Embedded Signup

Definition

Embedded Signup is Meta's onboarding flow for connecting a WhatsApp number to the WhatsApp Business Platform from inside a third-party application, without going through Business Manager by hand. It relies on Facebook Login for Business: the user signs in with a Facebook account, selects or creates a Meta Business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), registers the phone number, verifies it by SMS or voice call and authorises the software to manage the account. At the end, the software receives an access token and subscribes to the account's webhooks. The number must not be in use on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, or must be released first, and a six-digit PIN protects the registration.

What you need to know

For a brokerage, Embedded Signup is the point at which the number stops being someone's phone and becomes a company asset. A little preparation removes most of the friction.

Use the Facebook account of a principal or a long-term administrator, not a junior employee: that person becomes an admin of the Meta Business portfolio. The portfolio should carry the firm's legal name and, ideally, have completed business verification (company registration document, proof of address), which unlocks higher messaging tiers and the permanent display name.

Choose the number deliberately. A landline of the brokerage works, verified by voice call, and avoids depending on a SIM card in someone's drawer. If the firm wants to keep a number already used in the WhatsApp Business app, it must export the chat history, delete the account from the app and only then run Embedded Signup: app conversations do not migrate to the API.

In ORIS the WhatsApp screen guides these steps in seven stages, shows the connection state (not connected, pending verification, connected), then the display name, the number's quality rating and the synchronised templates. The South African setup guide covers portfolio preparation in detail, and the WABA entry explains what the flow creates behind the scenes.

Concrete example

A Kampala brokerage runs Embedded Signup with the number it has used in the WhatsApp Business app for three years. The flow fails because the number is still registered in the app. The principal exports the important chats, deletes the account from the app, restarts the flow an hour later, receives the verification code by voice call and connects the number; the starter templates are submitted straight after.