# WhatsApp Groups (Beta) Show the WhatsApp groups of a connected [WhatsApp Web](whatsapp-web.md) number in your inbox and reply to them from the app. Each group you pick becomes one chat, with every member's name on their messages, so you can follow the conversation, quote a member and mention people just like on your phone. If you want, your AI agent can answer in a group too, but only when a member mentions your number or replies to one of its messages. > **Beta.** WhatsApp groups are new and still being improved. They are available on paid plans; on a free plan the Groups section shows as locked. If your account is managed by an agency, the agency decides whether groups are available to you. Groups work on WhatsApp Web numbers only. The WhatsApp Business API is one to one, so groups are not available on it. --- ## Before You Start - Groups are **off by default**. Nothing from your groups shows in the app until you switch groups on for a number and pick the groups yourself. - **Everyone in a group sees your replies**, and the AI's replies if you turn it on. Write in a group the way you would on your phone. - **WhatsApp applies its own rules to accounts that automate in groups** and may restrict an account that sends automated replies there. Keep the AI to the groups where people expect it. - **Nothing from before is brought in.** A group shows the messages that arrive after you switch it on, not its earlier history. --- ## Step 1: Switch Groups On for a Number 1. Go to **Settings → Channels**. 2. Find the **WhatsApp Web** card of the number you want. The number has to be connected. 3. Open the **Groups** section on that card (it carries a **Beta** badge). 4. Tick the box **Group members see my replies. WhatsApp may restrict accounts that send automated replies in groups.** The switch stays greyed out until you do. 5. Turn on **Show my WhatsApp groups in the inbox**. The switch is per number. Your other WhatsApp Web numbers stay as they are until you switch them on too. --- ## Step 2: Pick the Groups to Show Once the switch is on, the card lists every group the number is in, with the group's name, how many members it has, and an **Admin** badge when your number is an admin of the group. A group where only admins can write shows **Admins only**. 1. Turn on **Show in inbox** for each group you want in the app. 2. Click **Refresh groups** if a group you just joined is not in the list yet. You can show up to **25 groups per number**. The card shows how many you use ("3 of 25 groups shown"); to show another group once you reach 25, hide one first. Hiding a group stops new messages from it coming in. --- ## Working in a Group Chat Each group you show appears in **Chats** as one chat with a **Group** label, the number of members, and the newest message. - **Who wrote what.** Every member's messages carry their name and their own colour, with their picture on the first message of a run. The name is the one you saved for that person if you already have a private chat with them, otherwise the name they use on WhatsApp, otherwise their number. - **Your own messages.** What you send from the app, and what you type in the group on your phone, shows on your side of the chat. - **Reply to a member.** Use **Reply** on a member's message to quote it, just like on your phone. - **Mention a member.** Type **@** in the message box and pick the member from the list. They get a real WhatsApp mention. - **Photos, voice notes, reactions and ticks** work the same as in a one to one WhatsApp Web chat. ### Messages waiting for an answer When the newest message in a group is from a member and nobody on your side has written since, the group's row shows how many messages wait, for example **2 to answer**. The **Needs reply** filter at the top of the chat list shows only those groups. You can also get a notification for it: **WhatsApp group messages waiting** is sent at most once every 10 minutes per group. Turn it on or off with your other notifications. ### Group details Open the group's side panel (**Group details**) to see: - **Members**: how many people are in the group and the full list. - **Open private chat** next to a member: opens your one to one chat with that person, or creates it. Nothing is sent to them. This is not available when WhatsApp hides the member's number; the member then shows **Number hidden** and you can only reach them in the group. - **Mute AI for this member**: the AI will not answer this member in this group. Their private chat is not affected. - **AI in this group** and **AI agent**: whether the AI is on here, and which agent answers (see below). - **Summarise the conversation**: writes a short AI summary of the newest conversation in the group, naming who said what. ### When you can no longer write in a group - If your number left the group or was removed from it, the chat shows **Your number is no longer in this group, so messages cannot be sent here.** The AI stops in that group too. - If the group is set so that only admins can send and your number is not an admin, the chat says so and your messages will not go out. You can get a notification when this happens: **Removed from a WhatsApp group**. --- ## Let the AI Answer in a Group If you do not see the AI option yet, it is not switched on for your account. The AI is set per group and has two choices: - **Off**: the AI never writes in this group. This is the default. - **When mentioned**: the AI answers only the member who mentions your number or replies to one of the AI's messages. It answers that member by name, in the group, quoting their message. It never messages members privately. To set it up: 1. In **Settings → Channels**, on the number's **Groups** list, set **AI** to **When mentioned** for the group. The AI choice appears once the group's **Show in inbox** is on. (You can also change it under **AI in this group** in the group's side panel.) 2. Tell the platform which agent answers in groups. Open the agent in **AI Studio → AI Agents**, go to its **Entry Points** tab, click **New Entry Point** and choose **WhatsApp groups**. 3. Under **Which groups**, pick **Every group with AI on** or **Only these groups** and tick the groups. 4. Optionally add **Comment keywords**: the AI then only answers messages that contain one of these words. 5. The rule starts switched off. Tick **Start answering right away**, or turn the rule on from the list when you are ready, and click **Save**. How the AI behaves in a group: - It stays quiet on every message that does not mention your number or quote one of its messages. Such a message shows a short note in the chat (**Group message not addressed to the AI**) and costs nothing. - It replies in at most 2 messages, in text only. It does not book appointments or take other actions in a group. - To keep a group calm, it answers the same member at most once every 2 hours, writes at most 20 replies in one group per day, and waits at least 20 seconds between two messages in the same group. - It never answers a member you muted, and never answers a message flagged as spam (that message still shows in the chat, marked as spam). - Groups with more than **500 members** can be shown in the inbox, but the AI is not available for them. --- ## What Groups Never Do - A group is never a contact. Groups and their members are not added to your contacts, lists or smart lists, and they never appear in an export of your contacts. Members are not turned into contacts either; **Open private chat** creates a contact for a member only when you click it. - You cannot send a broadcast to a group, and no follow-ups go out in groups. - Automations that start when a contact is created do not run for groups. - The app never creates groups, adds members or shares invite links, and it never sends the first message in a group on its own. --- ## What Groups Cost There is no extra fee for groups. They are part of the number's existing connection fee, and messages that arrive in a group are free. AI replies in a group cost the same credits as any other AI reply. This also applies to a number on Unlimited AI: Unlimited AI covers the number's one to one chats, not replies in groups. A message you send in a group counts as one message toward the number's daily sending limit, however many members the group has. --- ## Troubleshooting ### A group is missing from the list Click **Refresh groups** on the number's Groups section. The list only shows groups the number is in right now. A group your number left shows **Left**. ### I cannot turn on Show in inbox You already show 25 groups on this number. Hide one to show another. ### The AI does not answer in a group Check, in this order: 1. The group's **AI** is set to **When mentioned**. 2. An agent has a **WhatsApp groups** entry point that covers this group, and the rule is switched on. 3. The member mentioned your number or replied to one of the AI's messages. A plain message in the group is left alone on purpose. 4. The member is not muted, the group has 500 members or fewer, and the AI has not hit its limits for that member or group (see above). If the **AI** option is missing entirely, it is not switched on for your account yet. --- ## Related - [WhatsApp Web](whatsapp-web.md): connecting the number, send limits and warm-up. - [Entry Points](../ai-agents/entry-points.md): how agents are picked for each channel. - [Error Log](../settings/error-log.md#app-3314): the note shown when a group message did not address the AI.