Get message by id

Retrieve a specific message by its ID.

POST

https://api.wawp.net/v2/messages/get?access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN&chatId=201234567890%40c.us&downloadMedia=true&instance_id=123456789&messageId=true_..._...

Authentication Required

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Test /v2/messages/get endpoint

Supports

POST

No query parameters required

This endpoint doesn't expect data in the URL.

Performance Optimization

Always use lazy loading for media. Use this endpoint only when the user explicitly needs to view an image or video.

Best practices

Store the messageId in your own database as the primary key for all interactions.
Check the 'ack' field to track exactly when a message was delivered and read.
Use the 'downloadMedia' flag carefully to manage bandwidth and storage costs.

Precision Access: Mastering Pinpoint Message Retrieval

The /v2/messages/get endpoint is the most granular tool in the Wawp Chat Actions suite. While other endpoints handle lists and overviews, this endpoint is designed for high-fidelity retrieval of a single interaction. It is the primary mechanism for fetching message metadata, tracking status history, and performing "on-demand" media hydration without overloading your network with unnecessary binary data.

🏗️ Technical Workflow: The "Deep Probe" Logic

When you request a message by ID, the Wawp engine performs a targeted index lookup:

Identity Verification: The engine uses the messageId (a unique cryptographic hash) to locate the exact entry in the local sharded database for the given chatId.
State Reconstruction: It gathers not just the body text, but all associated metadata, including sender JID, timestamps, forwarding flags, and current ACK status (Delivered vs. Read).
Media Decryption (Optional): If downloadMedia is enabled, the engine performs an "Active Fetch." It connects to the WhatsApp CDN, downloads the encrypted blob, decrypts it using the keys stored in your session, and returns the result as a Base64 string.

🚀 Optimized Strategic Patterns

1. The "Media on Click" Pattern

For high-performance dashboards, downloading media for every message is a significant performance bottleneck.

Workflow:
1. Fetch the conversation history using /v2/chats/messages with downloadMedia: false.
2. Render the message list. For images/videos, show a "Download" icon.
3. When the user clicks the icon, call /v2/messages/get with downloadMedia: true.
Benefit: This "Lazy Hydration" approach minimizes bandwidth and CPU usage for both your server and the client's browser.

2. Post-Sent Verification

Use this endpoint to verify exactly what reached the WhatsApp network.

Logic: After sending a complex message (like a list or a template), capture the returned messageId. Call /v2/messages/get a few seconds later to verify that the structure was hdyrated correctly and check the current ack status.

🛡️ Best Practices for Identification

Handling Non-Existent IDs: If a messageId is incorrect or has been deleted from the phone's local database, the API will return a 404 Not Found. Ensure your application handles this gracefully by showing a "Message no longer available" state.
Media TTL (Time To Live): Remember that media files on WhatsApp's CDN are ephemeral (typically 30-90 days). If you try to fetch an old message with downloadMedia: true, the fetch might fail even if the text data is still available.
JID Scoping: Always provide the chatId. While message IDs are globally unique, providing the JID allows the engine to narrow its search to the correct conversation partition, improving response speed.

🧩 Advanced Use Cases

Message Interaction Tracking

Build an analytics dashboard.

Logic: Periodically call /v2/messages/get for important marketing messages to track the progression of the ack field (from 1=Sent to 2=Delivered to 3=Read). This allows you to calculate "Time to Open" metrics for your campaigns.

Forensic Auditing

In support scenarios where a customer claims a message contained specific info, use this endpoint to fetch the original record from the Wawp engine, bypassing any potential UI-level caching or local database inaccuracies. This ensures your audit trail is 100% consistent with the WhatsApp network state.

⚠️ Important Considerations

Base64 Payload Size: When downloading media, the JSON response can become quite large (e.g., several megabytes for a high-res video). Ensure your application layer can handle large JSON buffers.
Engine state: The instance must be in the WORKING state to perform network-level media downloads. Metadata retrieval from the local cache may work in other states but is most reliable when active.
Forwarded Messages: Pay attention to the contextInfo block in the response. It tells you if a message was a reply to another message or if it was forwarded, providing critical context for AI processing.

Summary of Capabilities:

Pinpoint retrieval of any message using its unique ID.
On-demand high-speed media downloading and decryption.
Comprehensive metadata access (timestamps, sender identity, status).
Essential for implementing efficient "Lazy Loading" in CRM UIs.

Request Parameters

Configure the parameters required to interact with this endpoint. All query and body arguments are listed below with their details.

Request Body

Sent as a JSON object

`string`		WhatsApp Instance ID Example:
`string`		API Access Token Example:
`string`		Target Chat ID (phone@c.us or group@g.us) Example:
`string`		Unique ID of the message Example:
`boolean`	—	Whether to download and return media content Example:

Request Samples

Use these ready-to-go code snippets to integrate our API into your project quickly and efficiently. Choose your preferred language and library.

1const baseUrl = "https://api.wawp.net";
2const endpoint = "/v2/messages/get";
3const params = new URLSearchParams({
4  "instance_id": "123456789",
5  "access_token": "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
6}).toString();
7const body = {
8  "chatId": "201234567890@c.us",
9  "messageId": "true_..._...",
10  "downloadMedia": "true"
11};
12
13fetch(`${baseUrl}${endpoint}${params ? '?' + params : ''}`, {
14  method: "POST",
15  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
16  body: JSON.stringify(body)
17})
18  .then(async (response) => {
19    if (response.ok) {
20      const data = await response.json();
21      console.log("Success:", data);
22      return data;
23    }
24    
25    // Error Handling
26    if (response.status === 400) {
27      console.error("Error 400: Bad Request - Missing Required Parameter(s)");
28    }
29    if (response.status === 400) {
30      console.error("Error 400: Bad Request (XML Format)");
31    }
32    if (response.status === 400) {
33      console.error("Error 400: Bad Request (Plain Text)");
34    }
35    if (response.status === 401) {
36      console.error("Error 401: Unauthorized - Invalid or Missing Access Token");
37    }
38    if (response.status === 401) {
39      console.error("Error 401: Unauthorized (XML Format)");
40    }
41    if (response.status === 404) {
42      console.error("Error 404: Not Found - Session Does Not Exist");
43    }
44    if (response.status === 404) {
45      console.error("Error 404: Not Found (XML Format)");
46    }
47    if (response.status === 500) {
48      console.error("Error 500: Internal Server Error - Unexpected Failure");
49    }
50    if (response.status === 500) {
51      console.error("Error 500: Internal Server Error (HTML)");
52    }
53    if (response.status === 502) {
54      console.error("Error 502: Bad Gateway - Connection Failed to Upstream");
55    }
56    if (response.status === 502) {
57      console.error("Error 502: Bad Gateway (XML Format)");
58    }
59
60    const errorText = await response.text();
61    console.error(`Error ${response.status}: ${errorText}`);
62  })
63  .catch((error) => console.error("Network Error:", error));

Interactive SamplesUTF-8

Ln 63, Col 1javascript

Expected Responses

Explore all possible responses and outcomes from the server. We have documented each status code with data examples to make success and error handling easier.

Success - Request completed successfully

3 Variants

Type:

application/json

boolean *

string *

Example

{
"success": true,
"message": "Operation completed successfully"
}

Bad Request - Missing Required Parameter(s)

3 Variants

Unauthorized - Invalid or Missing Access Token

2 Variants

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