Set Up a Sandbox Account for Calling
Updated: Apr 7, 2026
Sandbox accounts are only available to you if you are a Tech Partner.
A WhatsApp sandbox account is a mock WhatsApp Business Account that you can use to test your Calling API integration. Use a calling sandbox account to test the following features:
- Initiate and receive calls using the Calling API
- Validate calling webhook events
- Simulate onboarding flows without creating real business assets
Sandbox account calling limits
The following table outlines the calling limits for sandbox accounts. These limits are subject to change.
|
Limit
|
Description
|
Production number limit
|
Public test number limit
|
|---|
| Number of calls a business is allowed to make on approved permissions. | 100 connected calls per 24 hrs | |
Call Permission Request message limits | Limits the number of call permission request messages that can be sent to the same consumer | 1 request per day
2 requests per week | 25 requests per day
100 requests per week |
| When a business initiated call goes unanswered (In essence, is rejected by the user or missed by the user). | Nudge on 2 consecutive unanswered calls
Revoke permission on 4 consecutive unanswered calls | Nudge on 5 consecutive unanswered calls
Revoke on 10 consecutive unanswered calls |
| Duration a business can call the user after permission is approved. | | |
Step 1. Claim a sandbox account
Step 2. Obtain credentials and identifiers for your sandbox account
- In the App Dashboard, navigate to your app, then select WhatsApp > Embedded Signup Builder in the sidebar.
- Note: Keep this tab open and available as you will use it multiple times throughout this process.
- Ensure that the Features dropdown is empty, then click Login with Facebook.
- A popup with the embedded signup experience will show. Under Business portfolio select Sandbox Business.
- Fill in the rest of the required information, then click Next.
- On the next screen, in the Create or Select a WhatsApp Business Profile dropdown, select Test Number.
- Once the login flow is complete, in the Exchange Token section, click Get Token.
- Note: Retain this token for future sandbox account API use.
- In the Fetch Shared WhatsApp Business Account section, click Fetch WABA details.
- Under WhatsApp business account field, copy the Value for the
id row.
- Note: Retain this ID since it is the WhatsApp Business Account ID for the sandbox WABA.
- In the Fetch phone numbers section, click Fetch phone numbers.
- Under ID, copy the value.
- Note: Retain this ID since it is the phone number ID for your sandbox account test phone number.
Step 3. Register your test phone number and subscribe to your WABA
Prerequisites
Ensure that you have the following information from the previous steps:
- Your sandbox account token string
- Your sandbox account WABA ID
- Your test phone number ID
- Note: Keep this window open as you will use the configuration you created again in later steps in this guide.
- Navigate to the Graph API Explorer tool.
- Ensure you are on the latest version of the API.
- Click Generate Access Token and follow the prompts.
- Under Permissions, add the
whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions - In the endpoint builder, enter
/<YOUR_SANDBOX_WABA_ID>/subscribed_apps, then click Submit.
- Next, register your test phone number by entering
/<YOUR_SANDBOX_TEST_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/register in the endpoint builder. - In the left sidebar, click JSON, then enter the following JSON body, then click Submit:
{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"pin": "123456"
}
- You should receive a standard
success response:
Step 4. Test your messaging functionality
- In the Graph API Explorer tool, enter
/<YOUR_SANDBOX_TEST_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages in the endpoint builder. - In the left sidebar, click JSON, then enter the following JSON body, then click Submit:
{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"to": "YOUR_NUMBER", // Replace this value with phone number of your device.
"type": "template",
"template": {
"name": "hello_world",
"language": { "code": "en_US" }
}
}
- You will receive a response with a
"message_status": "accepted" value, and you should receive a text message on your device.
- Navigate to the App Dashboard.
- Click the app you are using with WhatsApp.
- Select Use cases (pencil icon) from the sidebar.
- Under Connect with customers through WhatsApp, click Customize.
- In the left sidebar, click Configuration.
- Under Callback URL, add the callback URL for your webhook server.
- Under Verify token, add an arbitrary verification string.
- Click Verify and save.
- On the next page, in the Select product dropdown, click WhatsApp Business Account.
- Under Webhook fields, in the calls row, click the toggle button to subscribe to the
calls webhook field.
Finish: Enable calling features on your test phone number
- In the Graph API Explorer tool, enter
/<YOUR_SANDBOX_TEST_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/settings in the endpoint builder. - In the left sidebar, click JSON, then enter the following JSON body, then click Submit:
{
"calling": {
"status": "ENABLED",
"call_icon_visibility": "DEFAULT",
"callback_permission_status": "ENABLED"
}
}
- You should receive a standard
success response:
- Finally, under Access Token, copy the access token down for future use.
- Note: Retain this access token as you will use it to make API calls for testing your Calling API integration.
Test business-initiated calling
Before you can test business-initiated calls (BIC), you must provide user calling permissions to your sandbox account.
You can do this on the client device you are using for testing:
- On your client device, open WhatsApp.
- Navigate to the message thread you have with your sandbox business phone number.
- At the top of the screen, tap the sandbox business phone number.
- Scroll down and tap Business Calling Permission.
- Tap Allow calls.
You can now use your Calling API integration to call the client device and test your integration.
Test user-initiated calling
You can test user-initiated calls (UIC) on the client device you are using for testing:
- On your client device, open WhatsApp.
- Navigate to the message thread you have with your sandbox business phone number.
- Tap the phone icon at the top of the screen to call the sandbox business phone number.
- Confirm a successful call connection.