WhatsApp Web MCP server for AI agents

The WhatsApp Web MCP server allows you to integrate WhatsApp with AI models through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It creates a standardized interface for programmatic interaction with WhatsApp, enabling automated messaging, contact management, and group chat functionality through AI-driven workflows.

Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/pnizer/wweb-mcp.git
cd wweb-mcp

Install Options

# Install globally
npm install -g .

# Or use with npx directly
npx .

Docker Installation

docker build . -t wweb-mcp:latest

Configuration

Command Line Options

Option	Alias	Description	Choices	Default
`--mode`	`-m`	Run mode	`mcp`, `whatsapp-api`	`mcp`
`--mcp-mode`	`-c`	MCP connection mode	`standalone`, `api`	`standalone`
`--transport`	`-t`	MCP transport mode	`sse`, `command`	`sse`
`--sse-port`	`-p`	Port for SSE server	-	`3002`
`--api-port`	-	Port for WhatsApp API server	-	`3001`
`--auth-data-path`	`-a`	Path to store authentication data	-	`.wwebjs_auth`
`--auth-strategy`	`-s`	Authentication strategy	`local`, `none`	`local`
`--api-base-url`	`-b`	API base URL for MCP when using api mode	-	`http://localhost:3001/api`
`--api-key`	`-k`	API key for WhatsApp Web REST API when using api mode	-	`''`

Authentication Methods

Local Authentication (Recommended)

Scan QR code once
Credentials persist between sessions
More stable for long-term operation

No Authentication

Default method
Requires QR code scan on each startup
Suitable for testing and development

Webhook Configuration

Create a webhook.json file in your authentication data directory to receive incoming WhatsApp messages:

{
  "url": "https://your-webhook-endpoint.com/incoming",
  "authToken": "your-optional-authentication-token",
  "filters": {
    "allowedNumbers": ["+1234567890", "+0987654321"],
    "allowPrivate": true,
    "allowGroups": false
  }
}

Usage

Running Modes

WhatsApp API Server

npx wweb-mcp --mode whatsapp-api --api-port 3001

MCP Server (Standalone)

npx wweb-mcp --mode mcp --mcp-mode standalone --transport sse --sse-port 3002

MCP Server (API Client)

# First, start the WhatsApp API server
npx wweb-mcp --mode whatsapp-api --api-port 3001

# Then, start the MCP server with the API key from the logs
npx wweb-mcp --mode mcp --mcp-mode api --api-base-url http://localhost:3001/api --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --transport sse --sse-port 3002

Available Tools

Tool	Description	Parameters
`get_status`	Check WhatsApp client connection status	None
`send_message`	Send messages to WhatsApp contacts	`number`: Phone number to send to `message`: Text content to send
`search_contacts`	Search for contacts by name or number	`query`: Search term to find contacts
`get_messages`	Retrieve messages from a specific chat	`number`: Phone number to get messages from `limit` (optional): Number of messages to retrieve
`get_chats`	Get a list of all WhatsApp chats	None
`create_group`	Create a new WhatsApp group	`name`: Name of the group `participants`: Array of phone numbers to add
`add_participants_to_group`	Add participants to an existing group	`groupId`: ID of the group `participants`: Array of phone numbers to add
`get_group_messages`	Retrieve messages from a group	`groupId`: ID of the group `limit` (optional): Number of messages to retrieve
`send_group_message`	Send a message to a group	`groupId`: ID of the group `message`: Text content to send
`search_groups`	Search for groups by name, description, or member names	`query`: Search term to find groups
`get_group_by_id`	Get detailed information about a specific group	`groupId`: ID of the group to get
`download_media_from_message`	Download media from a message	`messageId`: ID of the message containing media to download
`send_media_message`	Send a media message to a WhatsApp contact	`number`: Phone number to send to `source`: Media source with URI scheme `caption` (optional): Text caption for the media

REST API Endpoints

Contacts & Messages

Endpoint	Method	Description	Parameters
`/api/status`	GET	Get WhatsApp connection status	None
`/api/contacts`	GET	Get all contacts	None
`/api/contacts/search`	GET	Search for contacts	`query`: Search term
`/api/chats`	GET	Get all chats	None
`/api/messages/{number}`	GET	Get messages from a chat	`limit` (query): Number of messages
`/api/send`	POST	Send a message	`number`: Recipient `message`: Message content
`/api/send/media`	POST	Send a media message	`number`: Recipient `source`: Media source URL `caption` (optional): Text caption
`/api/messages/{messageId}/media/download`	POST	Download media from a message	None

Group Management

Endpoint	Method	Description	Parameters
`/api/groups`	GET	Get all groups	None
`/api/groups/search`	GET	Search for groups	`query`: Search term
`/api/groups/create`	POST	Create a new group	`name`: Group name `participants`: Array of numbers
`/api/groups/{groupId}`	GET	Get detailed group information	None
`/api/groups/{groupId}/messages`	GET	Get messages from a group	`limit` (query): Number of messages
`/api/groups/{groupId}/participants/add`	POST	Add members to a group	`participants`: Array of numbers
`/api/groups/send`	POST	Send a message to a group	`groupId`: Group ID `message`: Message content

AI Integration

Claude Desktop Integration

Option 1: Using NPX

Start WhatsApp API server:
```
npx wweb-mcp -m whatsapp-api -s local
```
Scan the QR code with your WhatsApp mobile app

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "whatsapp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "wweb-mcp",
                "-m", "mcp",
                "-s", "local",
                "-c", "api",
                "-t", "command",
                "--api-base-url", "http://localhost:3001/api",
                "--api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY_FROM_LOGS"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Option 2: Using Docker

Start WhatsApp API server in Docker:

docker run -i -p 3001:3001 -v wweb-mcp:/wwebjs_auth --rm wweb-mcp:latest -m whatsapp-api -s local -a /wwebjs_auth

Scan the QR code with your WhatsApp mobile app

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "whatsapp": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "-i",
                "--rm",
                "wweb-mcp:latest",
                "-m", "mcp",
                "-s", "local",
                "-c", "api",
                "-t", "command",
                "--api-base-url", "http://host.docker.internal:3001/api",
                "--api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY_FROM_LOGS"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Restart Claude Desktop

Troubleshooting

Claude Desktop Integration Issues

It's not possible to start wweb-mcp in command standalone mode on Claude because Claude opens more than one process, multiple times, and each wweb-mcp needs to open a puppeteer session that cannot share the same WhatsApp authentication. Because of this limitation, we've split the app into MCP and API modes to allow for proper integration with Claude.

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.