🔀 Migration

🔀 Migration#

Migration from 3.x to 4.x#

New features#

  • [user] Full support for BSUIDs (Business-Scoped User IDs), usernames, parent BSUIDs, and country_code.

  • [groups] Full support for group management: creating updating and fetching groups, invite links, join requests, participant management, and message pin/unpin.

  • [handlers] Added GroupMessageStatusesHandler and on_group_message_statuses for group delivery/read status updates.

  • [message] Incoming messages now expose chat metadata, so you can distinguish private and group chats directly (the Chat object includes id and type).

  • [filters] Added filters.private, filters.group, and filters.from_groups(...).

  • [filters] filters.from_countries(...) now supports both phone prefixes and ISO country codes.

  • [templates] Added ContactInfoRequestButton and CreativeFeaturesSpec.all_enabled() / .all_disabled().

  • [system] Phone number change updates now include BSUID-related fields (new_user_id, new_parent_id) when available.

Breaking changes#

  • [user] User identity is now BSUID-first.

    • User.wa_id is now optional and may be None. Switch to User.bsuid!!

    • User now includes bsuid, username, parent_bsuid and country_code.

    • The default WhatsApp(user_identifier_priority=...) is bsuid -> wa_id. This will affect the value of User.preferred_id that is used in various places (e.g., replying to messages, blocking users, etc.).

  • [chat_opened] ChatOpened support was removed.

    • types.ChatOpened, handlers.ChatOpenedHandler, wa.on_chat_opened(...) and filters.chat_opened are no longer available.

    • The chat_opened_enabled parameter was removed from the types.ConversationalAutomation spec.

  • [listeners] wa.listen(to="...") no longer accepts a raw phone number / wa_id directly.

    • Use listeners.UserUpdateListenerIdentifier(...) explicitly.

  • [message] Message.system was removed.

    • If you still check msg.system, switch to PhoneNumberChange / IdentityChange handlers.

  • [deprecated] Deprecated aliases were removed.

    • types.ButtonUrl -> types.URLButton

    • types.flows.OpenUrlAction -> types.flows.OpenURLAction

  • [message] Message.download_media(..., in_memory=True) was removed.

    • Use msg.get_media_bytes() or msg.stream_media() instead.

  • [sent_message] Sent updates no longer expose to_user.

    • Use sent.recipient / sent.to instead.

Migration steps#

  1. Update user handling to work with BSUIDs and optional wa_id.

########################## OLD CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


def save_user_to_db(user: types.User):
    wa_id = user.wa_id
    ...


@wa.on_message
def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    save_user_to_db(msg.from_user)
    msg.reply(f"Hello {msg.from_user.name}!")


########################## NEW CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


def save_user_to_db(user: types.User):
    bsuid = user.bsuid
    ...


@wa.on_message
def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    save_user_to_db(msg.from_user)
    msg.reply(f"Hello {msg.from_user.name}!")

  1. If you used download_media(in_memory=True) or sent.to_user, switch to the new APIs.

########################## OLD CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message
def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    media_bytes = msg.download_media(in_memory=True)
    ...


########################## NEW CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message
def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    media_bytes = msg.get_media_bytes()  # or even better, use msg.stream_media() for large files
    ...

  1. If you want to distinguish private chats from groups, switch to msg.chat / the new filters.

from pywa import WhatsApp, filters, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message(filters.group)
def on_group_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    msg.reply("Replying publicly to the group")
    msg.reply("Replying privately to the sender", private=True)


@wa.on_message(filters.private)
def on_private_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    msg.reply("Hello private user!")

Migration from 2.x to 3.x#

New features#

  • [templates] Fully redesigned template system — now more flexible, reusable, and powerful.

  • [calls] Full support for calls: make/receive calls, manage call state, handle events, and configure settings.

  • [user_preferences] Full support for user marketing preferences (opt-in/out).

  • [listeners] Listeners can now wait for non-user updates (e.g., template approval, account events).

  • [system] System messages are now separate updates (PhoneNumberChange, IdentityChange).

  • [client]

    • All send_... methods enforce keyword-only context args for clarity and consistency.

    • upload_media now returns a Media object (with media ID).

    • Added delete_media and update_display_name methods.

  • [handlers] Added on_completion decorator for flow request callbacks.

  • [types] SuccessResult replaces bool, extendable with extra attributes.

  • [base_update] All user updates now include waba_id (WhatsApp Business Account ID).

  • [message] New referral field (e.g., when users click ads leading to WhatsApp).

  • [errors] More descriptive error messages.

Breaking changes#

  • [templates] Old template system removed. Update code to the new template APIs.

