Bailey supports three ways to provide media:
await sock.sendMessage(jid, {
image: fs.readFileSync('./image.png'),
caption: 'Image from buffer'
})
Using streams or URLs is recommended to save memory. Baileys encrypts media as a readable stream without loading the entire buffer into memory.
Image Messages
Send image messages with optional caption and dimensions:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
image: { url: './Media/ma_img.png' },
caption: 'hello world',
jpegThumbnail: thumbnailBuffer, // optional
width: 1920, // optional
height: 1080 // optional
}
)
Type Signature
{
image: WAMediaUpload
caption?: string
jpegThumbnail?: string
width?: number
height?: number
} & Mentionable & Contextable
Video Messages
Send video messages with playback options:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
video: { url: './Media/video.mp4' },
caption: 'Check this out',
gifPlayback: false,
ptv: false // if true, sends as a video note
}
)
Video Notes (PTV)
Send circular video notes (like Instagram stories):
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
video: { url: './Media/video.mp4' },
ptv: true // sends as video note
}
)
GIF Messages
WhatsApp doesn’t support .gif files directly. Send GIFs as .mp4 videos with gifPlayback enabled:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
video: fs.readFileSync('Media/ma_gif.mp4'),
caption: 'hello world',
gifPlayback: true
}
)
Audio Messages
Send audio files or voice notes:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
audio: { url: './Media/audio.mp3' },
mimetype: 'audio/mp4',
ptt: false // if true, sends as voice note
}
)
Voice Notes
Send PTT (Push-to-Talk) voice messages:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
audio: { url: './Media/voice.ogg' },
mimetype: 'audio/ogg; codecs=opus',
ptt: true,
seconds: 30 // optional duration
}
)
For audio to work on all devices, convert to .ogg with libopus codec:ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -avoid_negative_ts make_zero -ac 1 output.ogg
codec: libopus (ogg file)ac: 1 (mono channel)avoid_negative_ts make_zero
Document Messages
Send documents with mimetype and filename:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
document: { url: './Media/document.pdf' },
mimetype: 'application/pdf',
fileName: 'Report.pdf',
caption: 'Monthly report'
}
)
Common MIME Types
- PDF:
application/pdf
- Word:
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
- Excel:
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
- Text:
text/plain
Sticker Messages
Send stickers (static or animated):
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
sticker: { url: './Media/sticker.webp' },
isAnimated: false,
width: 512,
height: 512
}
)
Stickers should be WebP format, 512x512 pixels. For animated stickers, use animated WebP.
View Once Messages
Send media that can only be viewed once:
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
image: { url: './Media/secret.png' },
viewOnce: true,
caption: 'This will disappear after viewing'
}
)
Thumbnails
Baileys can auto-generate thumbnails if you install optional dependencies:
Using jimp
Using sharp
Using ffmpeg
Auto-generates thumbnails for images and stickers. Faster alternative for image thumbnails. Install ffmpeg on your system for video thumbnails:# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ffmpeg
# macOS
brew install ffmpeg
Type Reference
From src/Types/Message.ts:163-198:
export type AnyMediaMessageContent = (
| ({
image: WAMediaUpload
caption?: string
jpegThumbnail?: string
} & Mentionable & Contextable & WithDimensions)
| ({
video: WAMediaUpload
caption?: string
gifPlayback?: boolean
jpegThumbnail?: string
ptv?: boolean
} & Mentionable & Contextable & WithDimensions)
| {
audio: WAMediaUpload
ptt?: boolean
seconds?: number
}
| ({
sticker: WAMediaUpload
isAnimated?: boolean
} & WithDimensions)
| ({
document: WAMediaUpload
mimetype: string
fileName?: string
caption?: string
} & Contextable)
) & { mimetype?: string } & Editable
await sock.sendMessage(
jid,
{
image: { url: './photo.jpg' },
caption: 'Hey @12345678901, check this out!',
mentions: ['[email protected]']
}
)