📡 warelay — Send, receive, and auto-reply on WhatsApp.

Send, receive, auto-reply, and inspect WhatsApp messages over Twilio or your personal WhatsApp Web session. Ships with a one-command webhook setup (Tailscale Funnel + Twilio callback) and a configurable auto-reply engine (plain text or command/Claude driven).

Clawd (personal assistant)

I'm using warelay to run my personal, pro-active assistant, Clawd. Follow me on Twitter: @steipete. This project is brand-new and there's a lot to discover. See the exact Claude setup in docs/clawd.md.

I'm using warelay to run my personal, pro-active assistant, Clawd. Follow me on Twitter - @steipete, this project is brand-new and there's a lot to discover.

Quick Start (pick your engine)

Install from npm (global): npm install -g warelay (Node 22+). Then choose one path:

A) Personal WhatsApp Web (preferred: no Twilio creds, fastest setup)

1. Link your account: warelay login (scan the QR).
2. Send a message: warelay send --to +12345550000 --message "Hi from warelay" (add --provider web if you want to force the web session).
3. Stay online & auto-reply: warelay relay --verbose (uses Web when you're logged in; if you're not linked, start it with --provider twilio). When a Web session drops, the relay exits instead of silently falling back so you notice and re-login.

B) Twilio WhatsApp number (for delivery status + webhooks)

1. Copy .env.example → .env; set TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN or TWILIO_API_KEY/TWILIO_API_SECRET, and TWILIO_WHATSAPP_FROM=whatsapp:+19995550123 (optional TWILIO_SENDER_SID).
2. Send a message: warelay send --to +12345550000 --message "Hi from warelay".
3. Receive replies:
   • Polling (no ingress): warelay relay --provider twilio --interval 5 --lookback 10
   • Webhook + public URL via Tailscale Funnel: warelay webhook --ingress tailscale --port 42873 --path /webhook/whatsapp --verbose

Already developing locally? You can still run pnpm install and pnpm warelay ... from the repo, but end users only need the npm package.

Main Features

• Two providers: Twilio (default) for reliable delivery + status; Web provider for quick personal sends/receives via QR login.
• Auto-replies: Static templates or external commands (Claude-aware), with per-sender or global sessions and /new resets.
• Claude setup guide: see docs/claude-config.md for the exact Claude CLI configuration we support.
• Webhook in one go: warelay webhook --ingress tailscale enables Tailscale Funnel, runs the webhook server, and updates the Twilio sender callback URL.
• Polling fallback: relay polls Twilio when webhooks aren’t available; works headless.
• Status + delivery tracking: status shows recent inbound/outbound; send can wait for final Twilio status.

Command Cheat Sheet

Command	What it does	Core flags
warelay send	Send a WhatsApp message (Twilio or Web)	--to <e164> --message <text> --wait <sec> --poll <sec> --provider twilio|web --json --dry-run --verbose
warelay relay	Auto-reply loop (poll Twilio or listen on Web)	--provider <auto|twilio|web> --interval <sec> --lookback <min> --verbose
warelay status	Show recent sent/received messages	--limit <n> --lookback <min> --json --verbose
warelay heartbeat	Trigger one heartbeat poll (web)	--provider <auto|web> --to <e164?> --session-id <uuid?> --all --verbose
warelay relay:heartbeat	Run relay with an immediate heartbeat (no tmux)	--provider <auto|web> --verbose
warelay relay:heartbeat:tmux	Start relay in tmux and fire a heartbeat on start (web)	no flags
warelay webhook	Run inbound webhook (ingress=tailscale updates Twilio; none is local-only)	--ingress tailscale|none --port <port> --path <path> --reply <text> --verbose --yes --dry-run
warelay login	Link personal WhatsApp Web via QR	--verbose

Sending media

• Twilio: warelay send --to +1... --message "Hi" --media ./pic.jpg --serve-media (needs warelay webhook --ingress tailscale or --serve-media to auto-host via Funnel; max 5 MB per file because of the built-in host).
• Web: warelay send --provider web --media ./pic.jpg --message "Hi" (local path or URL; no hosting needed). Web auto-detects media kind: images (≤6 MB), audio/voice or video (≤16 MB), other docs (≤100 MB). Images are resized to max 2048px and JPEG recompressed when the cap would be exceeded.
• Auto-replies can attach mediaUrl in ~/.warelay/warelay.json (used alongside text when present). Web auto-replies honor inbound.reply.mediaMaxMb (default 5 MB) as a post-compression target but will never exceed the provider hard limits above.

