Onboarding changes

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

With the new account model, onboarding flows automatically create a separate Messaging Account per partner and return the ID in the existing WABA ID field. The asset creation and sharing logic is the same — a WhatsApp Business account holds the phone number, and each partner gets their own Messaging Account.

Under the new account model, all available Embedded Signup flows reflect the following changes:

“WhatsApp Business account” and “Messaging Account” appear in Embedded Signup screens and in Meta Business Suite for onboarded clients

A WhatsApp Business account and Messaging Account are automatically created when a client completes the flow

waac_id starts appearing in message events starting at Phase 2 — New Graph API version

Partner-initiated account creation

With partner-initiated account creation, the same asset creation and sharing logic applies. Starting at Phase 1 — General availability, when a client accepts the partner’s request to create and share a Messaging Account, they must provide a phone number. Adding a phone number is no longer optional.

Onboarding changes by phase

Onboarding updates roll out in phases. Each phase is additive — your existing integration continues to work without code changes.

Phase	Timing	What ships	What you need to do
Phase 1 — General availability	H2 2026	Embedded Signup creates a separate Messaging Account per partner automatically whenever a client completes the onboarding flow "Add phone number later" is removed; the flow is phone-number-first Partner-initiated account creation: clients must now provide a phone number when accepting a partner's request to create and share a Messaging Account Clients already onboarded with one partner can onboard with a different partner using their existing phone number. The `waac_id` is not yet included in message events (available starting Phase 2)	No code changes, but `waba_id` in message events now refers to a Messaging Account ID.
Phase 2 — New Graph API version	H1 2027	`waac_id` (WhatsApp Account ID) now included in message events alongside `cs_id` New Embedded Signup settings allow you to control if and where the Messaging Account gets created (details to follow)	Start capturing `waac_id` (WhatsApp Account ID) alongside `cs_id` (business phone number ID) and `waba_id` (Messaging Account ID) in message events Can now optionally use WhatsApp Account IDs and Messaging Account IDs with new Graph API endpoints
Phase 3 — Mandatory transition	H1 2028	All Messages API versions require `messaging_account_id` (`waba_id` value in message events) for multiple Messaging Account scenarios All APIs that target a phone number ID in the endpoint path, or accept a phone number ID as a query parameter, now must use WAAC IDs instead (`waac_id` value in message events)	Plan engineering work in 2027 to be on the new APIs before this date.

Learn more

Updates to WhatsApp Business accounts — overview of the new account model

Managing messaging accounts — how the new account model affects messaging

Embedded Signup overview — current Embedded Signup documentation