---
title: "Messages"
description: "How Goomzo sends SMS and WhatsApp messages, and how you follow them."
url: "https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages"
docs_index: /llms.txt
lastUpdated: 2026-11-12
section: "Messages"
related:
  - /docs/developers/messages/send
  - /docs/developers/messages/templates
  - /docs/developers/messages/broadcasts
---

> For an index of all documentation, see [/llms.txt](https://docs.goomzo.africa/llms.txt). Any page is also available as Markdown by adding .md to its URL.

# Messages

> How Goomzo sends SMS and WhatsApp messages, and how you follow them.

A message is one SMS or WhatsApp message to one person. Your system sends it, Goomzo queues it and hands it to the
network, and its status changes as it goes. To send the same message to many people, use a
[broadcast](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages/broadcasts?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai).

## Channels

| Channel    | Goes from                                       | Paid by                               |
| ---------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `sms`      | Your approved sender ID, or Goomzo's shared one | The SMS on your Goomzo account        |
| `whatsapp` | Your own connected WhatsApp number              | Your WhatsApp account, billed by Meta |

## Ways to send

- **Content:** text you write in the request, such as an order update.
- **A saved template:** a template's name and the values it needs. See [Send templates](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages/templates?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai).
- **A WhatsApp template directly:** a template on your WhatsApp account, by its id.

## Statuses

| Status      | Meaning                                                             |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `waiting`   | A WhatsApp reply held until the customer opens the chat. See below. |
| `scheduled` | Waiting for its `sendAt` time.                                      |
| `sending`   | Queued, or with the network.                                        |
| `sent`      | The network took it.                                                |
| `delivered` | It reached the phone.                                               |
| `read`      | The customer read it. WhatsApp only.                                |
| `failed`    | It couldn't be sent or delivered. `error` says why.                 |
| `canceled`  | You canceled it before it went.                                     |

Follow statuses with [webhooks](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/webhooks?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai) rather than asking again and again.

## WhatsApp customer service windows

WhatsApp lets you send free text only within 24 hours of the customer's last message. Outside that window:

- **Text you send waits.** Goomzo sends your reply template ("we have replied to the message you sent us on…")
  and your text goes once the customer opens the chat. It shows as `waiting` until then, and fails after 7 days.
- **To write first, or to schedule,** send an approved WhatsApp template instead.

**Note:** Someone who has never written to your WhatsApp number can only get a template.

## Private messages

A message sent with `{{secret.x}}` values is `private`: the customer gets the values, while Goomzo keeps and shows
them as `••••••`, in the dashboard, the API and webhooks. See [Send templates](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages/templates?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai).

## Next steps

- [Send messages](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages/send?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai)
- [Send templates](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages/templates?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai)
- [Broadcasts](https://docs.goomzo.africa/docs/developers/messages/broadcasts?utm_source=llms&utm_medium=ai)

---

For an index of all available documentation, see [/llms.txt](https://docs.goomzo.africa/llms.txt)