  • [listeners]

    • Listeners apply to all update types, not just user messages.

    • Legacy to parameter type updated.

    • If using wa.listen directly, update to the new listener API (shortcuts like wait_for_reply, wait_for_click are unchanged).

  • [server] Updates now continue through the pipeline unless a listener explicitly cancels with update.stop_handling().

  • [client]

    • upload_media returns a Media object instead of a raw media ID string.

      • If you only pass the upload_media result to send_* methods, no changes needed.

      • If you store media IDs, update code to use Media.id.

    • send_message, send_image, and other send_... methods now require keyword-only context args ( reply_to_message_id, sender, etc.).

      • Most users unaffected, but if you used positional args for these fields, switch to keywords.

  • [types] Methods like mark_as_read, indicate_typing, etc. now return SuccessResult instead of bool.

    • Still usable in boolean checks (if result:).

    • If you persist results or explicitly cast to bool, switch to result.success.

  • [system] system messages removed from Message. Listen to PhoneNumberChange and IdentityChange updates instead.

  • [utils] FlowRequestDecryptedMedia replaces raw (media_id, filename, data) tuple. Update code to use object attributes.

Migration steps#

  1. Update all template usage to the new system (docs here).

########################## OLD CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

# Create a WhatsApp client
wa = WhatsApp(..., business_account_id=123456)

# Create a template
created = wa.create_template(
    template=types.NewTemplate(
        name="buy_new_iphone_x",
        category=types.NewTemplate.Category.MARKETING,
        language=types.NewTemplate.Language.ENGLISH_US,
        header=types.NewTemplate.Text(text="The New iPhone {15} is here!"),
        body=types.NewTemplate.Body(text="Buy now and use the code {WA_IPHONE_15} to get {15%} off!"),
        footer=types.NewTemplate.Footer(text="Powered by PyWa"),
        buttons=[
            types.NewTemplate.UrlButton(title="Buy Now", url="https://example.com/shop/{iphone15}"),
            types.NewTemplate.PhoneNumberButton(title="Call Us", phone_number='1234567890'),
            types.NewTemplate.QuickReplyButton(text="Unsubscribe from marketing messages"),
            types.NewTemplate.QuickReplyButton(text="Unsubscribe from all messages"),
        ],
    ),
)

# Send the template message
wa.send_template(
    to="9876543210",
    template=types.Template(
        name="buy_new_iphone_x",
        language=types.Template.Language.ENGLISH_US,
        header=types.Template.TextValue(value="15"),
        body=[
            types.Template.TextValue(value="John Doe"),
            types.Template.TextValue(value="WA_IPHONE_15"),
            types.Template.TextValue(value="15%"),
        ],
        buttons=[
            types.Template.UrlButtonValue(value="iphone15"),
            types.Template.QuickReplyButtonData(data="unsubscribe_from_marketing_messages"),
            types.Template.QuickReplyButtonData(data="unsubscribe_from_all_messages"),
        ],
    ),
)

########################## NEW CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp
from pywa.types.templates import *

# Create a WhatsApp client
wa = WhatsApp(..., business_account_id=123456)

wa.create_template(
    template=Template(
        name="buy_new_iphone_x",
        category=TemplateCategory.MARKETING,
        language=TemplateLanguage.ENGLISH_US,
        parameter_format=ParamFormat.NAMED,
        components=[
            ht := HeaderText("The New iPhone {{iphone_num}} is here!", iphone_num=15),
            bt := BodyText("Buy now and use the code {{code}} to get {{per}}% off!", code="WA_IPHONE_15", per=15),
            FooterText(text="Powered by PyWa"),
            Buttons(
                buttons=[
                    url := URLButton(text="Buy Now", url="https://example.com/shop/{{1}}", example="iphone15"),
                    PhoneNumberButton(text="Call Us", phone_number="1234567890"),
                    qrb1 := QuickReplyButton(text="Unsubscribe from marketing messages"),
                    qrb2 := QuickReplyButton(text="Unsubscribe from all messages"),
                ]
            ),

        ]
    ),
)

# Send the template message
wa.send_template(
    to="9876543210",
    name="buy_new_iphone_x",
    language=TemplateLanguage.ENGLISH_US,
    params=[
        ht.params(iphone_num=30),
        bt.params(code="WA_IPHONE_30", per=30),
        url.params(url_variable="iphone30", index=0),
        qrb1.params(callback_data="unsubscribe_from_marketing_messages", index=1),
        qrb2.params(callback_data="unsubscribe_from_all_messages", index=2),
    ]
)

