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OpenWA

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Free, open-source WhatsApp API gateway that can serve as an MCP server for AI agents

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★ 13.2k Stars Category · Dev Tools Very popular Source revision 3b7fbe7ef067

47FMRS · D

Reliability

5/20

Security and permissions

10/20

Maintenance

6/20

Documentation

14/20

Setup experience

12/20

OpenWA offers a lightweight MCP server to safely expose WhatsApp automation capabilities to AI agents, but requires developers to have deployment and configuration experience and accept the risks of unofficial APIs.

Read the FMRS scoring method →

OpenWA is a free, open-source, self-hosted WhatsApp API gateway offering REST API, webhooks, multi-session management, and a web dashboard. It supports pluggable database, storage, and cache backends. When MCP_ENABLED=true is set, it mounts a stateless Streamable-HTTP transport at POST /mcp on the existing server, exposing 51 curated tools (sessions, messaging, contacts, basic group ops, webhook reads, labels, automation-rule reads) for AI agents like Claude and Cursor. The MCP server is off by default and additive, leaving all REST routes unchanged.

Tools

51 curated tools (sessions, messaging, contacts, basic group ops, webhook reads, labels, automation-rule reads)

Provides 51 curated tools for session management, sending/receiving messages, contact management, basic group operations, webhook reads, label management, and automation rule reads, callable by AI agents.

Setup

Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/rmyndharis/OpenWA.git && cd OpenWA\n2. Start Docker: docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d (or use production deployment commands)\n3. Set MCP_ENABLED=true environment variable (in .env or docker-compose)\n4. Restart the service: npm run start:prod or restart the container\n5. Configure an MCP client (e.g., Claude Code's .mcp.json) with URL http://localhost:2785/mcp and include your API key in headers.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openwa": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:2785/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Generate and validate client config

Fit and risk

Best for

Developers and hobbyists wanting a self-hosted WhatsApp API gateway
Scenarios requiring WhatsApp automation integrated into AI agents
Personal projects or internal tools needing low-cost messaging automation
Developers willing to accept unofficial API risks and account restrictions

Not for

Production environments requiring official WhatsApp Cloud API compliance (e.g., healthcare, finance, large-scale commercial messaging)
Users who cannot accept account ban risks
Users wanting zero-configuration setup (requires some deployment and configuration)
Scenarios needing full REST API coverage (MCP exposes only curated tools)

Required permissions

Requires API key authentication (role OPERATOR or lower, session-scoped)
May require access to the Docker socket (if using built-in orchestration, protected by docker-proxy)
MCP endpoint must be reachable from the client (e.g., localhost or LAN)
Recommended to use a dedicated WhatsApp number to avoid risks to primary numbers

Risks and side effects

Unofficial WhatsApp API, risk of account restriction or ban
Messages may be dropped by WhatsApp server-side (first message to new contacts)
Requires regular updates to dependencies to cope with WhatsApp protocol changes
If /mcp is exposed publicly without an auth proxy, it could be abused

Troubleshooting

Check that MCP_ENABLED is set and the service has been restarted
Verify the API key is valid with the correct role and session scope (no IP allow-list)
Check network connectivity to ensure the client can reach the /mcp endpoint
Inspect service logs to confirm MCP mounted successfully
Validate that the Authorization or X-API-Key header is correct

Use cases

Let AI agents automatically reply to WhatsApp messages

Send scheduled messages or notifications via AI assistants

Automate customer support with AI agents handling common queries

Integrate chatbots into WhatsApp groups

Supported clients

Claude DesktopFull support

CursorFull support

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