baileys

Baileys - WhatsApp Web API for Node.js

Reverse Engineered WhatsApp Web API in pure Node.js. Baileys does not require Selenium or any other browser to be interface with WhatsApp Web, it does so directly using a WebSocket. Not running Selenium or Chromimum saves you like half a gig of ram :/

Thank you to @Sigalor for writing the guide to reverse engineering WhatsApp Web and thanks to @Rhymen for the go reimplementation.

Baileys has also been written from the ground up to be very extensible and simple to use. If you require more functionality than provided, it'll super easy for you to write an extension (More on this at the end).

• Install Create and cd to your NPM project directory and then in terminal, write: npm install baileys Then import in your code using:

      const WhatsAppWeb = require('Baileys') 
  

• Connecting

      const client = new WhatsAppWeb() 
      client.connect()
      .then (([user, chats, contacts, unread]) => {
          console.log ("oh hello " + user.name + " (" + user.id + ")")
          console.log ("you have " + unread.length + " unread messages")
          console.log ("you have " + chats.length + " chats")
      })
      .catch (err => console.log("unexpected error: " + err) )
  

  If the connection is successful, you will see a QR code printed on your terminal screen, scan it with WhatsApp on your phone and you'll be logged in!

• Handling Events Implement the following callbacks in your code:

  • Called when you have a pending unread message or recieve a new message

    client.setOnUnreadMessage (m => {
        const [notificationType, messageType] = client.getNotificationType(m) // get what type of notification it is -- message, group add notification etc.
        console.log("got notification of type: " + notificationType) // message, groupAdd, groupLeave
        console.log("message type: " + messageType) // conversation, imageMessage, videoMessage etc.
    })
    

  • Called when you recieve an update on someone's presence, they went offline or online

    client.setOnPresenceUpdate (json => console.log(json.id + " presence is " + json.type))
    

  • Called when your message gets delivered or read

    client.setOnMessageStatusChange (json => {
        let sent = json.to
        if (json.participant) // participant exists when the message is from a group
            sent += " ("+json.participant+")" // mention as the one sent to
        // log that they acknowledged the message
        console.log(sent + " acknowledged message(s) " + json.ids + " as " + json.type + " at " + json.timestamp)
    })
    

  • Called when the connection gets disconnected (either the server loses internet or the phone gets unpaired)

    client.setOnUnexpectedDisconnect (err => console.log ("disconnected unexpectedly: " + err) )
    

• Sending Messages It's super simple

  • Send text messages using

    client.sendTextMessage(id, "oh hello there!") 
    

  • Send text messages & quote another message using

        client.sendTextMessage(id, "oh hello there", quotedMessage) 
    

    quotedMessage is a message object
  • Send a media (image, video, sticker, pdf) message using

        const buffer = fs.readFileSync("example/ma_gif.mp4") // load some gif
        const info = {gif: true, caption: "hello!"} // some metadata & caption
        client.sendMediaMessage(id, buffer, WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.video, info)
    

    • The thumbnail can be generated automatically for images & stickers. Though, to automatically generate thumbnails for videos, you need to have ffmpeg installed on your system
    • mediaBuffer is just a Buffer containing the contents of the media you want to send
    • mediaType represents the type of message you are sending. This can be one of the following:

          [
              WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.image, // an image message
              WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.video, // a video message
              WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.audio, // an audio message
              WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.sticker // a sticker message
          ]
      

    • info is a JSON object, providing some information about the media. It can have the following optional values:

          info = {
              caption: "hello there!", // the caption to send with the media (cannot be sent with stickers though)
              thumbnail: null, /* has to be a base 64 encoded JPEG if you want to send a custom thumb, 
                                  or set to null if you don't want to send a thumbnail.
                                  Do not enter this field if you want to automatically generate a thumb
                              */
              mimetype: "application/pdf", /* specify the type of media (optional for all media types except documents),
                                              for pdf files => set to "application/pdf",
                                              for txt files => set to "application/txt"
                                              etc.
                                          */
              gif: true // only applicable to video messages, if the video should be treated as a GIF
          }
      

    • Tested formats: png, jpeg, webp (sticker), mp4, ogg id is the WhatsApp id of the person or group you're sending the message to. It must be in the format [country code][phone number]@s.whatsapp.net, for example [e-mail] for people. For groups, it must be in the format [e-mail].

• Sending Read Receipts

      client.sendReadReceipt(id, messageID) 
  

  The id is in the same format as mentioned earlier. The message ID is the unique identifier of the message that you are marking as read. On a message object, it can be accessed using messageID = message.key.id.

• Update Presence

      client.updatePresence(id, WhatsAppWeb.Presence.available) 
  

  This lets the person/group with id know whether you're online, offline, typing etc. where presence can be one of the following:

      [
          WhatsAppWeb.Presence.available, // online
          WhatsAppWeb.Presence.unavailable, // offline
          WhatsAppWeb.Presence.composing, // typing...
          WhatsAppWeb.Presence.recording // recording...
      ]
  

• Decoding Media If you want to save & process some images, videos, documents or stickers you received

      client.setOnUnreadMessage (m => {
          const messageType = client.getMessageType(m.message) // get what type of message it is -- text, image, video
          // if the message is not a text message
          if (messageType !== WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.text && messageType !== WhatsAppWeb.MessageType.extendedText) {
              client.decodeMediaMessage(m.message, "filename") // extension applied automatically
              .then (meta => console.log(m.key.remoteJid + " sent media, saved at: " + meta.filename))
              .catch (err => console.log("error in decoding message: " + err))
          }
      }
  

