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Development Summary - WhatsApp API Enhancements

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Overview

Today we enhanced the Laravel WhatsApp API application with two major features:
  1. Reply-to functionality for all message types
  2. Pagination support for chat retrieval

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🔄 Reply-to Parameter Implementation

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What We Added

Added a nullable reply_to parameter to all message sending endpoints, allowing users to reply to specific messages by providing a message ID.

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Files Modified

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Request Validation Classes

  • TextMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule
  • ImageMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule
  • FileMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule
  • VoiceMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule
  • VideoMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule
  • LocationMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule
  • PollMessageRequest.php - Added reply_to validation rule

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Controller Updates

  • SendMessageController.php - Updated all message sending methods to pass the reply_to parameter to the underlying WhatsApp API service

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Validation Rules Added

'reply_to' => 'nullable|string'

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API Usage Examples

# Reply to a text message
POST /api/send-message/text
{
    "contact_id": "6281357541790@c.us",
    "message": "This is a reply",
    "reply_to": "message_id_here"
}

# Reply to an image message
POST /api/send-message/image
{
    "contact_id": "6281357541790@c.us",
    "file": {...},
    "caption": "Replying with an image",
    "reply_to": "message_id_here"
}

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📄 Chat Pagination Implementation

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What We Added

Added limit and offset parameters to the chat retrieval endpoint for better performance and pagination support.

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Files Modified

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Request Validation Class

  • ChatsRequest.php - Added pagination validation rules

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Controller Updates

  • ChatController.php - Updated getChats method to handle pagination parameters

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Validation Rules Added

'limit' => 'nullable|integer|min:1|max:100',
'offset' => 'nullable|integer|min:0'

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API Usage Examples

# Get first 20 messages
GET /api/chats?contact_id=6281357541790@c.us&limit=20

# Get messages 21-40 (pagination)
GET /api/chats?contact_id=6281357541790@c.us&limit=20&offset=20

# Default behavior (50 messages, offset 0)
GET /api/chats?contact_id=6281357541790@c.us

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🔧 Technical Implementation Details

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Backend Architecture

  • MessageTrait Integration: Leveraged existing WhatsApp API integration in MessageTrait.php
  • ChatTrait Integration: Used existing pagination support in ChatTrait.php
  • Backward Compatibility: All new parameters are nullable, ensuring existing API calls continue to work

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Key Benefits

  1. Reply Functionality: Users can now create threaded conversations
  2. Performance: Pagination reduces payload size and improves response times
  3. Scalability: Better handling of large chat histories
  4. Flexibility: Configurable limits with sensible defaults

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Default Values

  • Limit: 50 messages (max: 100)
  • Offset: 0 messages
  • Reply-to: null (optional for all message types)

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🚀 Impact

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For API Users

  • Enhanced messaging capabilities with reply functionality
  • Better performance when retrieving chat histories
  • Improved user experience with threaded conversations

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For System Performance

  • Reduced memory usage with paginated responses
  • Lower bandwidth consumption
  • Better scalability for high-volume applications

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✅ Completion Status

  • Reply-to parameter added to all 7 message types
  • Pagination added to chat retrieval endpoint
  • Request validation implemented for all new parameters
  • Controller methods updated to handle new parameters
  • Backward compatibility maintained
  • Integration with existing WhatsApp API service layer
All implementations are production-ready and maintain full backward compatibility with existing API consumers.