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You can use a Photon SMS number for a WhatsApp Business connection managed through Photon. Registration verifies the number with Meta; it does not turn the SMS Inbox into a place to collect WhatsApp verification codes. This guide covers WhatsApp Business, not personal WhatsApp. Personal WhatsApp is a separate channel that is still in internal testing and is not yet released.
Photon SMS numbers can only be registered for WhatsApp Business through Photon. You cannot register them with another WhatsApp provider. WhatsApp Business registration OTPs are reserved for Photon connections and are not shown in SMS messaging histories, message-history API responses, or inbound SMS message events.

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Connect your Photon number

Photon-provided iMessage numbers are not eligible for this flow. Their WhatsApp registration is reserved for personal WhatsApp, so they cannot be registered with WhatsApp Business through Photon or another provider. Use an eligible Photon SMS number instead.
  1. Open your project’s WhatsApp Business page in the Photon dashboard.
  2. Choose Use a Photon SMS number and select the number from your project.
  3. Complete the connection flow in Photon:
    • Connecting a new WhatsApp Business Account: follow Meta’s signup window. If Meta requests an SMS verification code, Photon displays the received code in the setup panel. Enter it in Meta’s window and finish setup there.
    • Adding a number to an account already connected to Photon: Photon handles the SMS verification and registration automatically. You do not need to retrieve or forward a code.
If your integration adds numbers programmatically to an already-connected account, use Create WhatsApp VoIP sender. For a custom Photon onboarding flow that needs the code during Meta signup, use the WhatsApp Business verification-code API, not SMS history. That API is for completing Photon connections, not for registering Photon numbers with other providers. Treat a returned code as an authentication secret; never put it in logs or analytics.

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Why the code is missing from SMS history

Photon separates WhatsApp Business registration codes from normal SMS conversations. A code can arrive and be used by the Photon connection flow without ever appearing as an SMS message in your application. Removing general OTP filtering from SMS numbers does not change this reservation. See SMS verification-code handling for what to expect in the Inbox, history API, and inbound events.

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Using another WhatsApp provider

You cannot use a Photon-provided SMS number to register WhatsApp Business with another provider, even if a code was displayed during Photon’s setup flow. Use a number obtained independently of Photon and check that provider’s requirements instead. This restriction concerns Photon-provided numbers, not numbers you independently own and bring to Photon.