Connect the account once
Connect WhatsApp in Nilyo by scanning a QR code from your phone, the same pairing the official desktop app uses. In n8n, add the Nilyo node from the canvas on Cloud or install n8n-nodes-nilyo on self-hosted, then point it at a personal token credential.
“Send a WhatsApp to a contact by name when a deal is marked won.”
“Summarize every WhatsApp message received since yesterday noon.”
Business Cloud API or your own account
The Business Cloud API suits transactional notifications at scale from a brand number, with template approval and a twenty four hour reply window. Your own account suits a person or a small team who wants to answer, follow up and be notified on the number their contacts already know. Nilyo covers the second case.
Send by name, not by identifier
A recipient resolution step turns a first name, a full name or a phone number into the exact conversation, ranking existing chats by most recent exchange and falling back to contacts. When several people match, nothing is sent and the candidates come back so the workflow can ask.
Respect the account, not just the API
Starting brand new conversations is the sensitive action on WhatsApp. Nilyo allows twenty new chats per day per account, spaced fifteen seconds apart, while replies inside existing conversations are not limited. A workflow that hits the ceiling receives an explicit error instead of a ban.
Inbound as a workflow start
The Nilyo Trigger registers an event destination when the workflow is published and removes it when it is unpublished, so a new WhatsApp message can start a workflow that fetches the full conversation and drafts a reply.
Common questions
Do I need a WhatsApp Business account?
No. Nilyo connects a personal or business WhatsApp account by QR code. The Business Cloud API and its template approval are only needed for the official brand number route.
Will my account be blocked?
The risk comes from mass unsolicited first contacts. Nilyo caps new conversations at twenty per day per account and spaces them, and replies inside existing chats are unrestricted, which matches normal human usage.
Can a workflow download a voice note or an image?
Yes. Messages carry their attachments, and a dedicated action returns the file so an LLM or a transcription step can use it.
How WhatsApp works with Nilyo
Connection. Scan a QR code shown in the conversation (WhatsApp › Linked devices), or type a pairing code on your phone. The line stays linked like any other device.
What your agent can do. Contacts and chats, message history, text, media and native voice notes, reactions, groups, checking whether a number is on WhatsApp.
Pacing and safety. 20 new conversations per day with 15 seconds between them; existing chats are not limited beyond serialization.
- “Send a WhatsApp to Julien” resolves the person among your recent chats and contacts; two matches mean the agent asks.
- Disconnecting from the phone marks the account for reconnection; the same account is re-linked with a new QR, never duplicated.
All WhatsApp guides
Related guides
Give Nilyo to your agent.
Paste one setup link. Your agent can guide OAuth, account connection and the first useful action.