I built a WhatsApp AI agent in under 60 minutes, with low-code agent builder
Building a WhatsApp agent is trickier than it looks. You write a pile of code for webhooks and message handling. You wire up an LLM, write the prompts, and manage conversation state so the agent remembers what the user said two messages ago. You set up a Meta Business account, get it verified, apply for WhatsApp Business API access, and wait for message templates to be approved. Then you connect…
Creating a WhatsApp AI agent can be a complex process, involving code for webhooks, message handling, and integration with an LLM. It also requires setting up a Meta Business account, obtaining WhatsApp Business API access, and dealing with various authentication and error cases for external services like calendars, email systems, and Slack.
The author of this article built a production-ready WhatsApp AI agent using DronaHQ, a low-code agent builder platform. The agent was designed to handle pricing questions, appointment bookings, and rescheduling directly within WhatsApp. The clinic had a booking portal, but patients preferred messaging the clinic, as it was more convenient for them.
The author chose DronaHQ for this project due to its WhatsApp built-in trigger, existing Google Calendar, Gmail, and Slack connectors, and the ability to write to these systems. Although its template library is still small, the author built the agent from scratch.
The main difference between traditional automation and an agentic workflow is that automation follows predetermined paths, while an agentic workflow makes decisions based on context. The author's WhatsApp-triggered agent performs the following steps:
1. A patient sends a WhatsApp message.
2. The agent detects the intent of the message (service query, booking, or reschedule).
3. The agent takes appropriate action (searches the knowledge base for pricing, checks Google Calendar for availability and reserves the slot, updates the calendar and sends a new confirmation).
4. The booking details are sent to staff via Slack, email, and WhatsApp. Staff only get involved when the agent escalates a situation.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
