MM Lite API setup: how to move WhatsApp marketing templates to the Marketing Messages API

The MM Lite API is the name most developers still search for, but Meta now calls it the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp (MM API for WhatsApp). It is a send-only route for marketing messages that runs next to the Cloud API on the same phone number. This guide is the practical side: who is eligible, how to onboard, what changes in your code, and how to decide when to switch. For a short definition, see the glossary entry on the Marketing Messages API (MM Lite).

The name, and the deadline that changes the decision

Meta ran the product in beta as the Marketing Messages Lite API ("MM Lite"). It became generally available on 19 Nov 2025 under its current name. Some field names still carry the old one, such as the marketing_messages_lite Embedded Signup feature and the MM_LITE_TERMS_SIGNED webhook event.

Meta's overview page now gives this timeline:

Service, utility and authentication messages stay on the Cloud API. So the question is no longer whether a business that sends marketing templates by API moves to the Marketing Messages API, but when. Meta suggests most integrations take about two weeks.

What changes and what stays the same

What it does not change, based on what Meta states:

• Price per message. Meta's rate-card files say marketing rates apply across the Cloud API and the Marketing Messages API. The optional max price feature (a bid cap per marketing delivery) is in open beta since 1 Oct 2026; Meta plans to make it required in eligible geographies at general availability in Q2 2027. Check current rates on our WhatsApp API pricing page.
• Per-user marketing limits. Meta does not say the new API removes them. Error 131049 still means WhatsApp held the message back for that person; see what error 131049 means.
• Opt-in and template review. You still need the customer's opt-in and an approved template in the right template category.
• Delivery promises. Optimisation decides which messages get delivered, not a promise that more will be. Some countries (EEA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand) get no delivery optimisation or click reporting.

Step 1: check eligibility

Meta's requirements are short: the WhatsApp account is active and not restricted for violations, neither the Messaging account's tax country nor the owner business is in a sanctioned region, a phone number is registered on the Cloud API, you have an approved marketing template, and your app is subscribed to the messages webhook. Check the account from the API with your system user token:

curl "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/$WABA_ID?fields=marketing_messages_onboarding_status" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WA_TOKEN"

ELIGIBLE means you can onboard; ONBOARDED means it is already done. The older field marketing_messages_lite_api_status still appears in some code but Meta marks it for deprecation, so read the new one.

Step 2: accept the terms

The terms must be accepted by someone with full control of the business portfolio. Where you click depends on how you integrate:

• You call the Cloud API yourself (no partner): open the App Dashboard → WhatsApp → Quickstart, find the card about improving ROI with the Marketing Messages API, click Get started, then Continue to integration guide and accept the Terms of Service.
• A partner manages your account: open WhatsApp Manager → Overview. In Alerts, click Accept terms to get started for Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp and finish signing.
• Partners onboarding clients: Meta offers Embedded Signup with the marketing_messages_lite feature, an Intent API (POST /{business-id}/onboard_partners_to_mm_lite) that emails the client's admins, and an Intent UI.

Onboarding also creates read-only ad accounts linked to your marketing templates, which is how click and conversion insights reach the Insights API.

Step 3: confirm onboarding finished

Do not send production traffic until Meta confirms. Either listen for the account_update webhook with the event MM_LITE_TERMS_SIGNED (one per Messaging account in the portfolio), or poll the field from step 1 until it returns ONBOARDED. If the person who should accept cannot open WhatsApp Manager, they first need to be found among the portfolio's admins; Meta's support page has a section on finding one.

Step 4: send your first marketing template

The payload is the Cloud API template payload you already use. Only the endpoint changes:

curl -X POST "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/$PHONE_NUMBER_ID/marketing_messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WA_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
    "recipient_type": "individual",
    "to": "919876543210",
    "type": "template",
    "template": {
      "name": "diwali_sale_offer",
      "language": { "code": "en" },
      "components": [
        { "type": "body", "parameters": [ { "type": "text", "text": "Priya" } ] }
      ]
    },
    "product_policy": "STRICT"
  }'

Two optional fields exist only here:

• product_policy: the default CLOUD_API_FALLBACK quietly sends through the Cloud API if onboarding is incomplete. STRICT returns an error instead, which is what you want while testing, so you know which route the message took.
• message_activity_sharing: true or false per message, overriding the account setting for sharing read and click activity with Meta for optimisation.

Errors to expect in the first week:

Step 5: route every send by template category

Templates can be recategorised after approval: a template submitted as utility can become marketing if WhatsApp finds it promotional. Meta's routing guidance is to keep a stored mapping of account ID, template name, language and latest category, subscribe to the template category update webhook, and route on the latest category: MARKETING to /marketing_messages, everything else to /messages. The template categories guide explains why recategorisation happens.

Once fully onboarded, you can set disable_marketing_messages_on_cloud_api to true on the WhatsApp Business account. After that, a marketing template sent to /messages fails with error 131063 instead of going out through the Cloud API, which catches routing mistakes early. Only switch it on when every system that sends marketing templates for that account has moved; a campaign tool still posting marketing templates to /messages would start failing.

Step 6: check the webhook and the results

Status webhooks for messages that went through the new endpoint carry pricing.category set to marketing_lite (the origin type uses the same value). Messages that fell back to the Cloud API show marketing. Log which endpoint each message ID used so you can reconcile billing and reports. After a few campaigns, compare read and click rates with the benchmarks Meta shows for similar templates, and decide whether to allow automatic creative optimisations; Meta's changelog says they are off by default since 21 Apr 2026, and you can opt in per template or per account.

How to decide when to switch

Where Broadchat stands

Broadchat campaigns from CRM → Bulk Campaign currently send approved marketing templates through the Cloud API /messages endpoint, paced to your number's messaging limit, and charge them to the channel's messaging wallet. Routing to /marketing_messages is not part of the panel today. If you send through Broadchat, do not set disable_marketing_messages_on_cloud_api on your account, because Broadchat campaigns would then fail with 131063. Ask your partner about their plan for the 2027 deadline. Agencies that want to offer WhatsApp campaigns under their own brand can read about the white-label platform and the broader WhatsApp broadcast features, and anyone new to the platform can start with what the WhatsApp Business API is.