Baileys does not require Selenium or any other browser to be interface with WhatsApp Web, it does so directly using a WebSocket. Not running Selenium or Chromimum saves you like half a gig of ram :/
Thank you to @Sigalor for writing the guide to reverse engineering WhatsApp Web and thanks to @Rhymen for the go implementation.
Baileys is type-safe, extensible and simple to use. If you require more functionality than provided, it'll super easy for you to write an extension. More on this here.
If you're interested in building a WhatsApp bot, you may wanna check out WhatsAppInfoBot and an actual bot built with it, Messcat.
Do check out & run example.ts to see example usage of the library. The script covers most common use cases. To run the example script, download or clone the repo and then type the following in terminal:
cd path/to/Baileys
npm install
npm run example
Create and cd to your NPM project directory and then in terminal, write:
- stable:
npm install @adiwajshing/baileys
- stabl-ish w quicker fixes & latest features:
npm install github:adiwajshing/baileys
Then import in your code using:
import { WAClient } from '@adiwajshing/baileys'
Baileys also comes with a unit test suite. Simply cd into the Baileys directory & run npm test
.
You will require a phone with WhatsApp to test, and a second WhatsApp number to send messages to.
Set the phone number you can randomly send messages to in a .env
file with [email protected]
const client = new WAClient()
client.connect()
.then (([user, chats, contacts, unread]) => {
console.log ("oh hello " + user.name + " (" + user.id + ")")
console.log ("you have " + unread.length + " unread messages")
console.log ("you have " + chats.length + " chats")
})
.catch (err => console.log("unexpected error: " + err) )
If the connection is successful, you will see a QR code printed on your terminal screen, scan it with WhatsApp on your phone and you'll be logged in!
If you don't want to wait for WhatsApp to send all your chats while connecting, you can use the following function:
const client = new WAClient()
client.connectSlim() // does not wait for chats & contacts
.then (user => {
console.log ("oh hello " + user.name + " (" + user.id + ")")
client.receiveChatsAndContacts () // wait for chats & contacts in the background
.then (([chats, contacts, unread]) => {
console.log ("you have " + unread.length + " unread messages")
console.log ("you have " + chats.length + " chats")
})
})
.catch (err => console.log("unexpected error: " + err))
You obviously don't want to keep scanning the QR code every time you want to connect.
So, do the following the first time you connect:
import * as fs from 'fs'
const client = new WAClient()
client.connectSlim() // connect first
.then (user => {
const creds = client.base64EncodedAuthInfo () // contains all the keys you need to restore a session
fs.writeFileSync('./auth_info.json', JSON.stringify(creds, null, '\t')) // save JSON to file
})
Then, to restore a session:
const client = new WAClient()
client.connectSlim('./auth_info.json') // will load JSON credentials from file
.then (user => {
// yay connected without scanning QR
})
/*
Optionally, you can load the credentials yourself from somewhere
& pass in the JSON object to connectSlim () as well.
*/
If you're considering switching from a Chromium/Puppeteer based library, you can use WhatsApp Web's Browser credentials to restore sessions too:
client.loadAuthInfoFromBrowser ('./auth_info_browser.json')
client.connectSlim(null, 20*1000) // use loaded credentials & timeout in 20s
.then (user => {
// yay! connected using browser keys & without scanning QR
})
See the browser credentials type here.