  1. If you are using the upload_media method, you need to update your code to use the Media object instead of a string (media ID):

########################## OLD CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)

media_id = wa.upload_media(file="path/to/file.jpg")

# running sql query to store media_id
cursor.execute(
    "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS media (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, media_id VARCHAR UNIQUE NOT NULL)")
cursor.execute("INSERT INTO media (media_id) VALUES (?)", (media_id,))

########################## NEW CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)

media = wa.upload_media(file="path/to/file.jpg")

# running sql query to store media.id
cursor.execute(
    "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS media (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, media_id VARCHAR UNIQUE NOT NULL)")
cursor.execute("INSERT INTO media (media_id) VALUES (?)", (media.id,))

  1. If you are using the system messages, you need to update your code to start listening to the PhoneNumberChange and IdentityChange updates instead:

########################## OLD CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types, filters

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message(filters=filters.new(lambda _, m: m.system and m.system.type == "customer_changed_number"))
def on_phone_number_change(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    repository.update_phone_number(old=msg.system.wa_id, new=msg.system.new_wa_id)


@wa.on_message(filters=filters.new(lambda _, m: m.system and m.system.type == "customer_changed_identity"))
def on_identity_change(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    repository.log_out_user(wa_id=msg.sender)  # secure the user account


########################## NEW CODE ##########################

from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_phone_number_change
def on_phone_number_change(_: WhatsApp, update: types.PhoneNumberChange):
    repository.update_phone_number(old=update.old_wa_id, new=update.new_wa_id)


@wa.on_identity_change
def on_identity_change(_: WhatsApp, update: types.IdentityChange):
    repository.log_out_user(wa_id=update.sender)  # secure the user

Migration from 1.x to 2.x#

New features#

  • Listeners: Listeners are a new way to handle incoming user updates (messages, callbacks, etc.). They are more flexible, faster, and easier to use than handlers.

  • Filters: Filters are now objects that can be combined using logical operators. They are more powerful and flexible than the previous filter system.

  • Handlers: Now you can register handlers with decorators without the need to use the add_handler method.

  • FlowCompletion: A new method .get_media(types.Image, key="img") allows you to construct a media object and perform actions like .download() on it.

  • FlowRequest: Decrypt media directly from FlowRequest using .decrypt_media(key, index).

  • Client: The client can run without a token but won’t allow API operations (only webhook listening).

  • SentMessage: The SentMessage object returned by send_message, send_image, etc., contains the message ID and allows to act on the sent message with methods like reply_x, wait_for_x etc.

  • Flows: Create conditionals for If by using python’s operators like ==, !=, >, <, >=, <= etc.

Breaking changes#

  • Async Separation: In the sync version of pywa, no async callbacks or filters are allowed.

  • Returning SentMessage Object: Functions like send_message, send_image, etc., no longer return a string (message ID). Instead, they return a SentMessage object, which contains the ID and allows further actions.

  • Filter System Redesign: Filters are now objects rather than simple callables. You can combine filters using logical operators like &, |, and ~.

  • Reordered Init Parameters: The order of the parameters in the WhatsApp class has been changed and some parameters have been removed.

  • Handler Factory Changes: Factories in handlers are now limited to CallbackData subclasses (not any callable). Only one class is allowed, not multiple.

  • Removal of Deprecated Arguments: Deprecated arguments like keyboard (use buttons instead) and body (use caption) have been removed from send_message, send_image, send_video, and send_document.

  • Server: The function signature webhook_update_handler that used to pass updates manually to the server has been changed.

  • Deprecated Argument Removal: Deprecated arguments such as keyboard and body have been removed.

  • Client: The continue_handling param is now set to False by default. so if update is handled, it will not be passed to the next handler unless you set it to True or call update.continue_handling() in the handler.

  • Flows: The .data_key and .from_ref of the flowjson components renamed to .ref.

Migration steps#

  1. If you are using the sync version of pywa, and you have async callbacks or filters, you need to remove them or switch to the async version:

# Old code
from pywa import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message
async def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    msg.reply("Hello, World!")


# New code
from pywa_async import WhatsApp, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message
async def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    await msg.reply("Hello, World!")

  1. If you use the message ID returned by functions like send_message, send_image, etc (e.g to store it in a database), you need to update your code to use the .id attribute of the SentMessage object:

# Old code
message_id = wa.send_message("Hello, World!")
db.store_message_id(message_id)

# New code
sent_message = wa.send_message("Hello, World!")
db.store_message_id(sent_message.id)

  1. If you are using filters, you need to update your code to use the new filter system:

# Old code
from pywa import WhatsApp, filters, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message(filters.text, lambda _, m: m.text.isdigit())
def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    msg.reply("Hello, World!")


