WhatsApp MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for WhatsApp, enabling Claude to read and send WhatsApp messages.

Originally created by Luke Harries. Maintained by Very Good Plugins.

Features

• Message Management: Search and read personal WhatsApp messages (text, images, videos, documents, audio)
• Contact Search: Search contacts by name or phone number with sender_display format ("Name (phone)")
• Send Messages: Send text messages to individuals or groups
• Media Support: Send and download images, videos, documents, and voice messages
• Webhook Integration: Forward incoming messages to external services
• Local Storage: All messages stored locally in SQLite - only sent to Claude when you allow it

Installation

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24+
• Python 3.11+
• uv package manager
• Claude Desktop or Cursor
• FFmpeg (optional, for voice message conversion)

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/verygoodplugins/whatsapp-mcp.git
   cd whatsapp-mcp
   

2. Start the WhatsApp bridge

   cd whatsapp-bridge
   go run main.go
   

   Scan the QR code with WhatsApp on your phone to authenticate.

3. Configure Claude Desktop

   Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "whatsapp": {
         "command": "uv",
         "args": [
           "--directory",
           "/path/to/whatsapp-mcp/whatsapp-mcp-server",
           "run",
           "main.py"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

   Replace /path/to/whatsapp-mcp with your actual path.

4. Restart Claude Desktop

Cursor IDE Configuration

Add to your Cursor MCP settings (~/.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "whatsapp": {
        "command": "uv",
        "args": [
          "--directory",
          "/path/to/whatsapp-mcp/whatsapp-mcp-server",
          "run",
          "main.py"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

Messages include sender_display showing "Name (phone)" format for easy identification by agents.

Contact Operations

search_contacts

Search contacts by name or phone number.

Parameters:

• query (required): Name or phone number to search

Natural Language Examples:

• "Find contacts named John"
• "Search for phone number 555-1234"
• "Who has the phone number starting with +1?"

get_contact

Resolve a WhatsApp contact name from a phone number, LID, or full JID.

Parameters:

• identifier (required): Phone number, LID, or full JID (aliases: phone_number, phone)
  • Examples: 12025551234, 184125298348272, [email protected], 184125298348272@lid

Natural Language Examples:

• "What's the name for phone number 5551234567?"
• "Look up who owns this number"
• "Who is 184125298348272@lid?"

Message Operations

list_messages

Get messages with filters, date ranges, and sorting.

Parameters:

• chat_jid (optional): Filter by specific chat JID
• limit (optional): Number of messages (default 50, max 500)
• before_date (optional): Messages before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• after_date (optional): Messages after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• sort_by (optional): "newest" or "oldest" (default "newest")

Natural Language Examples:

• "Show me the last 100 messages from today"
• "Get messages from the family group chat"
• "Find messages from last week"

send_message

Send a text message to a contact or group.

Parameters:

• recipient (required): Phone number or group JID
• message (required): Text content to send

Natural Language Examples:

• "Send 'Hello!' to +1234567890"
• "Message the team group saying 'Meeting at 3pm'"

send_file

Send a media file (image, video, document).

Parameters:

• recipient (required): Phone number or group JID
• file_path (required): Path to the file
• caption (optional): Caption for the media

send_audio_message

Send a voice message (automatically converts to Opus .ogg format).

Parameters:

• recipient (required): Phone number or group JID
• file_path (required): Path to audio file

download_media

Download media from a received message.

Parameters:

• message_id (required): ID of the message with media
• chat_jid (required): JID of the chat containing the message

Chat Operations

list_chats

List all chats with metadata.

Parameters:

• limit (optional): Number of chats (default 50, max 200)

get_chat

Get specific chat metadata by JID.

Parameters:

• jid (required): Chat JID

get_direct_chat_by_contact

Find a direct message chat with a contact.

Parameters:

• phone (required): Phone number of the contact

get_contact_chats

List all chats involving a specific contact.

Parameters:

• phone (required): Phone number of the contact

get_last_interaction

Get the last message exchanged with a contact.

Parameters:

• phone (required): Phone number of the contact

get_message_context

Get messages around a specific message for context.

