WhatsApp Business Platform

Media message headers

Updated: Jul 31, 2026
Copy for LLM
Interactive Direct Send messages can include a media header in addition to a text header. Supported header types are text, image, video, and document.
The header type field determines which media object is required:
Header typeRequired objectObject fields
text
text
text (header string)
image
image
At least one of link or id
video
video
At least one of link or id
document
document
At least one of link or id; optional filename
For each media header, you must provide at least one of:
  • link — a public URL to the media file.
  • id — a media handle (<MEDIA_ID>) for media already uploaded to WhatsApp.

Image header

"header": {
  "type": "image",
  "image": {
    "link": "<IMAGE_LINK>",
    "id": "<MEDIA_ID>"
  }
}

Video header

"header": {
  "type": "video",
  "video": {
    "link": "<VIDEO_LINK>",
    "id": "<MEDIA_ID>"
  }
}

Document header

Document headers additionally accept a filename:
"header": {
  "type": "document",
  "document": {
    "link": "<DOCUMENT_LINK>",
    "id": "<MEDIA_ID>",
    "filename": "<FILENAME>"
  }
}