• Restoring Sessions Once you connect successfully, you can get your authentication credentials using

     const authJSON = client.base64EncodedAuthInfo() 
  

  Then you can use this JSON to log back in without needing to scan a QR code using

      const authJSON = JSON.parse( fs.readFileSync("auth_info.json") )
      client.connect (authJSON)
      .then (([user, chats, contacts, unread]) => console.log ("yay connected"))
  

• Querying

  • To check if a given ID is on WhatsApp

        client.isOnWhatsApp ("[e-mail]")
        .then (([exists, id]) => console.log(id + (exists ? " exists " : " does not exist") + "on WhatsApp"))
    

  • To query chat history on a group or with someone

    client.loadConversation ("[e-mail]", 25) // query the last 25 messages (replace 25 with the number of messages you want to query)
    .then (messages => console.log("got back " + messages.length + " messages"))
    

    You can also load the entire conversation history if you want

    client.loadEntireConversation ("[e-mail]", (message) => console.log("Loaded message with ID: " + message.key.id))
    .then (() => console.log("queried all messages")) // promise resolves once all messages are retreived
    

  • To get the status of some person/group

    client.getStatus ("[e-mail]") // leave empty to get your own
    .then (json => console.log("status: " + json.status))
    

  • To get the display picture of some person/group

    client.getStatus ("[e-mail]") // leave empty to get your own
    .then (json => console.log("download profile picture from: " + json.eurl))
    

  • To get someone's presence (if they're typing, online)

    client.requestPresenceUpdate ("[e-mail]")
    // the presence update is fetched and called here
    client.setOnPresenceUpdate (json => console.log(json.id + " presence is " + json.type))
    

  Of course, replace xyz with an actual ID. Also, append @c.us for individuals & @g.us for groups.

• Groups

  • To create a group

    client.groupCreate ("My Fab Group", ["[e-mail]", "[e-mail]"]) // title & participants
    .then (([json, _]) => {
        console.log ("created group with id: " + json.gid)
        client.sendTextMessage(json.gid, "hello everyone") // say hello to everyone on the group
    })
    

  • To add people to a group

    client.groupAdd ("[e-mail]", ["[e-mail]", "[e-mail]"]) // id & people to add to the group
    .then (([json, _]) => console.log("added successfully: " + (json.status===200)))
    

  • To make someone admin on a group

    client.groupMakeAdmin ("[e-mail]", ["[e-mail]", "[e-mail]"]) // id & people to make admin
    .then (([json, _]) => console.log("made admin successfully: " + (json.status===200)))
    

  • To leave a group

    client.groupLeave ("[e-mail]")
    .then (([json, _]) => console.log("left group successfully: " + (json.status===200)))
    

  • To get the invite code for a group

    client.groupInviteCode ("[e-mail]")
    .then (code => console.log(code))
    

• Writing Custom Functionality Baileys is also written, keeping in mind, that you may require other functionality. Hence, instead of having to fork the project & re-write the internals, you can simply write extensions in your own code.

  First, enable the logging of unhandled messages from WhatsApp by setting

  client.logUnhandledMessages = true
  

  This will enable you to see all sorts of messages WhatsApp sends in the console. Some examples:

  1. Functionality to track of the battery percentage of your phone. You enable logging and you'll see a message about your battery pop up in the console: [Baileys] [Unhandled] s22, ["action",null,[["battery",{"live":"false","value":"52"},null]]]

     You now know what a battery update looks like. It'll have the following characteristics.

     • Given const bMessage = ["action",null,[["battery",{"live":"false","value":"52"},null]]]
     • bMessage[0] is always "action"
     • bMessage[1] is always null
     • bMessage[2][0][0] is always "battery"

     Hence, you can register a callback for an event using the following:

     client.registerCallback (["action", null, "battery"], json => {
         const batteryLevelStr = json[2][0][1].value
         const batterylevel = parseInt (batteryLevelStr)
         console.log ("battery level: " + batterylevel + "%")
     })
     

     This callback will be fired any time a message is received matching the following criteria: message [0] === "action" && message [1] === null && message[2][0][0] === "battery"

  2. Functionality to keep track of the pushname changes on your phone. You enable logging and you'll see an unhandled message about your pushanme pop up like this: [Baileys] [Unhandled] s24, ["Conn",{"pushname":"adiwajshing"}]

     You now know what a pushname update looks like. It'll have the following characteristics.

     • Given const pMessage = ["Conn",{"pushname":"adiwajshing"}]
     • pMessage[0] is always "Conn"
     • pMessage[1] always has the key "pushname"
     • pMessage[2] is always undefined

     Following this, one can implement the following callback:

     client.registerCallback (["Conn", "pushname"], json => {
         const pushname = json[1].pushname
         client.userMetaData.name = pushname // update on client too
         console.log ("Name updated: " + pushname)
     })
     

     This callback will be fired any time a message is received matching the following criteria: message [0] === "Conn" && message [1].pushname

  A little more testing will reveal that almost all WhatsApp messages are in the format illustrated above. Note: except for the first parameter (in the above cases, "action" or "Conn"), all the other parameters are optional.

• Example Do check out & run example.js to see example usage of these functions. To run the example script, download or clone the repo and then type the following in terminal:

  1. cd path/to/Baileys/example
  2. node example.js

Note

I am in no way affiliated with WhatsApp. This was written for educational purposes. Use at your own discretion.