WhatsApp Business Platform

template_category_update webhook reference

Updated: Jun 17, 2026
This reference describes trigger events and payload contents for the WhatsApp Business account template_category_update webhook.
The template_category_update webhook notifies you of changes to template’s category.

Triggers

  • The existing category of a WhatsApp template is going to be changed by an automated process.
  • The existing category of a WhatsApp template is changed manually or by an automated process.

Syntax

{
  "object": "whatsapp_business_account",
  "entry": [
    {
      "id": "<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>",
      "time": <WEBHOOK_TRIGGER_TIMESTAMP>,
      "changes": [
        {
          "field": "template_category_update",
          "value": {
            "message_template_id": <TEMPLATE_ID>,
            "message_template_name": "<TEMPLATE_NAME>",
            "message_template_language": "<TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE>",

            <!-- impending category change notifications only -->
            "correct_category": "<CORRECT_CATEGORY>",
            "new_category": "<CURRENT_CATEGORY>",
            "category_update_timestamp": <CATEGORY_UPDATE_TIMESTAMP>

            <!-- completed category change notifications only -->
            "previous_category": "<PREVIOUS_CATEGORY>",
            "new_category": "<NEW_CATEGORY>"

          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Parameters

Placeholder Description Example value
<CORRECT_CATEGORY>
String
The category that the template will be recategorized as in 24 hours.
MARKETING
<CURRENT_CATEGORY>
String
The template’s current category.
MARKETING
<NEW_CATEGORY>
String
The template’s new category.
MARKETING
<CATEGORY_UPDATE_TIMESTAMP>
Integer
The Unix timestamp (in seconds) indicating when the template’s category will be updated to the <CORRECT_CATEGORY> specified in the webhook. This value represents the moment the update is scheduled to occur.
1760711433
<PREVIOUS_CATEGORY>
String
The template’s previous category.
UTILITY
<TEMPLATE_ID>
Integer
Template ID.
278077987957091
<TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE>
String
Template language and locale code.
en-US
<TEMPLATE_NAME>
String
Template name.
welcome_template
<WEBHOOK_TRIGGER_TIMESTAMP>
Integer
Unix timestamp indicating when the webhook was triggered.
1739321024
<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>
String
WhatsApp Business Account ID.
102290129340398

Examples

This example webhook describes a template that will be recategorized as MARKETING in 24 hours. Note that new_category indicates its current category:
{
 "entry": [
   {
     "id": "102290129340398",
     "time": 1746082800,
     "changes": [
       {
         "field": "template_category_update",
         "value": {
           "message_template_id": 278077987957091,
           "message_template_name": "welcome_template",
           "message_template_language": "en-US",
           "new_category": "UTILITY",
           "correct_category": "MARKETING",
           "category_update_timestamp": 1746169200
         }
       }
     ]
   }
 ],
 "object": "whatsapp_business_account"
}
This example webhook describes a template that has been recategorized as MARKETING:
{
 "entry": [
   {
     "id": "102290129340398",
     "time": 1746169200,
     "changes": [
       {
         "field": "template_category_update",
         "value": {
           "message_template_id": 278077987957091,
           "message_template_name": "welcome_template",
           "message_template_language": "en-US",
           "previous_category": "UTILITY",
           "new_category": "MARKETING"
         }
       }
     ]
   }
 ],
 "object": "whatsapp_business_account"
}