Big news: you can now send and receive WhatsApp messages straight from S-Mailer, using your own WhatsApp number. No special hardware, no lengthy approvals — you connect in under two minutes by scanning a QR code, exactly like adding WhatsApp Web to your browser. Here’s everything you need to get started.

What you’ll need

  • An S-Mailer account with a token balance. Sign up here.
  • A phone with the WhatsApp number you want to send and receive from.

Step 1 — Register a WhatsApp sender

  1. Log in to the S-Mailer dashboard.
  2. Go to Senders → Register New Sender.
  3. In Provider, choose WhatsApp (QR-paired).
  4. Give it a name you’ll recognise (for example, Support line).
  5. Leave Config JSON as the default {} — nothing else is needed here.
  6. Click Register Sender.

Your sender is created right away and appears in your list, ready to connect.

Step 2 — Scan the QR code to connect

  1. Click your new sender to open it. You’ll see Scan to connect and a QR code (it refreshes on its own).
  2. On your phone, open WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices → Link a device.
  3. Point your phone at the QR code on screen.

That’s it — the panel flips to Connected by itself, and your real WhatsApp number appears. Your sender’s status also shows Active back on the Senders page.

Step 3 — Send your first WhatsApp message

Create an API key with the Send permission for the WhatsApp channel (API Keys → New key), then call the API:

curl -X POST https://api.mailer.smartek.co.mz/api/v1/send \
  -H "X-Client-ID: <your-client-id>" \
  -H "X-Client-Secret: <your-api-key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
        "channel": "whatsapp",
        "recipient": "+258840000000",
        "content": "Hello from S-Mailer on WhatsApp!"
      }'

The message goes out from your connected number. You can send plain text straight away — right from the API or the dashboard.

Receiving messages (optional)

Want replies to flow back to your systems? On the sender’s page, turn on Inbound messages. While it’s on, every WhatsApp message your number receives is forwarded to your webhook, and tokens are deducted per received message at your plan’s current inbound rate. While it’s off, incoming messages are ignored and nothing is charged — so it’s entirely opt-in.

For the webhook payload and how to route replies with keyword triggers, see the inbound & status webhooks guide.

Good to know

  • Keep your phone online. Like any WhatsApp linked device, your sender stays connected as long as your phone is reachable. If it disconnects, just reopen the sender and scan again.
  • It’s your own number. Send responsibly and within normal WhatsApp usage — the reputation of the number is yours.
  • Disconnect anytime. Deleting the sender unlinks the device cleanly.

WhatsApp joins SMS as a fully supported channel in S-Mailer — same dashboard, same API, one more way to reach your customers. Happy messaging!