WhatsApp Coexistence, Explained

How Meta's Coexistence lets one WhatsApp number run in the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API at once, and how Avox works alongside your team's app.

Coexistence is Meta's feature that lets one WhatsApp number work in two places at once: in the WhatsApp Business app on your team's phone, and on the Cloud API that platforms like Avox use. Your team keeps chatting from the app exactly as before, and Avox adds a shared inbox, automation, templates and the Avox API on the same number.

Why it matters#

A number registered only on the Cloud API runs without the WhatsApp Business app. Coexistence gives you both: the familiar app for day-to-day conversations, and the platform for everything that scales - automated replies, templates, Flows, analytics and API sends.

The two ways to connect a number in Avox#

The first step of the connection wizard, Number type, offers both:

See Embedded Signup for every screen of the popup, and Setup for the whole wizard.

The phone-side step#

During coexistence signup, Meta asks you to scan a QR code with WhatsApp Business on your phone (it also sends the same link to the number as a WhatsApp message). On the phone you then:

1. 1

   Tap Connect

   A message from Facebook Business shows a "Connect to the Business Platform" card.
2. 2

   Read Meta's explanation

   It covers how the app keeps working and how chats are shared.
3. 3

   Choose chat history sharing

   Share your existing chats, or start fresh with new threads. This is a one-time choice, so pick the one you want to keep.
4. 4

   See the confirmation

   Avox appears as the connected Business Platform. You can manage this later in the app's settings.

What happens once you're connected#

• Chat history (if you chose to share it). Meta sends your existing conversations to Avox once, in batches, so the Inbox starts with context. Each past message lands at the time it was really sent, and imported history never triggers automations.
• Contact names. Contacts saved in the WhatsApp Business app are added to your Contacts with their names, and a name you change in the app is updated in Avox. Removing a contact from the phone keeps it, and its history, in Avox.
• Both sides see the same conversation. A reply your team sends from the phone app also shows in the Avox inbox, and messages sent through the platform appear in the app.

The exact list of what syncs, and when, is on Coexistence sync.

Keep the app active#

Avox helps you notice a problem early:

• Health shows each number's heartbeat - Operational, Degraded or Down - based on how recently Meta sent an event for it, and Check health now asks Meta directly whether the number can send.
• With WhatsApp account alerts on in Compliance, the Switchboard's Owner is emailed when Meta sends an alert about the account.
• Each connection on Health also shows Last active - how long ago Meta last sent an event for it.

Coexistence and the Avox API#

Everything on the Avox API works the same on a coexistence number. Messages your server sends through the API go out from the same number your team uses in the app, and customer replies reach both the app and the Avox Inbox. With Message forwarding on, each new customer message also reaches your own server, signed by Avox.

Related#

• Meta concepts - Business Portfolio, WABA and verification.
• Accounts and numbers - the account and number behind a connection.
• Getting started - connect your first number.

Last updated 10 October 2026