The 24-hour window and templates

Meta's rule: free text can be sent to a customer only for 24 hours after their last message. After that, only an approved template may be sent. This applies to the assistant, to follow-ups and to you — the system enforces it and will not send a message that would be blocked.

Template types

• Utility — appointment reminder, "you asked us to call you back", continue chat. Requires no marketing consent.
• Marketing — offers and updates. Sent only to people who gave explicit consent, and automatically wrapped with an advertisement header, the advertiser's details and an opt-out line, as the law requires.

Where templates come from

The Channels & numbers page lists every template in your WhatsApp account with its status (approved / pending / rejected). New templates are created for you by your account manager, or by you directly in Meta's WhatsApp Manager: a name (lowercase letters and underscores), language, category and the message body with {{1}}, {{2}} variables. Approval takes minutes to a day, and the template shows up in your list on its own.

Templates the automations use

A few automations send a template when they reach a customer outside the 24-hour window — but none of them invent a template name by themselves: each one uses a template name configured for your business. No template configured = the automation just stays quiet and sends nothing (it doesn't fail or alert — it simply doesn't run until it's set up).

As soon as a template is configured and approved, the automation starts using it by itself.

In the inbox, when the window is closed, the "Send template" button offers approved templates only. Rejected? Why, and how to fix it →