If you want to do some custom processing with the QR code used to authenticate, you can override the following method:
client.onReadyForPhoneAuthentication = ([ref, publicKey, clientID]) => {
const str = ref + ',' + publicKey + ',' + clientID // the QR string
// Now, use 'str' to display in QR UI or send somewhere
}
const user = await client.connect ()
If you need to regenerate the QR, you can also do so using:
let generateQR: async () => void // call generateQR on some timeout or error
client.onReadyForPhoneAuthentication = ([ref, publicKey, clientID]) => {
generateQR = async () => {
ref = await client.generateQRCode () // returns a new ref code to use for QR generation
const str = ref + ',' + publicKey + ',' + clientID // the QR string
// re-print str as QR or update in UI or send somewhere
//QR.generate(str, { small: true })
}
}
const user = await client.connect ()
Implement the following callbacks in your code:
- Called when you have a pending unread message or recieve a new message
import { getNotificationType } from '@adiwajshing/baileys' // set first param to `true` if you want to receive outgoing messages that may be sent from your phone client.setOnUnreadMessage (false, (m: WAMessage) => { // get what type of notification it is -- message, group add notification etc. const [notificationType, messageType] = getNotificationType(m) console.log("got notification of type: " + notificationType) // message, groupAdd, groupLeave console.log("message type: " + messageType) // conversation, imageMessage, videoMessage, contactMessage etc. })
- Called when you recieve an update on someone's presence, they went offline or online
client.setOnPresenceUpdate ((json: PresenceUpdate) => console.log(json.id + " presence is " + json.type))
- Called when your message gets delivered or read
client.setOnMessageStatusChange ((json: MessageStatusUpdate) => { let sent = json.to if (json.participant) // participant exists when the message is from a group sent += " ("+json.participant+")" // mention as the one sent to // log that they acknowledged the message console.log(sent + " acknowledged message(s) " + json.ids + " as " + json.type + " at " + json.timestamp) })
- Called when the connection gets disconnected (either the server loses internet, the phone gets unpaired, or the connection is taken over from somewhere)
client.setOnUnexpectedDisconnect (reason => console.log ("disconnected unexpectedly: " + reason) )
Send like, all types of messages with a single function:
import { MessageType, MessageOptions, Mimetype } from '@adiwajshing/baileys'
const id = '[email protected]' // the WhatsApp ID
// send a simple text!
client.sendMessage (id, 'oh hello there', MessageType.text)
// send a location!
client.sendMessage(id, {degreeslatitude: 24.121231, degreesLongitude: 55.1121221}, MessageType.location)
// send a contact!
const vcard = 'BEGIN:VCARD\n' // metadata of the contact card
+ 'VERSION:3.0\n'
+ 'FN:Jeff Singh\n' // full name
+ 'ORG:Ashoka Uni;\n' // the organization of the contact
+ 'TEL;type=CELL;type=VOICE;waid=911234567890:+91 12345 67890\n' // WhatsApp ID + phone number
+ 'END:VCARD'
client.sendMessage(id, {displayname: "Jeff", vcard: vcard}, MessageType.contact)
// send a gif
const buffer = fs.readFileSync("Media/ma_gif.mp4") // load some gif
const options: MessageOptions = {mimetype: Mimetype.gif, caption: "hello!"} // some metadata & caption
client.sendMessage(id, buffer, MessageType.video, options)
To note:
id
is the WhatsApp ID of the person or group you're sending the message to.- It must be in the format
[country code][phone number]@s.whatsapp.net
, for example[email protected]
for people. For groups, it must be in the format[email protected]
. - Do not attach
@c.us
for individual people IDs, It won't work. - Please do not explicitly disable ID validation (in
MessageOptions
) because then your messages may fail for no apparent reason.
- It must be in the format
- For media messages, the thumbnail can be generated automatically for images & stickers. Thumbnails for videos can also be generated automatically, though, you need to have
ffmpeg
installed on your system. - MessageOptions: some extra info about the message. It can have the following optional values:
const info: MessageOptions = { quoted: quotedMessage, // the message you want to quote timestamp: Date(), // optional, if you want to manually set the timestamp of the message validateID: true, // if you want to validate the ID before sending the message, true by default caption: "hello there!", // (for media messages) the caption to send with the media (cannot be sent with stickers though) thumbnail: "23GD#4/==", /* (for location & media messages) has to be a base 64 encoded JPEG if you want to send a custom thumb, or set to null if you don't want to send a thumbnail. Do not enter this field if you want to automatically generate a thumb */ mimetype: Mimetype.pdf, /* (for media messages) specify the type of media (optional for all media types except documents), import {Mimetype} from '@adiwajshing/baileys' */ filename: 'somefile.pdf' // (for media messages) file name for the media }
const id = '[email protected]'
const messageID = 'AHASHH123123AHGA' // id of the message you want to read
await client.sendReadReceipt(id, messageID) // mark as read
await client.sendReadReceipt (id) // mark all messages in chat as read
await client.sendReadReceipt(id, null, 'unread') // mark the chat as unread
id
is in the same format as mentioned earlier.- The message ID is the unique identifier of the message that you are marking as read.
