Laravel WhatsApp

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Troubleshooting ​

Real failures hit during development + production, with fixes.

Install ​

Puppeteer install fails with "Cannot read properties of undefined" ​

Usually means a previous install was interrupted and left an empty version directory:

~/.cache/puppeteer/chrome/linux-127.0.6533.88/   ← empty

Fix:

bash
php artisan whatsapp:sidecar:install --clean

--clean wipes node_modules AND ~/.cache/puppeteer before reinstalling. The install command also auto-removes empty version dirs on every run.

"Chromium download skipped" but I want it ​

The install command auto-detects and skips Chromium download only when --skip-chromium is passed. If you accidentally have PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=true in your environment, unset it and re-run:

bash
unset PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD
php artisan whatsapp:sidecar:install --clean

"I want to use system Chrome instead" ​

bash
php artisan whatsapp:sidecar:install --skip-chromium
# Then in .env:
PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable

Sidecar ​

whatsapp:sidecar:start hangs forever ​

Symptom: the command never returns. Fixed in current version — but if you patched the code, make sure the spawn command uses the subshell-wrapper pattern:

php
'( cd … && nohup node index.js < /dev/null >> log 2>> err & echo $! > pidfile ) > /dev/null 2>&1'

The outer > /dev/null 2>&1 is critical — PHP's shell_exec waits on the pipe otherwise.

whatsapp:sidecar:stop kills the wrapper but leaves Node running (macOS) ​

macOS nohup forks rather than execs, so $! is the wrapper PID, not Node's. The sidecar now writes its own PID via the SIDECAR_PID_FILE env var on boot, and the stop command waits up to 5s for that overwrite before killing.

If you see an orphan node process:

bash
pgrep -f 'sidecar/index.js' | xargs kill

Then investigate why the PID file wasn't updated — usually a stale node_modules (re-run whatsapp:sidecar:install).

Sidecar starts but Laravel can't reach it ​

Sidecar transport error: Connection refused

Check:

  1. php artisan whatsapp:sidecar:status — running?
  2. curl -i http://127.0.0.1:3000/healthz — responds?
  3. WHATSAPP_WEB_HOST matches between sidecar bind and Laravel's connect setting
  4. WHATSAPP_WEB_PORT matches
  5. If WHATSAPP_WEB_TOKEN is set, Laravel uses it as Authorization: Bearer. Mismatch = 401.

whatsapp:web:listen exits with "Stream open failed" ​

Old bug — early versions used PHP's fopen('http://…') which buffers infinite responses and times out. Current version uses cURL with CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION for true streaming. If you see this on a current install, check that you're not on a fork of the listen command.

Sidecar uses huge RAM ​

Each paired session keeps a Puppeteer Chromium instance. Budget 1–2 GB RAM per active session. To reduce:

  • Stop sessions you're not using: WhatsApp::web('foo')->stop() (keeps auth)
  • Run fewer sessions per box
  • Set WHATSAPP_WEB_AUTO_START_SESSIONS=false so saved sessions don't all restart automatically when the sidecar boots

Loading chats fails with {"error": "r"} ​

whatsapp-web.js's getChats() evaluates a lot of WhatsApp Web's minified internals, so whenever WhatsApp reshuffles them the call throws a one-letter error (r, t, a — the minified variable name) that the sidecar surfaces as a 500. See wwebjs/whatsapp-web.js#201845.

The sidecar now falls back to reading the in-page chat store itself when that happens, so /chats and /groups keep working. You'll see this in the sidecar log when the fallback kicks in:

[laravel-wa-sidecar] client.getChats() failed (Evaluation failed: r); reading the in-page chat store instead

That's informational, not an error. If the fallback also fails you'll get a 503 saying the WhatsApp Web store is unavailable — the session is paired but the page hasn't finished loading, so retry once it reports ready.

Cloud API ​

"OAuth access token expired" ​

You're using a temporary token. Switch to a System User permanent token (Meta Business Settings → Users → System Users → generate). The setup walkthrough in installation covers this.

"(#100) Param phone_number_id required" ​

WHATSAPP_PHONE_NUMBER_ID is empty or wrong. Confirm it's the Phone Number ID from WhatsApp → API Setup, NOT the phone number itself and NOT the WABA ID.

Webhook verify fails with 403 ​

The challenge handler returned 403 — your WHATSAPP_VERIFY_TOKEN in .env doesn't match the one entered in Meta's webhook config. They must be identical.

Webhook POST returns 401 in production ​

Signature mismatch:

  • Confirm WHATSAPP_APP_SECRET matches Meta App Settings → Basic → App Secret
  • Confirm your reverse proxy isn't rewriting the request body (would break the HMAC)
  • Set WHATSAPP_VERIFY_SIGNATURE=false temporarily to confirm — never leave this off in prod

Webhook GET returns the challenge but POST never arrives ​

  • Meta only delivers POSTs to webhooks subscribed to a field. In Meta App Dashboard → WhatsApp → Configuration, subscribe to messages (and any others you want).
  • Production webhooks must be HTTPS. Localhost/HTTP webhooks Meta won't deliver to.

Template send returns "Template name does not exist in the translation" ​

The template language code you passed doesn't match what was approved. Check Meta Business Manager → Message Templates → your template → Language. Common mistakes: passing en when only en_US is approved.

