When I try to execute a whatsapp trigger node, it says this needs to be triggered with access token, but the oauth credentials are taken for connection test, how do I fix this issue?

[LogeshwariV]

When I try to execute a whatsapp trigger node, the follwoing error shows up, I am unable to proceed.

Problem running workflow

Bad request - please check your parameters

Show Details

WhatsApp Trigger: (#15) This method must be called with an app access_token.

Can someone shed some light or is this issue with n8n nodes? please help

[malgokiel]

Hi @LogeshwariV

Can you share more details? Especially screenshots would be useful: of the workflow and of complete errors.

Thanks!

Gosia

[LogeshwariV]

I have added my screenshots here. as you can see the error is thrown as below:

The whatsapp trigger node is starting properly.

Problem running workflow
Bad request - please check your parameters

Show Details
WhatsApp Trigger: (#15) This method must be called with an app access_token.

[malgokiel]

Thanks for sharing!

Your WhatsApp Trigger and OAuth credentials look good.

If I researched correctly, the error you are seeing is not n8n’s, but the API’s error message, Bad Request suggests the same. And the credentials used to send messages require access token to work properly. Can you confirm you also have required credentials setup for the message template?

[LogeshwariV]

I have proper credentials for send template node as well.

As you can see the connection was successful, but still it is not working, that is the error is thrown.

[Parintele_Damaskin]

Yyou need to set up two different credentials in n8n:

• OAuth2 credentials for the trigger node.

• API key credentials (access token) for sending messages.

This separation is required by Meta’s API design and is reflected in n8n’s credential setup.

WhatsApp Business Cloud credentials | n8n Docs

The WhatsApp Trigger node requires OAuth2 credentials (Client ID and Client Secret from your Meta app) to authenticate and receive events from WhatsApp.

The WhatsApp Business Cloud node (used for sending messages, including templates) requires an API Access Token and Business Account ID. You generate this access token in the Meta Developer Portal.

It s just a misunderstanding on how Wap works?

[LogeshwariV]

As you can see in screenshot, I have setup two different setup as required. In WhatsApp trigger node, when I try to execute it says access token required which is wrong.

[malgokiel]

> this might be the issue. When I was testing the connection on my end I also initially left this field as is and it caused error. When you click it, from a drop down list pick the testing number meta provides in API Setup.

If there is no number in the drop down (happened to me), try to generate new access token and update te credentials.

Best,

Gosia

[LogeshwariV]

Hi, I tried this and still have the same error.

[Parintele_Damaskin]

Either an issue with your template(approved ?), or you can try with an HTTP node to see if it works with a Bearer Token Auth.

[LogeshwariV]

Not an issue with the template. I checked it.

[LogeshwariV]

Hey All, Actually I found the problem. In the meta app dashboard, when we register a webhook, we have to select the correct product for webhook from the drop down like, “whatsapp business account”, if the correct product is not selected, the app id and app secret doesnt work properly in the whatsapp trigger node. Previously I had not selected the correct product name and this was the reason for the issue. after fixing this, whatsapp trigger works fine.