The WhatsApp bridge allows you to link Matrix rooms with WhatsApp chats. Users who are active on Matrix can also communicate with participants on WhatsApp without using the WhatsApp app directly. This also creates seamless integration in groups where individual members are on WhatsApp or Matrix, for example, and allows you to collaborate across different platforms.
We currently host the WhatsApp bridge from mautrix.
Features of the bridge
You can find the official feature list at mautrix.
Here is a selection of the key features:
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
- Group membership changes M↔W
- Profile pictures of users M↔W
- Typing notifications M↔W
- Synchronize message history W→M
- Chat room metadata changes (name, topic, avatar) M↔W
- Online status M→W
- Read receipts M↔W
- Messages you send in WhatsApp itself become visible (after setting up double puppeting) W→M
Prerequisites
To use the WhatsApp bridge, you must meet the following requirements:
- Matrix account on an instance hosted by us with the bridges option booked
- WhatsApp account to be linked to the bridge
Setup
Setting up the WhatsApp bridge takes just a few steps:
- Start a new direct message in Matrix with
@whatsappbot:bridges.osrx.chator click here. - Use
helpto display a list of available WhatsApp bridge commands. - First, log in with your WhatsApp account by scanning a QR code (
login). - The WhatsApp bridge will now start synchronizing your chats. This can 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 syncing with Matrix? - Leave the chat room. You can have the room recreated later using the bot command
create-portal. - How can I delete all WhatsApp chats in Matrix? - Send
logoutto the WhatsApp bridge bot. You will then be removed from all WhatsApp chats automatically, 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 other chats, a room is created automatically when the next message arrives.
- How long is my data stored? - The bridge server stores text messages for 24 hours and media data for one year. After that, they are deleted. They may remain in server backups for a certain period of time. Please note: to transfer messages between Matrix and WhatsApp, the bridge has to decrypt them on the bridge server and process them in plain text. End-to-end encryption ends there, so the data stored on the bridge server is not protected in the same way as with true end-to-end encryption.
Security and data protection
Security and the protection of your personal data are important and sometimes difficult issues 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 policies: We provide you with the WhatsApp bridge as a processor. As the controller, 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: On the Matrix side, chats via the WhatsApp bridge are always end-to-end encrypted - we enforce this in the bridge configuration. This encryption ends at the bridge: it has to decrypt the messages and process them in plain text in order to transfer them between Matrix and WhatsApp. From there on, the protection level of WhatsApp applies, which does not necessarily match that of Matrix.
Requests / comments / notes
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