Yes, you can add an AI responder to a number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app and keep replying from your phone. Agentkit's WhatsApp connection uses a Meta setup flow that links the existing Business app number. Agentkit documents that a reply from the phone pauses its AI for that conversation; a teammate can also reply from Chat Logs. Check the requirements before connecting your busiest number.
If you only have a personal WhatsApp account on that number, this path does not apply. Agentkit requires the WhatsApp Business app and a paid plan. The WhatsApp connection guide has the current screen-by-screen steps.
What stays on your phone, and what changes?
The number remains the one customers know. Your team can use the WhatsApp Business app on the phone while Agentkit answers incoming messages through its connected channel. Agentkit also records WhatsApp conversations in Chat Logs, where a teammate can reply and later hand the conversation back to AI.
During Meta signup, you choose whether to share recent Business app chat history. If you do not choose to share it, do not plan a handoff that depends on older messages being visible in Chat Logs. Check the conversation you intend to use before assigning it to a teammate.
| Before you connect | Check |
|---|---|
| Your current number | It is active in the WhatsApp Business app, not only personal WhatsApp. |
| Your phone | The Business app is up to date and the phone is available for Meta's QR step. |
| Your Agentkit account | A paid plan is active and the agent has approved answers for the questions you want it to handle. |
| Your team | Someone owns out-of-scope messages and knows how to pause and resume AI. |
Do not connect a production number just to discover whether your knowledge sources work. First, review the agent's website sources. Then ask it a few real, approved questions and one question it must decline or route to a person. Keep private customer data out of those trial prompts. This guide covers one-to-one chats; test any other Business app tools your team depends on before moving a busy number.
Connect and prove the number still works
In Agentkit, open the agent's Channels tab and select WhatsApp → Connect. Meta opens its signup window. Choose or create the business portfolio and WhatsApp Business account, enter the number already used by the Business app, and scan the QR code on your phone. Finish the Meta flow. Agentkit should then show the connected number and verified name on the WhatsApp card.
Before announcing the bot, run this small acceptance check with a teammate's opted-in test number. Record the observed result and fix any failure before opening the channel to customers:
- Send a straightforward question from the test number. Confirm the AI answer matches your approved source and that the exchange appears in Chat Logs.
- Send a question the AI should not settle, such as a request for a person or an account-specific decision. Check the actual reply and the route to your team. A polite promise to escalate is not a completed handoff.
- Answer that same conversation in the WhatsApp Business app. Send another customer message. Confirm the AI stays paused and your human reply appears in Chat Logs.
- Click Resume AI in Chat Logs, then send another test message. Confirm AI replies again only after that action.
- Repeat the human step from Chat Logs using Take over or Send reply. Confirm the reply reaches the test number, appears in Chat Logs, and leaves AI paused. Do not assume that API-sent replies will appear in the phone app.
If the connected card says Reconnect, use the troubleshooting steps in the integration guide and repeat the test. One WhatsApp number connects to one Agentkit agent.
Decide who should answer
Use AI for questions with current, approved answers: opening hours, published policies, product details, or the right support contact. Have a person handle exceptions, complaints, sensitive information and decisions that depend on a customer's account. In the agent's AI tab, use Channel behavior → WhatsApp to set channel instructions for that boundary, then test it with phrasing customers actually use. A missing answer should lead to a useful contact route, not an invented policy.
A human message from the Business app pauses AI for that conversation. A teammate can also take over in Chat Logs; sending a reply there pauses AI. The pause remains until someone clicks Resume AI. That explicit return matters when a person is still resolving a case: a new customer message should not cause the bot to speak over them. Assign a team owner for paused conversations so they do not sit unanswered.
Meta's Business Messaging Policy permits automated replies within its customer service window but requires a prompt, clear route to support. It also requires the business to handle notices, permissions and sensitive information appropriately. Check that policy for your business and region before launch.
The 24-hour reply window is a separate clock
Each customer message opens or resets a 24-hour customer service window. Within it, your team can send a normal service reply. After it closes, Chat Logs offers an approved WhatsApp template instead of the ordinary reply box. The template must already exist and be approved in WhatsApp Manager; when the customer responds, a new window opens. Sending a template in Agentkit also pauses AI until someone resumes it.
Meta's current pricing page says service messages inside the window are free. Utility messages sent in response to users are also free; other delivered messages may incur charges that vary by category and market. Agentkit's paid-plan subscription and Meta's message charges are separate. Check both before budgeting the channel. A closed window is not a reason to send an unapproved free-form follow-up.
A practical go/no-go check
Keep the current Business app number if the QR connection completes, the AI answers your approved questions, a person can take over without competing AI replies, and someone will monitor paused chats. Delay launch if those checks fail, if the number is only in personal WhatsApp, or if the team has no clear support route. If sharing recent history matters, verify that choice and the resulting Chat Logs view during setup; do not assume a full archive moves over.
Ready to test with your own number? Create an Agentkit account, prepare the agent's answers, then follow the WhatsApp connection guide.