- On a
WAMessage
, themessageID
can be accessed usingmessageID = message.key.id
.
import { Presence } from '@adiwajshing/baileys'
client.updatePresence(id, Presence.available)
This lets the person/group with id
know whether you're online, offline, typing etc. where presence
can be one of the following:
export enum Presence {
available = 'available', // "online"
unavailable = 'unavailable', // "offline"
composing = 'composing', // "typing..."
recording = 'recording', // "recording..."
paused = 'paused', // I have no clue
}
If you want to save the media you received
import { MessageType, extensionForMediaMessage } from '@adiwajshing/baileys'
client.setOnUnreadMessage (false, async m => {
if (!m.message) return // if there is no text or media message
const messageType = Object.keys (m.message)[0]// get what type of message it is -- text, image, video
// if the message is not a text message
if (messageType !== MessageType.text && messageType !== MessageType.extendedText) {
const buffer = await client.downloadMediaMessage(m) // to decrypt & use as a buffer
const savedFilename = await client.downloadAndSaveMediaMessage (m) // to decrypt & save to file
console.log(m.key.remoteJid + " sent media, saved at: " + savedFilename)
}
}
const jid = '[email protected]' // can also be a group
const response = await client.sendMessage (jid, 'hello!', MessageType.text) // send a message
await client.deleteMessage (jid, {id: response.messageID, remoteJid: jid, fromMe: true}) // will delete the sent message for everyone!
await client.clearMessage (jid, {id: response.messageID, remoteJid: jid, fromMe: true}) // will delete the sent message for only you!
const jid = '[email protected]' // can also be a group
await client.modifyChat (jid, ChatModification.archive) // archive chat
await client.modifyChat (jid, ChatModification.unarchive) // unarchive chat
const response = await client.modifyChat (jid, ChatModification.pin) // pin the chat
await client.modifyChat (jid, ChatModification.unpin, {stamp: response.stamp})
const mutedate = new Date (new Date().getTime() + 8*60*60*1000) // mute for 8 hours in the future
await client.modifyChat (jid, ChatModification.mute, {stamp: mutedate}) // mute
setTimeout (() => {
client.modifyChat (jid, ChatModification.unmute, {stamp: mutedate})
}, 5000) // unmute after 5 seconds
await client.deleteChat (jid) // will delete the chat (can be a group or broadcast list)
Note: to unmute or unpin a chat, one must pass the timestamp of the pinning or muting. This is returned by the pin & mute functions. This is also available in the WAChat
objects of the respective chats, as a mute
or pin
property.
- To check if a given ID is on WhatsApp
const id = '[email protected]' const exists = await client.isOnWhatsApp (id) console.log (`${id} ${exists ? " exists " : " does not exist"} on WhatsApp`)
- To query chat history on a group or with someone
You can also load the entire conversation history if you want
// query the last 25 messages (replace 25 with the number of messages you want to query) const messages = await client.loadConversation ("[email protected]", 25) console.log("got back " + messages.length + " messages")
await client.loadEntireConversation ("[email protected]", message => console.log("Loaded message with ID: " + message.key.id)) console.log("queried all messages") // promise resolves once all messages are retreived
- To get the status of some person
const status = await client.getStatus ("[email protected]") // leave empty to get your own status console.log("status: " + status)
- To get the display picture of some person/group
const ppUrl = await client.getProfilePicture ("[email protected]") // leave empty to get your own console.log("download profile picture from: " + ppUrl)
- To change your display picture or a group's
const jid = '[email protected]' // can be your own too const img = fs.readFileSync ('new-profile-picture.jpeg') // can be PNG also await client.updateProfilePicture (jid, newPP)
- To get someone's presence (if they're typing, online)
// the presence update is fetched and called here client.setOnPresenceUpdate (json => console.log(json.id + " presence is " + json.type)) await client.requestPresenceUpdate ("[email protected]") // request the update
- To search through messages
const response = await client.searchMessages ('so cool', null, 25, 1) // search in all chats console.log (`got ${response.messages.length} messages in search`) const response2 = await client.searchMessages ('so cool', '[email protected]', 25, 1) // search in given chat
Of course, replace xyz
with an actual ID.
Append @s.whatsapp.net
for individuals & @g.us
for groups.
