️
const axios = require('axios');
const { parse } = require('csv-parse/sync');
// Set local path of the CSV file
// You can export any Excel/Google Sheets document as CSV
const csvFile = 'file.csv';
// Set the download URL of the file to be sent.
// The file must be publicly accessible from the Internet and return the file binary content
// You can also upload a local file in Google Drive and make the file publicly available for download
// Accepted file formats are: images(JPEG, WEBP, PNG), video(MP4), audio(MP3, OGG) and documents(PDF, XLSX, DOCX, ZIP...)
const fileUrl = 'https://picsum.photos/seed/picsum/600/500';
// Replace this with your Wassenger API token
// Get your API token here: https://app.wassenger.com/apikeys
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE';
// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Wassenger
// you want to use for messages delivery(24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE';
// Define the headers for the API request
const headers = {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Authorization: `${token}`
};
// Define URLs for the Wassenger API
const baseUrl = 'https://api.wassenger.com/v1';
const url = `${baseUrl}/messages`;
const filesUrl = `${baseUrl}/files`;
const uploadFile = async url => {
const body = { url };
try {
const response = await axios.post(filesUrl, body, { headers });
return response.data.id;
} catch (error) {
// If the file already exists, obtain the file ID from the response
if (
error.response &&
error.response.status === 409 &&
error.response.data
) {
return error.response.data.meta.file;
}
console.error(
'Failed to upload file:',
error.response ? error.response.data : error
);
}
};
const normalizePhone = phone => {
return `+${phone.replace(/\D/g, '')}`;
};
const sendMessage = async (phone, message, file) => {
const body = {
phone,
message: message.trim(),
device,
media: { file }
};
try {
await axios.post(url, body, { headers });
console.log(` == > Message created: ${phone}`);
} catch (error) {
console.error(
'Failed to create message to ${phone}:',
error.response ? error.response.data : error
);
}
};
const main = async () => {
try {
if (!fileUrl) {
throw new Error('Missing required fileUrl');
}
console.log('=> Reading CSV file...');
const data = await fs.readFile(csvFile, 'utf-8');
const records = parse(data, { columns: false, skip_empty_lines: true });
console.log('=> Uploading file...');
const file = await uploadFile(fileUrl);
if (!file) {
throw new Error('Failed to upload file: check the error');
}
console.log('=> Processing messages...');
for (const [phone, message] of records) {
if (!phone || !message) {
continue;
}
const number = normalizePhone(phone);
if (number && number.length >= 8 && message) {
await sendMessage(number, message, file);
}
}
} catch (err) {
console.error('Error:', err);
}
};
main();
Run the program on your computer
Before running the program, if you plan to send hundreds of messages in a row, we recommend defining a lower message delivery speed per minute no more than 2–3 messages to prevent ban issues due to anti-spam policies by WhatsApp. Learn more about best practices and how to reduce risk here.
Open a terminal in your project directory and run the following command to execute the send_messages.js script:
node send_messages.js
Similarly, you can run the send_media.js script to send media messages:
node send_media.js
If everything is set up correctly, you should see output indicating the messages have been created successfully:
=> Message created: +1234567890
=> Message created: +1234567890
=> Message created: +1234567890
Note messages will be added to your number’s message delivery queue and delivered asynchronously in the background over time based on your number’s subscription message delivery speed per minute limit or the manually configured delivery speed you have defined in your number’s settings.
Messages may take several minutes or hours, depending on how much you have created, to be effectively delivered to the target phone numbers via WhatsApp. You can monitor the progress fo the messages delivery in the web panel or automatically by using webhook events.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you learned how to send messages to phone numbers stored in a CSV file using Node.js, the axios library, and the Wassenger API.
You can update numbers.csv file and run the program anytime you want to send new messages through your Wassenger-connected WhatsApp number.
You can further customize the script to handle additional columns, create different types of messages, or integrate it with your software as needed.
🤩 🤖 Wassenger is a complete communication platform and API solution for WhatsApp. Explore more than 100+ API use cases and automate anything on WhatsApp by signing up for a free trial and get started in minutes**!**
