Getting Started

Introduction

Welcome to SendZen, the developer-first WhatsApp API! This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough to help you go from creating an account to sending your first message in just a few minutes.

By the end of this guide, you will have:

Created a SendZen account and obtained your API key.

Sent your first WhatsApp message.

Understood how to set up and verify a webhook to receive delivery status notifications.

Learned about the next steps to take your integration further.

SendZen is designed for developers, with a focus on speed, clean SDKs, predictable webhooks, and real-time logs.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

A SendZen account. If you don't have one, you can create one for free on our website.

A WhatsApp number connected to your SendZen account.

Your SendZen API key, which can be found in your dashboard after signing up.

API Fundamentals

Base URL

All API requests should be made to the following base URL:

https://api.sendzen.io

Authentication

To authenticate your requests, you need to include your API key in the Authorization header of every request.

Header name: Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>

Remember to replace <YOUR_API_KEY> with your actual API key. Keep your API keys secure and rotate them immediately if you suspect they have been compromised. You can manage your API keys from the SendZen dashboard.

Sending Your First Message

You can send a message by making a POST request to one of our messaging endpoints.

Error Handling

The SendZen API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate the success or failure of a request.

2xx status codes indicate a successful request.

4xx status codes indicate a client-side error (e.g., invalid request, missing API key).

5xx status codes indicate a server-side error.

When an error occurs, the response body will contain a JSON object with a human-readable message to make debugging as simple as possible.

{
  "message": "The request is missing a valid API key.",
  "error": {
    "code": "Unauthorized",
    "details": "Authentication credentials were not provided."
  }
}

Security Best Practices

We take security very seriously at SendZen. To ensure the security of your integration, we recommend the following:

Use HTTPS for all API requests.

Restrict API key permissions to the minimum required for your application.

Store your API keys and other secrets in a secure vault or key management service (KMS).

Verify webhook signatures to ensure that the requests are coming from SendZen.

For more information, please refer to our Security and GDPR compliance pages.

Next Steps

Congratulations on sending your first message! Now that you've completed the initial setup, here's what you can do next to deepen your integration:

Explore the API Reference: Dive deeper into message types (media, templates, voice) and other endpoints.

Set up Webhooks: Receive real-time notifications for delivery, read receipts, and inbound messages.

Check Your Logs: Use the SendZen dashboard to view detailed logs of every request and response, aiding in debugging.

Try Our SDKs: Accelerate development with our SDKs for Node.js, Python, and other popular languages.

Review Our Documentation: Learn more about advanced features, security, and compliance.

Introduction#

Prerequisites#

API Fundamentals#

Base URL#

Authentication#

Sending Your First Message#

Error Handling#

Security Best Practices#

Next Steps#