Parameters:

• message_id (required): ID of the target message
• chat_jid (required): JID of the chat
• before (optional): Number of messages before (default 5)
• after (optional): Number of messages after (default 5)

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env and configure as needed:

Architecture

flowchart TB
    subgraph Clients["AI Clients"]
        CD[Claude Desktop]
        CU[Cursor IDE]
        CC[Claude Code]
    end

    subgraph MCP["MCP Layer"]
        PY[Python MCP Server<br/>FastMCP]
    end

    subgraph Bridge["WhatsApp Bridge"]
        GO[Go Bridge<br/>whatsmeow]
        DB[(SQLite<br/>messages.db)]
        WH[Webhook Handler]
    end

    subgraph External["External Services"]
        WA[WhatsApp Web API]
        EXT[External Webhook<br/>Receiver]
    end

    CD & CU & CC -->|MCP Protocol| PY
    PY -->|REST API| GO
    PY -->|Read| DB
    GO -->|Store| DB
    GO <-->|WebSocket| WA
    GO -->|Forward Messages| WH
    WH -->|POST| EXT

Component Details

flowchart LR
    subgraph GoAPI["Go Bridge REST API"]
        direction TB
        SEND["/api/send"]
        DOWN["/api/download"]
        TYPE["/api/typing"]
        HEALTH["/api/health"]
    end

    subgraph MCPTools["MCP Tools (14 total)"]
        direction TB
        CONT["Contact Tools<br/>search_contacts, get_contact"]
        MSG["Message Tools<br/>list_messages, send_message, etc."]
        CHAT["Chat Tools<br/>list_chats, get_chat, etc."]
        MEDIA["Media Tools<br/>send_file, download_media, etc."]
    end

    MCPTools -->|HTTP Requests| GoAPI

Data Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant User as User
    participant Claude as Claude Desktop
    participant MCP as Python MCP Server
    participant Bridge as Go Bridge
    participant WA as WhatsApp

    User->>Claude: "Send 'Hello' to Mom"
    Claude->>MCP: send_message(recipient, message)
    MCP->>Bridge: POST /api/send
    Bridge->>WA: Send via WebSocket
    WA-->>Bridge: Delivery confirmation
    Bridge-->>MCP: Success response
    MCP-->>Claude: Message sent
    Claude-->>User: "Message sent to Mom"

Incoming Message Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant WA as WhatsApp
    participant Bridge as Go Bridge
    participant DB as SQLite
    participant WH as Webhook
    participant EXT as External Service

    WA->>Bridge: New message
    Bridge->>DB: Store message
    Bridge->>Bridge: Auto-download media
    Bridge->>WH: Forward to webhook
    WH->>EXT: POST with message data
    Note over EXT: Process incoming message

Development

Running Tests

cd whatsapp-mcp-server
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"
uv run pytest -v

Linting

# Python
cd whatsapp-mcp-server
uv run ruff check .
uv run ruff format .

# Go
cd whatsapp-bridge
golangci-lint run

Building

# Go bridge
cd whatsapp-bridge
go build -o whatsapp-bridge

# Run the binary
./whatsapp-bridge

# During development (avoids stale binaries)
go run .

Releasing (Maintainers)

Releases use Release Please automation; maintainer steps and fallback procedures
are documented in docs/RELEASING.md.

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

• QR Code Not Displaying: Restart the bridge. Check terminal QR code support.
• Device Limit Reached: Remove a linked device from WhatsApp Settings > Linked Devices.
• No Messages Loading: Initial sync can take several minutes for large chat histories.
• Out of Sync: Delete whatsapp-bridge/store/*.db files and re-authenticate.

Windows

Windows requires CGO for go-sqlite3. Install MSYS2 and enable CGO:

go env -w CGO_ENABLED=1
go run main.go

Security Notice

Caution: As with many MCP servers, this is subject to the lethal trifecta. Prompt injection could lead to private data exfiltration. Use with awareness.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Credits & History

This project is a maintained fork of lharries/whatsapp-mcp, originally created by Luke Harries.

Why we forked: The original repository hasn't been updated since April 2025. We needed continued maintenance, bug fixes, and new features for production use.

What we changed:

• Added /api/typing endpoint for typing indicators
• Added /api/health endpoint for connection status
• Added webhook system for incoming messages (with reply context)
• Added auto-download of media files
• Added get_contact tool for phone → name resolution
• Added sender_display field showing "Name (phone)" format
• Improved message querying (sorting, larger batches up to 500)
• Fixed compilation issues from whatsmeow API changes
• Fixed media filename consistency (uses message timestamp)
• Added CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions

We're grateful to Luke for creating the original project!

Links

• Very Good Plugins
• MCP Specification
• whatsmeow - WhatsApp Web API library for Go
• FastMCP - Fast Model Context Protocol implementation