WhatsApp Business Cloud Coexistence - Watch Events not receiving incoming messages

Questions
1

:bullseye: What is your goal?

Receive incoming WhatsApp messages in Make using WhatsApp Business Cloud → Watch Events with an existing WhatsApp Business number connected through Coexistence.

:thinking: What is the problem & what have you tried?

I connected an existing WhatsApp Business App number using the new WhatsApp Business Cloud Coexistence connection.

The connection itself works correctly:

Credentials → Verify returns OK.
Make correctly retrieves my Sender ID.
Get a Business Profile works.
Send a Message works successfully and the message is delivered to the recipient.
The phone number shows as Connected in Meta.
Incoming messages are received normally in the WhatsApp Business App and are also visible in Meta’s WhatsApp statistics.

The problem is only with incoming events.

WhatsApp Business Cloud → Watch Events does not receive any incoming message.

To isolate the issue, I created a completely new Make scenario containing ONLY WhatsApp Business Cloud → Watch Events.

I created a brand-new webhook using the same working connection, selected only the Messages event, clicked Run once, waited for “Waiting for data”, and then sent a new WhatsApp message from another phone.

The message arrived normally in the WhatsApp Business App, but Make remained on “Waiting for data” until timeout.

I also created multiple new Messages webhooks. They remain enabled but show 0/50 received events.

Since outbound Cloud API calls work correctly but inbound webhook events do not, could this be a Coexistence webhook subscription/provisioning issue?

Is there a way to verify whether the Make app is correctly subscribed to the WABA (subscribed_apps) and to the messages webhook field?

I would prefer not to deregister the sender, disconnect WhatsApp Business App, or recreate the Coexistence setup because outbound communication is currently working.

4

Outbound works, inbound is silent. That combination is diagnostic: the problem is almost certainly not in Make, and your webhook is fine. Sending goes straight to the Cloud API against your phone number ID. Receiving depends on Meta routing inbound messages to the partner’s callback, and that routing is the last thing Coexistence hands over. Until the handover finishes, messages keep landing only in the WhatsApp Business app, exactly as you describe.

You are not alone. There are at least two other open threads here with the same shape, from Olga_Milovanova and Mika_Karapetyan. In Olga’s, Meta’s own diagnostic came back with the number still in Pending status, Coexistence about 60 percent complete, and an internal integrity lock. Worth checking whether that is your situation too before spending any more time inside Make.

Three checks, in this order.

The phone number’s status in Meta, under WhatsApp Manager then Phone numbers. It has to read Connected. If it reads Pending, Coexistence has not finished and inbound routing has not moved. Recreating the webhook cannot change that.

Which WABA actually owns the number, and whether that is the same WABA Make is subscribed to. In Coexistence the webhook subscription lives at WABA level, not at number level. An earlier onboarding attempt often leaves a second WABA behind, and then the number sits under one while Make is subscribed to the other, so inbound events arrive somewhere nothing is listening. Olga’s thread has exactly that, two WABAs in play.

In Business Settings, under your WhatsApp account, confirm Make is listed as a connected partner with messaging permission and that a subscribed app is actually present.

If the number reads Pending, or Meta reports an integrity lock, stop debugging and escalate to Meta, because only they can clear it. Quote the phone number ID, the WABA ID, the lock reason and the completion percentage in the ticket. That framing is what stops it coming back as generic setup advice.

One practical trap for later: Edit is disabled on an existing Watch Events webhook, so once the WABA side is corrected you have to delete the webhook and create a fresh one to pick up the corrected subscription. Reuse the old one and it will still look broken after the real fix has landed.

Where this stops being a forum answer: if the number is stuck mid-migration behind a lock, or there are two WABAs and the number needs moving cleanly without losing existing chat history, that is careful hands-on work with Meta rather than something anyone can talk you through in a post. Same for the inbound scenario afterwards, which needs duplicate handling and ordering or you will process messages twice. My profile has how to reach me if you would rather hand that part over. Otherwise the three checks above will tell you which of the two problems you actually have, which is the thing worth knowing tonight.

Kane

5

Thanks a lot, Kane. I really appreciate the detailed response and the time you took to explain the possible causes. Your guidance helped me narrow down the issue and understand where the problem may be. I’ll keep investigating from here. Thanks again for your help!