---
title: How to connect WhatsApp so the assistant can reply
updated: 2026-10-06
canonical: https://corekchat.com/ayuda/en/conectar-whatsapp
---

For the assistant to serve your customers on WhatsApp, the location needs a
connected channel. Without a connected channel, messages don't reach the system
and the assistant can't reply to anything.

## Where to connect it

Open «Configuraciones» (Settings), go to «Integraciones» (Integrations) and pick
the location you want to set up at the top. All available channels are there.

(Captura del sistema, sólo para clientes: The Integrations section of Settings: the location selector at the top and one card per channel, each with its status)

Not every channel comes with every plan. If one isn't included in yours, the
card says so and shows you how to fix it: the web widget can be activated by
buying that add-on from the same screen, and for the others we point you to
sales. A channel you already had connected keeps working even if you change
plans; what's controlled is connecting a new one.

In «Sedes» (Locations), each location's Integrations tab shows which channels
that location has connected, but you don't connect or disconnect them from
there.

## Which option to choose

There are two ways to connect WhatsApp:

**QR code connection.** You scan a code from the WhatsApp app on your phone,
just like WhatsApp Web. It's the fastest to get going and requires no paperwork.
The phone must stay connected to the internet.

**Official WhatsApp API.** The official connection. It's more stable, doesn't
depend on a phone being on and lets you send approved templates. It requires a
registration process with Meta, but it isn't charged separately: it's another
way to connect the same channel, not an extra feature.

If today you serve customers with the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and
don't want to stop using it, there's a third option that combines the two: your
team keeps replying from the app and the assistant replies over the official
connection on the same number. Ask us if this is your case, because it requires
a different registration.

## One number, one connection

The same phone number can't be connected both ways at the same time. If you want
to move from the QR code connection to the official API, you first have to
disconnect the former.

## If you use the WhatsApp Business app

If you use the WhatsApp Business app on your phone — with the QR code
connection, or with the one that combines the app and the official connection —
turn off the **greeting message** and the **away message**. They're in the app,
under **Business tools**.

Those messages go out on their own, on top of the assistant. With them on, the
customer gets two different replies when they write: the automatic one and the
assistant's. The away message is the most confusing: it can tell them you're
closed while the assistant is taking their order.

You don't need either one: the assistant already greets people and knows each
location's hours. The WhatsApp card in Settings → Integrations reminds you about
this when you connect.

## WhatsApp groups and statuses

With the QR code connection, the restaurant's number also receives what happens
in the groups it belongs to and the statuses your contacts post.

**Statuses are never answered**, and neither are broadcast lists or channels:
they don't open conversations or show up in the dashboard.

**Groups are configured per location.** In Settings → Integrations, open the
WhatsApp card and choose under «Grupos de WhatsApp» (WhatsApp groups):

- **Don't reply in groups.** This is selected by default. The agent ignores
  everything that comes in through groups; use it if the number is in personal
  or supplier groups.
- **Reply only when mentioned or replied to.** The agent replies when someone in
  the group mentions the restaurant's number with @ or replies to one of its
  messages. The rest of the group chat isn't saved.
- **Reply to every message in the group.** Useful for a group dedicated to
  orders, for example a company that orders lunch for its team.

When the agent serves a group, the whole group is a single conversation in the
dashboard, with the group's name, and each message carries the name of whoever
wrote it. Replies go to the group.

Changing this option requires permission to edit the agent's settings.

## If a customer writes to another of your locations

Each customer has a single conversation, with their whole history, even if they
write to more than one location. The conversation stays with the location of the
number they last wrote to: the reply goes out through that same number and the
agent uses that location's menu and hours. Orders and reservations they had
already made stay with the location where they made them.

## How to tell whether it's connected

In Settings → Integrations you can see the status of each channel. You can also
ask the internal assistant why your bot isn't replying: it checks the status of
the connection along with the rest of the conditions and tells you which one is
failing.

## If it suddenly stopped replying

The most common causes, in order:

1. The channel disconnected. Connect it again from Settings → Integrations.
2. Someone on your team took over the conversation from the dashboard. While a
   conversation is being handled by a person, the assistant doesn't reply in it
   on purpose. Turn it back on from the conversation.
3. The monthly artificial intelligence allowance ran out.
4. The license isn't active.
5. If it's in a group: check the «Grupos de WhatsApp» (WhatsApp groups) option
   for that location. It comes set to "Don't reply in groups".