Question from Reddit user:
I’ve heard that using unofficial WhatsApp integrations has ban risks,
for instance WAGHL, AppLevel, etc..Does anybody here use these unofficial integrations for your clients?
If so, do you integrate your client’s existing business number directly
or is it safer to create a new one for each client?My main issue with GHL’s LeadConnector WA integration:
Cannot receive image URLThank you in advance
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
You are correct, unofficial or third-party WhatsApp integrations like WAGHL and AppLevel carry an inherent ban risk because they often operate by bypassing Meta’s official guidelines for the WhatsApp Business Platform, such as strict template approval and messaging restrictions, or by using unauthorized methods to link a number.
The official advice is always to use the native LeadConnector integration, but since that one currently has the limitation of not providing the incoming image URL you need, you are in a classic trade-off situation.
To get the image URL reliably while minimizing ban risk, the best long-term solution is to build a custom bridge using a server-side setup that directly leverages the official WhatsApp Business API’s Webhooks to capture the image media ID, download the image URL, and then pass that URL to your GoHighLevel contact record via the HighLevel API.
The long answer is:
The question of using unofficial integrations like WAGHL and AppLevel boils down to risk versus reward.
The reward is that these platforms often provide highly-requested features that the official LeadConnector integration lacks, such as the ability to connect any existing WhatsApp number without deleting the account from your phone, using local numbers, or offering more advanced bulk messaging and anti-ban features like per-second rate limiters and drip modes.
The risk is an account suspension or ban, as Meta explicitly warns against using unofficial clients.
Experienced users in the community who use these tools generally advise taking steps to minimize risk, such as limiting early promotions, avoiding sudden high-volume spikes, and respecting opt-ins.
Regarding the number, it is generally safer to use a new, dedicated phone number for any high-volume automation, whether official or unofficial, to insulate your client’s primary business number from potential platform bans.
The main issue you have with the LeadConnector integration – not receiving the image URL for incoming media – is a common point of frustration for users who rely on media attachments in their workflows.
The official LeadConnector integration is based on the WhatsApp Business API, and while the underlying API does provide a media ID for every incoming image, LeadConnector’s current workflow trigger or API endpoint simply doesn’t expose the final, downloadable URL to you easily.
To solve this image URL problem while staying compliant and avoiding risky unofficial integrations, you need a custom server-side solution.
The ideal setup involves using the WhatsApp Business API’s Webhooks to send a notification to a listener you set up – perhaps a simple cloud function on a platform like Google Cloud Platform – every time a new message is received.
When that listener receives an incoming image message, the payload will contain a media ID.
Your server-side script can then immediately take that media ID and make a secondary call to the WhatsApp Business API’s Media endpoint to get the temporary, five-minute download URL for the image.
Finally, your script uses the HighLevel API to take that temporary image URL and update the corresponding contact record in GoHighLevel, storing the link in a custom field.
This entire process can be further managed using Google Tag Manager with a server-side container to better control the flow of data, giving you a robust, compliant, and reliable way to capture every incoming image URL.
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