Templates explained — and your first template

🎯 Goal

Understand templates well enough to choose the right category, then create one, submit it and get it approved.

🧰 What you need

• A connected number
• A role that can create templates (and submit them to Meta)

What is a template?

A template is a message format that Meta approves in advance. WhatsApp requires one whenever you start a conversation, or write to someone after their 24-hour window has closed. Inside the window you can reply freely; templates aren’t needed.

You use templates for campaigns, order updates from Shopify, reminders, flows that run after a delay, and API messages to people who haven’t written recently.

The three categories

Category	For	Examples	Cost
Utility	A transaction or request the customer already made	Order confirmed, shipped, appointment reminder, payment receipt	Lower; charged inside an open window too (since 1 Oct 2026)
Marketing	Anything promotional or not tied to a transaction	Offers, new arrivals, festival greetings, “we miss you”	Highest
Authentication	One-time passwords	“123456 is your login code”	Low, fixed format

Choose honestly

Meta checks the category. A “utility” template that contains an offer is re-categorised as Marketing, or rejected. When in doubt, choose Marketing.

Variables

Variables are the parts that change per person, written {{1}}, {{2}}… in order. Click + Variable to insert the next one.

Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} has been shipped and will arrive by {{3}}.

For every variable you give Meta an example value (for example Ravi, #1042, Friday), so the reviewer can see a realistic message. When sending, you map each variable to a contact field or fixed text.

Steps: create your first template

1. Open Templates and click New template. Or click Browse ready templates to start from one of 170+ approved-style examples (Template library).

2. Step 1 of 2 — the basics. Fill in:

   • Template name: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores only, for example order_shipped. Meta will not let you rename it later.
   • Language: the language the text is written in. Add more languages later; each is reviewed separately.
   • Category: Utility for this example.
   • Type: Standard (header, body, footer, buttons). Carousel, Limited-time offer, Catalog and Multi-product are Marketing-only.

3. Step 2 — the builder. Write the Body: Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} has been shipped 🚚 Track it any time from the link below. Add Example values: Ravi, #1042.

4. Optional: a Header (None, Text, Image, Video or Document), a Footer (max 60 characters, no variables) and Buttons. See Buttons.

5. Watch the Preview on the right. It renders exactly as WhatsApp will. If anything breaks Meta’s rules, a red Meta would reject this: box lists it, and Submit to Meta stays disabled until it’s fixed.

6. Click Submit to Meta. You see Submitted to Meta — review usually takes under 24 hours. Most Utility templates are approved within minutes. Or click Save draft to finish later.

   Submit to Meta only shows for roles with the Templates → Submit to Meta permission. Others can save drafts, and someone with that permission submits them.

7. Back on Templates, the status shows In review, then Approved or Rejected. Click Sync from Meta to refresh now.

login.meapi.in/templates/build

• The top bar: template name, language, category and type, its status, Ready or how many problems are left, Write with AI, Save draft and Submit to Meta.
• Left: the editor. Header (None, Text, Image, Video, Document), Body with bold, italic, strikethrough, monospace and variables, Example values, Footer and Buttons.
• Right: the Preview, as WhatsApp will show it.
• Anything Meta would reject is listed in red under Meta would reject this:.

Template statuses

• Draft: saved in MeAPI only, not sent to Meta.
• In review (Pending): Meta is checking it.
• Approved: ready to send.
• Rejected: open it to see the reason. Fix it and submit again under a new name, or edit and resubmit. See Rejection reasons.
• Paused / Disabled: Meta paused it after negative feedback (blocks/reports). Paused templates come back after a few hours; repeated pauses disable it.

Templates are shared across numbers

Templates belong to your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). All numbers under the same WABA share the same templates, and Meta’s template limits apply per WABA.

Tips

• Start with Utility. It’s approved fastest and costs least.
• Use Write with AI to draft a template from a short description, then edit it. It uses the AI key the owner added in AI & Knowledge, and is not offered for carousel, catalog, multi-product or authentication templates.
• One idea per template. Short, clear messages get approved and read.

Common mistakes

• Starting or ending the body with a variable: {{1}}, your order…. Add text before and after.
• Missing example values, or examples that don’t look real.
• Capitals or spaces in the name (Order Shipped). Use order_shipped.
• Too many variables and too little text. Meta rejects templates that are mostly blanks.

What’s next

Text and media templates →Images, videos, documents, formatting.Buttons →Quick replies, links, calls, codes, forms.Approval tips →Get approved the first time.