Sending messages

All outgoing content goes through a single method:

client.message.send(to, content, options?): Promise<WaMessagePublishResult>

to — the recipient (5511999999999@s.whatsapp.net, a group ...@g.us, etc.). See JID helpers for building these.
content — a string, a typed content object, or a raw Proto.IMessage.
options — quoting, mentions, forwarding, view-once, edits, and more.

The promise resolves to a WaMessagePublishResult once the server acks:

const result = await client.message.send(jid, 'Hello!')
console.log(result.id) // the message id (stanza id)

Plain text

The simplest content is a string:

await client.message.send(jid, 'Hello from zapo!')

For more control, use the text object form — it lets you attach context info and tune link previews:

await client.message.send(jid, {
  type: 'text',
  text: 'Check this out: https://example.com',
  linkPreview: true // auto-fetch a preview
})

Replying (quoting)

Pass the original message event (or a reference) as options.quote:

client.on('message', async (event) => {
  await client.message.send(event.key.remoteJid, 'Replying to you', {
    quote: event
  })
})

The quote is rendered as a reply bubble referencing the original message.

Mentions

options.mentions is a list of JIDs to tag. Include the matching @number text in the body so WhatsApp renders the mention:

await client.message.send(groupJid, {
  type: 'text',
  text: 'Hey @5511999999999, welcome!'
}, {
  mentions: ['5511999999999@s.whatsapp.net']
})

Link previews

Link-preview behavior is controlled per message via the text object’s linkPreview field:

Value	Behavior
`undefined`	Follow the global `linkPreview` default.
`false`	Disable the preview.
`true`	Force auto-fetch of the preview.
object	Skip the fetch and use the provided preview fields directly.

// Provide your own preview instead of fetching
await client.message.send(jid, {
  type: 'text',
  text: 'https://example.com',
  linkPreview: { title: 'Example', description: 'My custom preview' }
})

Configure the default fetcher globally with the linkPreview client option.

Forwarding

Set options.forward to mark a message as forwarded:

await client.message.send(jid, 'Forwarded text', { forward: true })
// or with a frequently-forwarded score
await client.message.send(jid, content, { forward: { score: 4 } })

Send options reference

WaSendMessageOptions (third argument) includes:

Option	Type	Purpose
`quote`	`WaIncomingMessageEvent \| WaQuoteRef \| WaMessageKey`	Reply to a message — pass the event verbatim, its `key`, or a `WaQuoteRef`.
`mentions`	`string[]`	JIDs to mention.
`forward`	`boolean \| { score }`	Mark as forwarded.
`viewOnce`	`boolean`	Wrap image/video/audio as view-once.
`editKey`	`WaMessageKey \| WaSendEditKey \| WaMessageRef`	Edit a previously sent message (see interactive).
`expirationSeconds`	`number`	Disappearing-message TTL for this message. Wins over `contextInfo.expirationSeconds` and over the automatic group-ephemeral inject (the latter is short-circuited as soon as this is defined — even `0`).
`disableGroupEphemeralAutoInject`	`boolean`	Skip the automatic ephemeral-setting injection when sending into a group with disappearing-mode on. Redundant when `expirationSeconds` is set.
`contextInfo`	`WaSendContextInfo`	Raw context info (advanced).
`id`	`string`	Use a specific message id.
`ackTimeoutMs` / `maxAttempts` / `retryDelayMs`	`number`	Per-send retry tuning.

To send a single message with no expiration into a group with disappearing-mode on, prefer disableGroupEphemeralAutoInject: true over expirationSeconds: 0 — the latter still writes expiration=0 into the outgoing contextInfo.

The content union

content accepts any WaSendMessageContent. The typed variants are documented across these guides:

Media

Images, video, audio, documents, stickers.

Polls & reactions

Polls, votes, reactions, pins, edits, revokes, events.

You can always drop down to a raw Proto.IMessage for anything not covered by a typed builder:

import { proto } from 'zapo-js'

await client.message.send(jid, {
  conversation: 'Raw protobuf message'
})

Location and contact

Message types without a typed builder are sent as raw Proto.IMessage fields — for example location and contact:

// Location
await client.message.send(jid, {
  locationMessage: {
    degreesLatitude: -23.5613,
    degreesLongitude: -46.6565,
    name: 'Av. Paulista',
    address: 'São Paulo, BR'
  }
})

// Contact (vCard)
const vcard = [
  'BEGIN:VCARD',
  'VERSION:3.0',
  'FN:Jeff Singh',
  'TEL;type=CELL;type=VOICE;waid=5511999999999:+55 11 99999-9999',
  'END:VCARD'
].join('\n')

await client.message.send(jid, {
  contactMessage: { displayName: 'Jeff', vcard }
})

// Multiple contacts
await client.message.send(jid, {
  contactsArrayMessage: {
    displayName: '2 contacts',
    contacts: [{ displayName: 'Jeff', vcard }]
  }
})

The full set of recognized Proto.IMessage fields (location, live location, contacts, group invite, product, order, …) is listed in the message types reference.

Getting started

Core concepts

Guides

Plugins

Reference

Advanced

Reverse engineering

Sending messages

Plain text

Replying (quoting)

Mentions

Link previews

Forwarding

Send options reference

The content union

Media

Polls & reactions

Location and contact

​Plain text

​Replying (quoting)

​Mentions

​Link previews

​Forwarding

​Send options reference

​The content union

Media

Polls & reactions

​Location and contact

Plain text

Replying (quoting)

Mentions

Link previews

Forwarding

Send options reference

The content union

Location and contact