UI ​

/whatsapp returns 404 ​

  • WHATSAPP_UI_ENABLED=true?
  • livewire/livewire installed? Routes only register if Livewire's class_exists check passes
  • php artisan route:list | grep whatsapp — confirm routes exist
  • php artisan route:clear — if you have route caching, it captures old state

UI loads but no styles (raw HTML) ​

You're on WHATSAPP_UI_CSS_MODE=vite but the host app doesn't have Vite set up. Either:

bash
# Switch to standalone (pre-compiled CSS, no build needed)
WHATSAPP_UI_CSS_MODE=standalone

Then re-publish config so the new key is picked up:

bash
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-whatsapp-config --force

mergeConfigFrom is shallow

Laravel's mergeConfigFrom only merges top-level keys. If your published config predates a new nested key (like ui.css_mode), the new default never reaches your config. Always --force re-publish after package upgrades.

UI loads but layout is broken (sidebar + main stacked) ​

Flux 2's grid layout depends on flux.css being imported. Tailwind's @source directive scans for class names but does NOT load CSS rule files. Add to resources/css/app.css:

css
@import 'tailwindcss';
@import '../../vendor/livewire/flux/dist/flux.css';   /* ← required */

Adds ~13 KB to your built CSS.

Dark mode toggle doesn't persist ​

The Alpine pattern that actually works:

blade
<flux:menu.radio.group x-data="{ value: $flux.appearance }"
                       x-model="value"
                       x-on:change="$flux.appearance = value">

The simpler x-data="$flux.appearance" doesn't write back changes.

<flux:modal> has no show prop. Use wire:model:

blade
<flux:modal wire:model="showQrModal" name="qr-modal">…</flux:modal>
php
public bool $showQrModal = false;

public function openQr(): void
{
    $this->showQrModal = true;
}

Conversations page hangs / endless loading ​

Old bug — avatar route lookups could timeout. Current version wraps avatar fetches with withTimeout() in the sidecar and caches both hits AND misses for 30 min server-side. If you see hangs on a current install, check:

bash
tail -f storage/logs/whatsapp-sidecar.err.log

Most common cause: WhatsApp Web hasn't finished booting (status: 'authenticating'). Wait for ready.

Conversations page is slow with many messages ​

The query is already an indexed range scan: (session_id, chat_id) ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT N. If it's slow, check:

  • The wa_messages_session_chat_id_index index exists (SHOW INDEXES FROM wa_messages;)
  • You haven't raised WHATSAPP_UI_MESSAGES_INITIAL to something silly like 10000

Bubble UI shows "from: 176815280758858@lid" ​

@lid IDs are WhatsApp Web's "linked device" IDs. The package resolves them via the contacts list — make sure your contact list has loaded (visit /whatsapp/contacts once after pairing).

Web sidecar — sending ​

"session not ready" (409) ​

Session is paired but whatsapp-web.js hasn't finished booting. Poll state() until 'ready':

php
do {
    sleep(1);
    $state = WhatsApp::web('main')->state();
} while ($state['status'] !== 'ready');

"session not found" (404) ​

Session was never started or was destroyed. Call WhatsApp::web('main')->start() first.

QR never appears ​

Check sidecar logs:

bash
tail -f storage/logs/whatsapp-sidecar.log

Common causes:

  • Chrome/Chromium can't launch (sandbox issues on some Linux distros — sidecar already passes --no-sandbox)
  • Port 3000 collision with another service — change WHATSAPP_WEB_PORT

Messages send to phone numbers but not group IDs ​

Sidecar normalizes phone-shaped inputs. Group IDs (…@g.us) and broadcast lists must be passed in full WA ID form — don't strip the suffix.

Tests ​

Tests fail with "encryption key not set" ​

Livewire 4 encrypts component checksums. Set APP_KEY in your testbench env:

php
// tests/TestCase.php
protected function defineEnvironment($app): void
{
    $app['config']->set('app.key', 'base64:'.base64_encode(random_bytes(32)));
}

Tests fail with "Class Flux\FluxServiceProvider not found" ​

Add it to getPackageProviders():

php
protected function getPackageProviders($app): array
{
    return [
        \Livewire\LivewireServiceProvider::class,
        \Flux\FluxServiceProvider::class,
        \Kstmostofa\LaravelWhatsApp\LaravelWhatsAppServiceProvider::class,
    ];
}

Database ​

Migrations run on the wrong connection ​

If you set WHATSAPP_DB_CONNECTION=whatsapp AFTER the initial migrate, the tables are on the default connection. Drop them on the default DB and re-run migrate — the published migrations honor the connection at migration time.

Tables named wa_messages but I want a prefix ​

bash
WHATSAPP_DB_PREFIX=app_

Apply BEFORE running migrations. If you set it after, the migration is now looking for app_wa_messages and won't find the existing wa_messages — rename manually or rollback + re-migrate.

When all else fails ​

bash
# Full health snapshot
php artisan whatsapp:health --format=json

# Last 100 sidecar log lines
tail -n 100 storage/logs/whatsapp-sidecar.log storage/logs/whatsapp-sidecar.err.log

# All package routes
php artisan route:list | grep whatsapp

# Composer + Node versions
composer show kstmostofa/laravel-whatsapp
node --version && npm --version

Still stuck? Open an issue with that output + a minimal repro.

Released under the MIT License.

Copyright © 2026 Kstmostofa