Message Utilities

Message utility functions help you work with WhatsApp messages, including generating message content, extracting URLs, normalizing messages, and creating forwarded messages.

generateMessageIDV2

Generates a unique message ID v2 compatible with WhatsApp’s format.

export const generateMessageIDV2 = (userId?: string): string

userId

string

The user’s JID to include in the message ID generation

return

string

A unique message ID in the format 3EB0 followed by 18 hex characters

Example:

import { generateMessageIDV2 } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const messageId = generateMessageIDV2()
console.log(messageId) // "3EB01A2B3C4D5E6F7G8H9I"

// With user ID
const messageIdWithUser = generateMessageIDV2('[email protected]')

When to use:

When you need to generate a custom message ID
For creating messages programmatically
The ID includes timestamp and random data for uniqueness

getContentType

Extracts the content type key from a message object.

export const getContentType = (
  content: proto.IMessage | undefined
): keyof proto.IMessage | undefined

content

proto.IMessage | undefined

The message content object to analyze

return

keyof proto.IMessage | undefined

The message content type (e.g., ‘conversation’, ‘imageMessage’, ‘videoMessage’)

Example:

import { getContentType } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const message = {
  conversation: 'Hello World'
}

const contentType = getContentType(message)
console.log(contentType) // "conversation"

const imageMessage = {
  imageMessage: {
    url: 'https://...',
    mimetype: 'image/jpeg'
  }
}

const imageType = getContentType(imageMessage)
console.log(imageType) // "imageMessage"

When to use:

To determine what type of message you’re dealing with
Before processing message content
For routing messages based on their type

extractUrlFromText

Extracts the first URL found in a text string using regex.

export const extractUrlFromText = (text: string): string | undefined

text

string

required

The text string to search for URLs

return

string | undefined

The first URL found in the text, or undefined if no URL is present

Example:

import { extractUrlFromText } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const text1 = 'Check out https://google.com for more info'
const url1 = extractUrlFromText(text1)
console.log(url1) // "https://google.com"

const text2 = 'No links here'
const url2 = extractUrlFromText(text2)
console.log(url2) // undefined

When to use:

To detect if a message contains a URL
Before generating link previews
For URL validation or filtering

generateLinkPreviewIfRequired

Generates link preview metadata for a URL in the text if a getUrlInfo function is provided.

export const generateLinkPreviewIfRequired = async (
  text: string,
  getUrlInfo: MessageGenerationOptions['getUrlInfo'],
  logger: MessageGenerationOptions['logger']
): Promise<WAUrlInfo | undefined>

text

string

required

The message text potentially containing a URL

getUrlInfo

(url: string) => Promise<WAUrlInfo>

Function to fetch URL metadata (title, description, thumbnail)

logger

ILogger

Logger instance for error tracking

return

WAUrlInfo | undefined

Link preview information including title, description, and thumbnail

Example:

import { generateLinkPreviewIfRequired } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const text = 'Check out https://github.com'
const getUrlInfo = async (url) => {
  // Fetch URL metadata
  return {
    'matched-text': url,
    title: 'GitHub',
    description: 'Where the world builds software',
    jpegThumbnail: Buffer.from('...')
  }
}

const preview = await generateLinkPreviewIfRequired(text, getUrlInfo, logger)

When to use:

To automatically generate link previews in messages
When sending text messages with URLs
For rich message formatting

normalizeMessageContent

Normalizes ephemeral, view once, and other wrapped messages to their core content.

export const normalizeMessageContent = (
  content: WAMessageContent | null | undefined
): WAMessageContent | undefined

content

WAMessageContent | null | undefined

The message content to normalize

return

WAMessageContent | undefined

The normalized message content without wrappers

Example:

import { normalizeMessageContent } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

// Ephemeral message wrapper
const ephemeralMsg = {
  ephemeralMessage: {
    message: {
      conversation: 'This disappears'
    }
  }
}

const normalized = normalizeMessageContent(ephemeralMsg)
console.log(normalized)
// { conversation: 'This disappears' }

// View once message
const viewOnceMsg = {
  viewOnceMessage: {
    message: {
      imageMessage: { url: '...', mimetype: 'image/jpeg' }
    }
  }
}

const normalizedImage = normalizeMessageContent(viewOnceMsg)
console.log(normalizedImage)
// { imageMessage: { url: '...', mimetype: 'image/jpeg' } }

When to use:

To extract the actual message content from wrapped messages
Before processing or displaying message content
When you need the core message regardless of ephemeral/view-once status

generateForwardMessageContent

Generates message content for forwarding a message, maintaining the forward chain.

export const generateForwardMessageContent = (
  message: WAMessage,
  forceForward?: boolean
): WAMessageContent

message

WAMessage

required

The message to forward

forceForward

boolean

default:false

Whether to show the message as forwarded even if it’s from you

return

WAMessageContent

Message content with forwarding metadata and score updated

Example:

import { generateForwardMessageContent } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