Voice notes (optional transcription)

• If you set inbound.transcribeAudio.command, warelay will run that CLI when inbound audio arrives (e.g., WhatsApp voice notes) and replace the Body with the transcript before templating/Claude.
• Example using OpenAI Whisper CLI (requires OPENAI_API_KEY):

  {
    inbound: {
      transcribeAudio: {
        command: [
          "openai",
          "api",
          "audio.transcriptions.create",
          "-m",
          "whisper-1",
          "-f",
          "{{MediaPath}}",
          "--response-format",
          "text"
        ],
        timeoutSeconds: 45
      },
      reply: { mode: "command", command: ["claude", "{{Body}}"] }
    }
  }

• Works for Web and Twilio providers; verbose mode logs when transcription runs. The command prompt includes the original media path plus a Transcript: block so models see both. If transcription fails, the original Body is used.

Providers

• Twilio (default): needs .env creds + WhatsApp-enabled number; supports delivery tracking, polling, webhooks, and auto-reply typing indicators.
• Web (--provider web): uses your personal WhatsApp via Baileys; supports send/receive + auto-reply, but no delivery-status wait; cache lives in ~/.warelay/credentials/ (rerun login if logged out). If the Web socket closes, the relay exits instead of pivoting to Twilio.
• Auto-select (relay only): --provider auto picks Web when a cache exists at start, otherwise Twilio polling. It will not swap from Web to Twilio mid-run if the Web session drops.

Best practice: use a dedicated WhatsApp account (separate SIM/eSIM or business account) for automation instead of your primary personal account to avoid unexpected logouts or rate limits.

Same-phone mode (self-messaging)

warelay supports running on the same phone number you message from—you chat with yourself and an AI assistant replies in the same bubble. This requires:

• Adding your own number to allowFrom in warelay.json
• The fromMe filter is disabled; echo detection in auto-reply.ts prevents loops

Gotchas:

• Messages appear in the same chat bubble (WhatsApp "Note to self")
• Echo detection relies on exact text matching; if the reply is identical to your input, it may be skipped
• Works best with a dedicated WhatsApp account

Configuration

Environment (.env)

Variable	Required	Description
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID	Yes (Twilio provider)	Twilio Account SID
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN	Yes*	Auth token (or use API key/secret)
TWILIO_API_KEY	Yes*	API key if not using auth token
TWILIO_API_SECRET	Yes*	API secret paired with TWILIO_API_KEY
TWILIO_WHATSAPP_FROM	Yes (Twilio provider)	WhatsApp-enabled sender, e.g. whatsapp:+19995550123
TWILIO_SENDER_SID	Optional	Overrides auto-discovery of the sender SID

(*Provide either auth token OR api key/secret.)

Auto-reply config (~/.warelay/warelay.json, JSON5)

• Controls who is allowed to trigger replies (allowFrom), reply mode (text or command), templates, and session behavior.
• Example (Claude command):

{
  inbound: {
    allowFrom: ["+12345550000"],
    reply: {
      mode: "command",
      bodyPrefix: "You are a concise WhatsApp assistant.\n\n",
      command: ["claude", "--dangerously-skip-permissions", "{{BodyStripped}}"],
      claudeOutputFormat: "text",
      session: { scope: "per-sender", resetTriggers: ["/new"], idleMinutes: 60 },
      heartbeatMinutes: 10 // optional; pings Claude every 10m with "HEARTBEAT ultrathink" and only sends if it omits HEARTBEAT_OK
    }
  }
}

Heartbeat pings (command mode)

• When heartbeatMinutes is set (default 10 for mode: "command"), the relay periodically runs your command/Claude session with a heartbeat prompt.
• Heartbeat body is HEARTBEAT ultrathink (so the model can recognize the probe); if Claude replies exactly HEARTBEAT_OK, the message is suppressed; otherwise the reply (or media) is forwarded. Suppressions are still logged so you know the heartbeat ran.
• Override session freshness for heartbeats with session.heartbeatIdleMinutes (defaults to session.idleMinutes). Heartbeat skips do not bump updatedAt, so sessions still expire normally.
• Trigger one manually with warelay heartbeat (web provider only, --verbose prints session info). Use --session-id <uuid> to force resuming a specific Claude session, --all to ping every active session, warelay relay:heartbeat for a full relay run with an immediate heartbeat, or --heartbeat-now on relay/relay:heartbeat:tmux.
• When multiple active sessions exist, warelay heartbeat requires --to <E.164> or --all; if allowFrom is just "*", you must choose a target with one of those flags.

