Alongside the launch of its new AI-focused subscription plans, Meta announced on Tuesday that businesses can now use AI agents of their choice to set up and manage WhatsApp Business messaging. The service enables companies to communicate with customers through conversations on WhatsApp.
Meta said the setup process was previously more complicated because developers had to switch between several tools and services, including the Developer Console, Meta’s Business Manager, the API reference and their code editor. Businesses can now instead instruct a preferred AI agent through a conversation, describing the WhatsApp Business setup and management tasks they want completed.
The new capability is powered by the WhatsApp Business Tools MCP, an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects AI coding agents such as Claude, Cursor, Codex and ChatGPT directly with the WhatsApp Business Platform.
The development expands Meta’s existing range of MCP servers beyond tools for managing advertising campaigns, monitoring app configurations and working with other social technologies. The new server is specifically designed to simplify the process of onboarding businesses to WhatsApp. Other major technology companies, including PayPal, Stripe, GitHub, Notion, Slack, Salesforce, Atlassian, X, Google and Microsoft, also provide MCP servers that allow AI agents to interact with their services.
For Meta, the AI agent can take care of much of the routine work involved in setting up WhatsApp Business. This includes creating a company’s WhatsApp Business account, adding and verifying its phone number, registering the account for Cloud API access, checking the business Terms of Service and completing other configuration tasks.
Businesses can also use the AI agent to create messaging templates based on a description of what they need or make changes to existing templates. The tools can also be used to test messages and webhooks and monitor potential issues involving areas such as the Terms of Service, payment methods and Business Verification.
During the setup and configuration process, Meta’s other MCP server, Meta Social Technologies MCP, can also help businesses find API endpoints, search documentation and troubleshoot errors, the company said.
