System guide
WABA accounts
View the status of WABA accounts connected to your organization from WhatsApp Assets → WABA Accounts.
A WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) is the account Meta gives a business to send and receive WhatsApp messages. It is the top-level container for your phone numbers and message templates: a WABA holds one or more phone numbers, and every number that talks to your customers belongs to a WABA. Before the system can route any conversation, a WABA must be connected — which happens when you add a phone number. This page covers what a WABA is, how it gets added, and how to read the list and its statuses.
How to add a WABA account
You do not need to add WABA accounts by hand on the WABA accounts page; this page only shows the WABA accounts already connected to your organization. A WABA account is added together with a phone number — on the Phone numbers page, click Add phone numberto run Meta's Embedded Signup, and when it completes, the phone number is added along with the WABA account it belongs to. The account then appears in the list here.
What the columns mean
Each row is one WABA account. The list shows:
- WABA ID — the ID Meta uses to identify the WABA account.
- Account Name — the name entered when the WABA account was created.
- Status — whether the account is active. See the table below.
- MM Lite — the MM Lite marketing-channel onboarding status for this WABA (see the table below), or a dash when it has not started. Each row also has a Set up MM Lite button to view and advance the onboarding flow.
- Associated Numbers — the number of phone numbers that belong to this WABA.
Status and MM Lite onboarding status
Two columns each carry a set of values: Status reflects whether the account is usable (it comes from Meta), and MM Litereflects the marketing channel's onboarding progress. Their values are explained below.
Account status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | The account is active and usable (shown as a green badge) |
| Disabled | The account is turned off and cannot send or receive |
MM Lite onboarding status
MM Lite is Meta's sending channel for marketing template messages. The MM Litecolumn shows this WABA's onboarding progress with a colored dot:
| MM Lite status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Onboarded | Onboarding is complete — you can switch a number's sending channel to MM Lite on the Phone numbers page |
| Not onboarded | Onboarding is not complete yet, so MM Lite is not available |
About MM Lite
What MM Lite is
MM Lite (Marketing Messages Lite API) is Meta's sending channel dedicated to marketing template messages. It reuses your existing WABA, phone numbers, and templates — there is no separate number to connect. Once it is set up, marketing messages go out through this channel, and Meta applies extra delivery optimization to marketing messages to improve reach.
MM Lite only sends marketing templates. Inbound replies from users, along with sent / delivered / read status receipts, still go through Cloud API and are unaffected. It is enabled per phone number: once the number's WABA has onboarded MM Lite, you can switch that number's sending channel to MM Lite on the Phone numbers page.
For the full set of capabilities, restrictions, and the latest changes, refer to Meta's official documentation: Marketing Messages Lite API.
How it differs from Cloud API
Cloud API is WhatsApp's general-purpose messaging channel. It handles everything your account sends and receives — live conversations, every template category (marketing / utility / authentication), media messages, plus inbound messages and status receipts. MM Lite sits on top of it as a marketing-only supplement:
| Aspect | Cloud API | MM Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | All of the account's messaging | Sending marketing templates only |
| Direction | Two-way: send, receive, status receipts | Send only; inbound and status still go through Cloud API |
| Templates | All categories — marketing / utility / authentication | Marketing only |
| Delivery optimization | Sent as-is | Meta may optimize marketing delivery (not in every region) |
| Setup | Available once the WABA is connected | Requires a separate eligibility check and signing the terms of service |
So MM Lite is not a replacement for Cloud API but an optional boost for marketing. Setting it up does not affect live conversations or utility / authentication messages — those always go through Cloud API.
How to set up MM Lite
Click Set up MM Lite on the right of each WABA row on this page to open the onboarding panel, then work through three steps:
- Accept the terms— an account admin accepts the MM Lite marketing-messages terms of service in Meta Business Manager. This step can only be done on Meta's side; the platform cannot sign on your behalf.
- Refresh status — back in the onboarding panel, click Refresh status to pull the latest onboarding progress from Meta.
- Switch a number's channel — once the status refreshes to Onboarded, go to the Phone numbers page and switch the sending channel of a number you want to send marketing from to MM Lite.
Onboarding progress is controlled by Meta and may take some time; if the status is still not Onboarded after refreshing, try again later.