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Video Messages | Developer Documentation

Video Messages

Updated: Nov 3, 2025
Video messages display a thumbnail preview of a video image with an optional caption. When the WhatsApp user taps the preview, it loads the video and displays it to the user.

Sending Video Messages

Use the POST /<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages endpoint to send a video message to a WhatsApp user.

Request Syntax

POST /<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages

Post Body

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "{{wa-user-phone-number}}",
  "type": "video",
  "video": {
    "id" : "<MEDIA_ID>", /* Only if using uploaded media */
    "link": "<MEDIA_URL>", /* Only if linking to your media */
    "caption": "<VIDEO_CAPTION_TEXT>"
  }
}
Post Body Parameters

Placeholder

Description

Example Value

<VIDEO_CAPTION_TEXT>
String
Optional.
Video caption text.
Maximum 1024 characters.
A succulent eclipse!
<MEDIA_ID>
String
Required if using an uploaded media asset (recommended).
Uploaded media asset ID.
1166846181421424
<MEDIA_URL>
String
Required if linking to your media asset (not recommended)
URL of video asset on your public server. For better performance, we recommend that you upload your media asset instead.
https://www.luckyshrub.com/assets/lucky-shrub-eclipse-viewing.mp4
<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>
String
Required.
WhatsApp user phone number.
+16505551234
Supported Video Formats


Only H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec supported. Single audio stream or no audio stream only.


Note that videos encoded with the H.264 “High” profile and B-frames are not supported by Android WhatsApp clients. We recommend that you use H.264 “Main” profile without B-frames, or the H.264 “Baseline” profile when encoding (or re-encoding with a tool like ffmpeg), and place moov boxes before mdat boxes, for broader compatibility. If you are using ffmpeg, you can use the -movflags faststart flag to place moov boxes before mdata boxes.








Video Type 

Extension 

MIME Type 

Max Size 






3GPP





.3gp





video/3gpp





16 MB






MP4 Video





.mp4





video/mp4





16 MB
Example Request
Example request to send a video message with a caption to a WhatsApp user.
curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/106540352242922/messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "+16505551234",
  "type": "video",
  "video": {
    "id" : "1166846181421424",
    "caption": "A succulent eclipse!"
  }
}'
Example Response
{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "contacts": [
    {
      "input": "+16505551234",
      "wa_id": "16505551234"
    }
  ],
  "messages": [
    {
      "id": "wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgARGBI1RjQyNUE3NEYxMzAzMzQ5MkEA"
    }
  ]
}

    
        

    


            

        

    


    


    
    

        

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