- To create a group
// title & participants const group = await client.groupCreate ("My Fab Group", ["[email protected]", "[email protected]"]) console.log ("created group with id: " + group.gid) client.sendTextMessage(group.gid, "hello everyone") // say hello to everyone on the group
- To add people to a group
// id & people to add to the group (will throw error if it fails) const response = await client.groupAdd ("[email protected]", ["[email protected]", "[email protected]"])
- To make/demote admins on a group
// id & people to make admin (will throw error if it fails) await client.groupMakeAdmin ("[email protected]", ["[email protected]", "[email protected]"]) await client.groupDemoteAdmin ("[email protected]", ["[email protected]", "[email protected]"]) // demote admins
- To change group settings
import { GroupSettingChange } from '@adiwajshing/baileys' // only allow admins to send messages await client.groupSettingChange ("[email protected]", GroupSettingChange.messageSend, true) // allow everyone to modify the group's settings -- like display picture etc. await client.groupSettingChange ("[email protected]", GroupSettingChange.settingChange, false) // only allow admins to modify the group's settings await client.groupSettingChange ("[email protected]", GroupSettingChange.settingChange, true)
- To leave a group
await client.groupLeave ("[email protected]") // (will throw error if it fails)
- To get the invite code for a group
const code = await client.groupInviteCode ("[email protected]") console.log("group code: " + code)
- To query the metadata of a group
const metadata = await client.groupMetadata ("[email protected]") console.log(json.id + ", title: " + json.subject + ", description: " + json.desc) // Or if you've left the group -- call this const metadata2 = await client.groupMetadataMinimal ("[email protected]")
- You can send messages to broadcast lists the same way you send messages to groups & individual chats.
- Unfortunately, WA Web does not support creating broadcast lists right now but you can still delete them.
- Broadcast IDs are in the format
12345678@broadcast
- To query a broadcast list's recipients & name:
const bList = await client.getBroadcastListInfo ("1234@broadcast") console.log (`list name: ${bList.name}, recps: ${bList.recipients}`)
Baileys is written, keeping in mind, that you may require other custom functionality. Hence, instead of having to fork the project & re-write the internals, you can simply write extensions in your own code.
First, enable the logging of unhandled messages from WhatsApp by setting
client.logLevel = MessageLogLevel.unhandled // set to MessageLogLevel.all to see all messages received
This will enable you to see all sorts of messages WhatsApp sends in the console. Some examples:
-
Functionality to track of the battery percentage of your phone. You enable logging and you'll see a message about your battery pop up in the console:
[Baileys] [Unhandled] s22, ["action",null,[["battery",{"live":"false","value":"52"},null]]]
You now know what a battery update looks like. It'll have the following characteristics.
- Given
const bMessage = ["action",null,[["battery",{"live":"false","value":"52"},null]]]
bMessage[0]
is always"action"
bMessage[1]
is alwaysnull
bMessage[2][0][0]
is always"battery"
Hence, you can register a callback for an event using the following:
client.registerCallback (["action", null, "battery"], json => { const batteryLevelStr = json[2][0][1].value const batterylevel = parseInt (batteryLevelStr) console.log ("battery level: " + batterylevel + "%") })
This callback will be fired any time a message is received matching the following criteria:
message [0] === "action" && message [1] === null && message[2][0][0] === "battery"
- Given
-
Functionality to keep track of the pushname changes on your phone. You enable logging and you'll see an unhandled message about your pushanme pop up like this:
[Baileys] [Unhandled] s24, ["Conn",{"pushname":"adiwajshing"}]
You now know what a pushname update looks like. It'll have the following characteristics.
- Given
const pMessage = ["Conn",{"pushname":"adiwajshing"}]
pMessage[0]
is always"Conn"
pMessage[1]
always has the key"pushname"
pMessage[2]
is alwaysundefined
Following this, one can implement the following callback:
client.registerCallback (["Conn", "pushname"], json => { const pushname = json[1].pushname client.userMetaData.name = pushname // update on client too console.log ("Name updated: " + pushname) })
This callback will be fired any time a message is received matching the following criteria:
message [0] === "Conn" && message [1].pushname
- Given
A little more testing will reveal that almost all WhatsApp messages are in the format illustrated above.
Note: except for the first parameter (in the above cases, "action"
or "Conn"
), all the other parameters are optional.
This library is in no way affiliated with WhatsApp. Use at your own discretion. Do not spam people with this.