Please document urlVariables for dynamic WhatsApp template URLs

Status: Closed · Asked by f g b on · 0 views

f g b — Question ·

It took me many hours to figure out how to pass a URL parameter to a template; this might help others.

When using a WhatsApp template with a dynamic URL button, the correct field is urlVariables, not urlParams.

urlParams may be accepted in the JSON payload, but it is silently ignored, so the message can still return success while the button URL keeps the Meta placeholder instead of the real value.

urlVariables works correctly, and urlVariables[0] replaces the first dynamic URL parameter.

For example, if the template button URL in Meta is:


https://example.com/hola_mundo.php?name=

and you send:


"urlVariables": ["juan"]

the final button URL becomes:


https://example.com/hola_mundo.php?name=juan


Working PHP sender example:


<?php

$api_key = 'YOUR_PABBLY_API_KEY';
$to = '56912345678';

$payload = [
    'to' => $to,
    'type' => 'template',
    'templateName' => 'your_template_name',
    'bodyParams' => ['Juan'],
    'urlVariables' => ['juan'],
];

$json = json_encode($payload, JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE);

$ch = curl_init('https://chatflow.pabbly.com/api/v1/messages');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $json);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    'Authorization: Bearer ' . $api_key,
    'Content-Type: application/json',
    'Accept: application/json',
]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 15);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
$http_code = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
$curl_error = curl_error($ch);
curl_close($ch);

if ($curl_error) {
    echo "cURL error: " . $curl_error;
} elseif ($http_code === 200) {
    $obj = json_decode($response);
    if (isset($obj->status) && $obj->status === 'success') {
        echo "Sent successfully";
    } else {
        echo "Pabbly error: " . $response;
    }
} else {
    echo "HTTP " . $http_code . ": " . $response;
}

Receiver example (hola_mundo.php):


<?php

$name = isset($_GET['name']) ? htmlspecialchars($_GET['name']) : '';
echo "<h1>hello $name</h1>";

If the parameter is passed correctly, the page shows:

text
hello juan

If urlParams is used instead, the send may still look successful, but the dynamic URL value is not replaced.

This would be very helpful to document clearly, because the current behavior looks like a successful API send, while the button URL is actually wrong.

Pabbly Support — Reply ·

Hello there,

Thanks for contacting us.

Could you please specify which document you are referring to? Can you share the specific URL or the screenshot?

Thanks & Regards,

Adeel Akhtar
🌐 Pabbly.com

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