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Text messages are the most common message type in WhatsApp. Baileys supports plain text, formatted text, mentions, quoted replies, and more.

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Basic text message

Send a simple text message: 
await sock.sendMessage(jid, { text: 'Hello, World!' })

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Mentions

Mention users in your messages by including their JID in the mentions array: 
await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    text: '@12345678901 Hello there!',
    mentions: ['[email protected]']
  }
)
The @number format in the text is optional but provides a better user experience. The mentions array is required for the mention to work.

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Multiple mentions

await sock.sendMessage(
  groupJid,
  {
    text: 'Hey @12345678901 and @10987654321, check this out!',
    mentions: [
      '[email protected]',
      '[email protected]'
    ]
  }
)

​
Quoted messages

Reply to or quote any message type: 
await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  { text: 'This is my reply' },
  { quoted: originalMessage }
)
The quoted option works with all message types, not just text. You can quote media, locations, contacts, and more.

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Get message from store

To quote a message, you need the original WAMessage object: 
// Retrieve from your message store
const msg = await getMessageFromStore(messageId) // Implement this function

await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  { text: 'Replying to your message' },
  { quoted: msg }
)

​
Forward messages

Forward existing messages to other chats: 
const msg = getMessageFromStore() // Implement this on your end
await sock.sendMessage(jid, { forward: msg })
WhatsApp will display the message as forwarded, showing the original sender information.
Baileys can automatically generate link previews for URLs in messages:

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Setup

  1. Install the link-preview-js dependency:
npm install link-preview-js
# or
yarn add link-preview-js
  1. Send a message with a URL:
await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    text: 'Check out https://github.com/whiskeysockets/baileys'
  }
)
By default, WhatsApp Web does not generate link previews. Baileys automatically generates them when link-preview-js is installed.
Customize link preview behavior at the socket level: 
const sock = makeWASocket({
  linkPreviewImageThumbnailWidth: 192, // Thumbnail width in pixels
  generateHighQualityLinkPreview: true // Upload full image instead of thumbnail
})

​
Location messages

Share geographical coordinates: 
await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    location: {
      degreesLatitude: 24.121231,
      degreesLongitude: 55.1121221
    }
  }
)

​
Location with name

await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    location: {
      degreesLatitude: 37.7749,
      degreesLongitude: -122.4194,
      name: 'San Francisco',
      address: 'San Francisco, CA, USA'
    }
  }
)

​
Contact messages

Share contact information using vCard format: 
const vcard = 'BEGIN:VCARD\n'
  + 'VERSION:3.0\n'
  + 'FN:Jeff Singh\n' // Full name
  + 'ORG:Ashoka Uni;\n' // Organization
  + 'TEL;type=CELL;type=VOICE;waid=911234567890:+91 12345 67890\n' // WhatsApp ID + phone
  + 'END:VCARD'

await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    contacts: {
      displayName: 'Jeff',
      contacts: [{ vcard }]
    }
  }
)

​
Multiple contacts

const vcard1 = 'BEGIN:VCARD\n...\nEND:VCARD'
const vcard2 = 'BEGIN:VCARD\n...\nEND:VCARD'

await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    contacts: {
      displayName: 'My Contacts',
      contacts: [
        { vcard: vcard1 },
        { vcard: vcard2 }
      ]
    }
  }
)

​
Poll messages

Create interactive polls: 
await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    poll: {
      name: 'What is your favorite color?',
      values: ['Red', 'Green', 'Blue', 'Yellow'],
      selectableCount: 1 // Allow selecting only 1 option
    }
  }
)

​
Multi-select polls

await sock.sendMessage(
  groupJid,
  {
    poll: {
      name: 'Which features do you want?',
      values: ['Feature A', 'Feature B', 'Feature C', 'Feature D'],
      selectableCount: 3 // Allow selecting up to 3 options
    }
  }
)

​
Announcement group polls

For announcement groups, set the toAnnouncementGroup flag: 
await sock.sendMessage(
  announcementGroupJid,
  {
    poll: {
      name: 'Community Poll',
      values: ['Option 1', 'Option 2', 'Option 3'],
      selectableCount: 1,
      toAnnouncementGroup: true
    }
  }
)

​
Combining features

You can combine multiple features in a single message: 
// Text with mentions and quote
await sock.sendMessage(
  groupJid,
  {
    text: '@12345678901 I agree with your point!',
    mentions: ['[email protected]']
  },
  { quoted: previousMessage }
)

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Best practices

  • Always validate phone numbers before adding them to mentions
  • Keep vCard format strictly compliant for contact messages
  • Use appropriate selectableCount for polls (1 for single-choice, > 1 for multi-choice)
  • Store message objects if you plan to quote or forward them later
Mentions only work with valid WhatsApp JIDs. Ensure the user exists before mentioning them.

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Next steps

Media messages

Send images, videos, audio files, and documents

Message modification

Edit, delete, react to, and pin messages

Receiving messages

Handle incoming messages and events

Sending messages

Learn about the core sendMessage API

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