@wa.on_message(filters.any_(filters.text.is_command, filters.text.command("start")))
def on_command(_, __): ...


# New code
from pywa import WhatsApp, filters, types

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message(filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isdigit()))
def on_message(_: WhatsApp, msg: types.Message):
    msg.reply("Hello, World!")


@wa.on_message(filters.is_command | filters.command("start"))
def on_command(_, __): ...

  1. If you are using lots of handlers, you may want to switch to listeners:

# Old code
from pywa import WhatsApp, types, filters


@wa.on_message(filters.command("start"))
def on_start(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply("How old are you?")


@wa.on_message(filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isdigit()))
def on_age(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply(f"You are {m.text} years old")
    m.reply("What is your name?")


@wa.on_message(filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isalpha()))
def on_name(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply(f"Hello {m.text}")


# New code
from pywa import WhatsApp, types, filters

wa = WhatsApp(...)


@wa.on_message(filters.command("start"))
def on_start(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    age = m.reply("How old are you?").wait_for_reply(
        filters=filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isdigit()),
    )
    m.reply(f"You are {age.text} years old")
    name = m.reply("What is your name?").wait_for_reply(
        filters=filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isalpha()),
    )
    m.reply(f"Hello {name.text}")

  1. If You are writing the handlers in separate modules and then using add_handler to register the callback wrapped with handler objects, you can now use decorators to register handlers:

# Old code

# module1.py

from pywa import WhatsApp, types


def on_start(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply("How old are you?")


def on_age(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply(f"You are {m.text} years old")
    m.reply("What is your name?")


# module2.py

from pywa import WhatsApp, handlers, filters

wa = WhatsApp(...)

wa.add_handlers(handlers.MessageHandler(on_start, filters.command("start")))
wa.add_handlers(handlers.MessageHandler(on_age, filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isdigit())))

# New code

# module1.py

from pywa import WhatsApp, types, filters


@WhatsApp.on_message(filters.command("start"))  # we using the class here, not the instance!
def on_start(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply("How old are you?")


@WhatsApp.on_message(filters.text & filters.new(lambda _, m: m.text.isdigit()))
def on_age(_: WhatsApp, m: types.Message):
    m.reply(f"You are {m.text} years old")
    m.reply("What is your name?")


# module2.py

from pywa import WhatsApp
from . import module1

wa = WhatsApp(..., handlers_modules=[module1])

  1. If you want to keep the continuation of the update to the next handler, you need to set the continue_handling attribute of the update object to True:


from pywa import WhatsApp

wa = WhatsApp(..., continue_handling=True)

  1. If you are using the webhook_update_handler function to pass updates manually to the server, you need to update the function signature:


# Old code
from pywa import WhatsApp, utils

wa = WhatsApp(..., server=None)


def some_web_framework_handler(req):
    res, status = wa.webhook_update_handler(
        update=req.json(),
        raw_body=req.read(),
        hmac_header=req.headers.get(utils.HUB_SIG)
    )
    return res, status


# New code

from pywa import WhatsApp, utils

wa = WhatsApp(..., server=None)


def some_web_framework_handler(req):
    res, status = wa.webhook_update_handler(
        update=req.read(),
        hmac_header=req.headers.get(utils.HUB_SIG),
    )
    return res, status

  1. If you are using the .data_key and .from_ref of the flowjson components, you need to update your code to use the .ref attribute:


# Old code

from pywa.types.flows import *

FlowJSON(
    screens=[
        Screen(
            data=[
                name := ScreenData(key="name", example="David")
            ],
            layout=Layout(
                children=[
                    date := DatePicker(
                        on_select_action=Action(
                            payload={"date": FormRef("date"), "name": DataKey("name")},
                        ),
                    ),
                    Footer(
                        ...,
                        on_click_action=Action(
                            payload={
                                "date": date.form_ref,
                                "name": name.data_key
                            },
                        ),
                    ),
                ],
            ),
        )
    ],
)

# New code

FlowJSON(
    screens=[
        Screen(
            data=[
                name := ScreenData(key="name", example="David")
            ],
            layout=Layout(
                children=[
                    date := DatePicker(
                        on_select_action=Action(
                            payload={"date": ComponentRef("date"), "name": ScreenDataRef("name")},
                        ),
                    ),
                    Footer(
                        ...,
                        on_click_action=Action(
                            payload={
                                "date": date.ref,
                                "name": name.ref
                            },
                        ),
                    ),
                ],
            ),
        )
    ],
)