The WhatsApp Bridge allows you to link Matrix rooms with WhatsApp chats. Users who are active on Matrix can also communicate with participants in WhatsApp without using the WhatsApp app directly. This also creates seamless integration in groups where individual members are in WhatsApp or Matrix, for example, and allows you to collaborate across different platforms.
Thank you for your understanding that temporary outages may still occur, especially in the early days.
We are currently hosting the WhatsApp Bridge from mautrix.
Features of the bridge
You can find the official feature list at Mautrix.
Here is a selection of the central functions:
Legend: M→W Matrix to WhatsApp W→M WhatsApp to Matrix M↔W Bidirectional
- Message content (text, formatting, files, etc.)
M↔W - Edit messages
M↔W - Delete messages
W→M - Reactions to messages
M↔W - Change group membership
M↔W - Profile pictures of users
M↔W - Typing notifications
M↔W - Synchronize message history
W→M - Change chat room metadata (name, topic, avatar)
M↔W - Online status
M→W - Read receipts
W↔M - Messages sent in WhatsApp itself visible (after setting up double-puppeting)
W→M
Prerequisites
To use the WhatsApp Bridge, you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Matrix account on an instance hosted by Ossrox with the bridge option booked
- WhatsApp account to be linked to the bridge
Setup
Setting up the WhatsApp Bridge is divided into a few steps:
- Create a new direct message in Matrix to
@whatsappbot:bridges.osrx.chator click here. - With
helpyou can display a list of possible WhatsApp Bridge commands - First you have to log in with your WhatsApp account, you can do this by scanning a QR code (
login). - If you have activated 2-factor authentication in WhatsApp, you must now send your chosen password. (This will be automatically deleted from the history after verification)
- WhatsApp Bridge will now start synchronizing your chats. This may take a while depending on the number of current requests. Private chats are usually synchronized and displayed when new messages are received.
FAQ
- How can I exclude individual chats from synchronization with Matrix? - Simply leave the chat room. You can also have the room created again later via bot commands, this works via the command
create-portal. - How can I delete all WhatsApp chats in Matrix? - Send
logoutto the WhatsApp Bridge Bot. You will then be automatically removed from all WhatsApp chats and the data will be completely deleted a few days later. - How many chats and messages are synchronized? - For your 30 most recent WhatsApp chats, the last 200 messages are initially synchronized. For further chats, a room is automatically created with the next incoming message.
- How long is my data kept? - The Bridges server keeps text messages for 24 hours and media data for one year. After that they are deleted. They may still be stored in server backups for a certain period of time, but not readable by us, as the chats themselves are end-to-end encrypted.
Security and data protection
The security and protection of your personal data is an important and sometimes difficult issue when using bridges. The WhatsApp Bridge connects two systems with different data protection guidelines and standards. It is important to consider the following aspects when bridging:
- Privacy Policy: We provide you with the WhatsApp Bridge as a processor. As the responsible party, you must be familiar with WhatsApp's privacy policy and know how data is processed. By using the WhatsApp Bridge, data will be transferred from one system to another, which affects the applicability of the respective data protection guidelines. Furthermore, data may be transferred to countries with different levels of data protection.
- Encryption**: Although messages within Matrix are protected via end-to-end encryption, the protection provided by WhatsApp does not necessarily correspond to the same level.
Questions / comments / notes
Are you missing something in this guide? Please let us know!