// Get the original message
const originalMessage = {
  key: { remoteJid: '[email protected]', fromMe: false, id: 'ABC' },
  message: { conversation: 'Hello!' }
}

// Generate forward content
const forwardContent = generateForwardMessageContent(originalMessage)

// Send the forwarded message
await sock.sendMessage(jid, forwardContent)

// Force forward even if message is from you
const forceForwardContent = generateForwardMessageContent(
  originalMessage,
  true
)

When to use:

When implementing message forwarding
To maintain the forward chain (shows “Forwarded” label)
Automatically handles forwarding score incrementation

generateWAMessageFromContent

Generates a complete WAMessage object from message content.

export const generateWAMessageFromContent = (
  jid: string,
  message: WAMessageContent,
  options: MessageGenerationOptionsFromContent
): WAMessage

jid

string

required

The recipient’s JID (e.g., ‘[email protected]’)

message

WAMessageContent

required

The message content to wrap

options

MessageGenerationOptionsFromContent

required

Options for message generation

Options

options.timestamp

Date

Message timestamp (defaults to current time)

options.messageId

string

Custom message ID (auto-generated if not provided)

options.quoted

WAMessage

Message to quote/reply to

options.userJid

string

required

Your user JID

options.ephemeralExpiration

number

Ephemeral message expiration in seconds

return

WAMessage

Complete message object ready to be sent

Example:

import { generateWAMessageFromContent, proto } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const jid = '[email protected]'
const messageContent = proto.Message.fromObject({
  conversation: 'Hello World'
})

const message = generateWAMessageFromContent(
  jid,
  messageContent,
  {
    userJid: '[email protected]',
    timestamp: new Date(),
    messageId: 'custom-id'
  }
)

console.log(message.key.id) // "custom-id"
console.log(message.messageTimestamp) // current timestamp

// With quoted message
const quotedMsg = generateWAMessageFromContent(
  jid,
  messageContent,
  {
    userJid: '[email protected]',
    quoted: previousMessage // Quote another message
  }
)

When to use:

When you have raw message content and need a complete message object
For advanced message construction
When implementing custom message types

extractMessageContent

Extracts the actual message content from template messages and button messages.

export const extractMessageContent = (
  content: WAMessageContent | undefined | null
): WAMessageContent | undefined

content

WAMessageContent | undefined | null

Message content to extract from

return

WAMessageContent | undefined

The extracted core message content

Example:

import { extractMessageContent } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

// Button message
const buttonMsg = {
  buttonsMessage: {
    imageMessage: { url: '...', mimetype: 'image/jpeg' },
    contentText: 'Choose an option'
  }
}

const extracted = extractMessageContent(buttonMsg)
console.log(extracted)
// { imageMessage: { url: '...', mimetype: 'image/jpeg' } }

// Template message
const templateMsg = {
  templateMessage: {
    hydratedFourRowTemplate: {
      videoMessage: { url: '...', mimetype: 'video/mp4' }
    }
  }
}

const extractedVideo = extractMessageContent(templateMsg)
console.log(extractedVideo)
// { videoMessage: { url: '...', mimetype: 'video/mp4' } }

When to use:

To get the media from button/template messages
Before downloading media from interactive messages
When processing complex message types

getDevice

Returns the device type based on the message ID format.

export const getDevice = (id: string): 'ios' | 'web' | 'android' | 'desktop' | 'unknown'

string

required

The message ID to analyze

return

'ios' | 'web' | 'android' | 'desktop' | 'unknown'

The predicted device type based on ID pattern

Example:

import { getDevice } from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const iosId = '3A123456789012345678'
const device1 = getDevice(iosId)
console.log(device1) // "ios"

const webId = '3E12345678901234567890'
const device2 = getDevice(webId)
console.log(device2) // "web"

const androidId = '123456789012345678901'
const device3 = getDevice(androidId)
console.log(device3) // "android"

When to use:

For analytics on which devices users are messaging from
To detect message origin
For debugging purposes

Core

Authentication

Types

Utilities

Message Utilities

generateMessageIDV2

getContentType

extractUrlFromText

generateLinkPreviewIfRequired

normalizeMessageContent

generateForwardMessageContent

generateWAMessageFromContent

Options

extractMessageContent

getDevice

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Core

Authentication

Types

Utilities

​generateMessageIDV2

​getContentType

​extractUrlFromText

​generateLinkPreviewIfRequired

​normalizeMessageContent

​generateForwardMessageContent

​generateWAMessageFromContent

​Options

​extractMessageContent

​getDevice

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

generateMessageIDV2

getContentType

extractUrlFromText

generateLinkPreviewIfRequired

normalizeMessageContent

generateForwardMessageContent

generateWAMessageFromContent

Options

extractMessageContent

getDevice