Logging (optional)

• File logs are written to /tmp/warelay/warelay.log by default. Levels: silent | fatal | error | warn | info | debug | trace (CLI --verbose forces debug). Web-provider inbound/outbound entries include message bodies and auto-reply text for easier auditing.
• Override in ~/.warelay/warelay.json:

{
  logging: {
    level: "warn",
    file: "/tmp/warelay/custom.log"
  }
}

Claude CLI setup (how we run it)

1. Install the official Claude CLI (e.g., brew install anthropic-ai/cli/claude or follow the Anthropic docs) and run claude login so it can read your API key.
2. In warelay.json, set reply.mode to "command" and point command[0] to "claude"; set claudeOutputFormat to "text" (or "json"/"stream-json" if you want warelay to parse and trim the JSON output).
3. (Optional) Add bodyPrefix to inject a system prompt and session settings to keep multi-turn context (/new resets by default). Set sendSystemOnce: true (plus an optional sessionIntro) to only send that prompt on the first turn of each session.
4. Run pnpm warelay relay --provider auto (or --provider web|twilio) and send a WhatsApp message; warelay will queue the Claude call, stream typing indicators (Twilio provider), parse the result, and send back the text.

Auto-reply parameter table (compact)

Key	Type & default	Notes
inbound.allowFrom	string[] (default: empty)	E.164 numbers allowed to trigger auto-reply (no whatsapp:); "*" allows any sender.
inbound.messagePrefix	string (default: "[warelay]" if no allowFrom, else "")	Prefix added to all inbound messages before passing to command.
inbound.responsePrefix	string (default: —)	Prefix auto-added to all outbound replies (e.g., "🦞").
inbound.timestampPrefix	boolean | string (default: true)	Timestamp prefix: true (UTC), false (disabled), or IANA timezone like "Europe/Vienna".
inbound.reply.mode	"text" | "command" (default: —)	Reply style.
inbound.reply.text	string (default: —)	Used when mode=text; templating supported.
inbound.reply.command	string[] (default: —)	Argv for mode=command; each element templated. Stdout (trimmed) is sent.
inbound.reply.template	string (default: —)	Injected as argv[1] (prompt prefix) before the body.
inbound.reply.bodyPrefix	string (default: —)	Prepended to Body before templating (great for system prompts).
inbound.reply.timeoutSeconds	number (default: 600)	Command timeout.
inbound.reply.claudeOutputFormat	"text"|"json"|"stream-json" (default: —)	When command starts with claude, auto-adds --output-format + -p/--print and trims reply text.
inbound.reply.session.scope	"per-sender"|"global" (default: per-sender)	Session bucket for conversation memory.
inbound.reply.session.resetTriggers	string[] (default: ["/new"])	Exact match or prefix (/new hi) resets session.
inbound.reply.session.idleMinutes	number (default: 60)	Session expires after idle period.
inbound.reply.session.store	string (default: ~/.warelay/sessions.json)	Custom session store path.
inbound.reply.session.sendSystemOnce	boolean (default: false)	If true, only include the system prompt/template on the first turn of a session.
inbound.reply.session.sessionIntro	string	Optional intro text sent once per new session (prepended before the body when sendSystemOnce is used).
inbound.reply.typingIntervalSeconds	number (default: 8 for command replies)	How often to refresh typing indicators while the command/Claude run is in flight.
inbound.reply.session.sessionArgNew	string[] (default: ["--session-id","{{SessionId}}"])	Args injected for a new session run.
inbound.reply.session.sessionArgResume	string[] (default: ["--resume","{{SessionId}}"])	Args for resumed sessions.
inbound.reply.session.sessionArgBeforeBody	boolean (default: true)	Place session args before final body arg.

Templating tokens: {{Body}}, {{BodyStripped}}, {{From}}, {{To}}, {{MessageSid}}, plus {{SessionId}} and {{IsNewSession}} when sessions are enabled.

Webhook & Tailscale Flow

• warelay webhook --ingress none starts the local Express server on your chosen port/path; add --reply "Got it" for a static reply when no config file is present.
• warelay webhook --ingress tailscale enables Tailscale Funnel, prints the public URL (https://<tailnet-host><path>), starts the webhook, discovers the WhatsApp sender SID, and updates Twilio callbacks to the Funnel URL.
• If Funnel is not allowed on your tailnet, the CLI exits with guidance; you can still use relay --provider twilio to poll without webhooks.

Troubleshooting Tips

• Send/receive issues: run pnpm warelay status --limit 20 --lookback 240 --json to inspect recent traffic.
• Auto-reply not firing: ensure sender is in allowFrom (or unset), and confirm .env + warelay.json are loaded (reload shell after edits).
• Web provider dropped: rerun pnpm warelay login; credentials live in ~/.warelay/credentials/.
• Tailscale Funnel errors: update tailscale/tailscaled; check admin console that Funnel is enabled for this device.

Maintainer notes (web provider internals)

• Web logic lives under src/web/: session.ts (auth/cache + provider pick), login.ts (QR login/logout), outbound.ts/inbound.ts (send/receive plumbing), auto-reply.ts (relay loop + reconnect/backoff), media.ts (download/resize helpers), and reconnect.ts (shared retry math). test-helpers.ts provides fixtures.
• The public surface remains the src/provider-web.ts barrel so existing imports keep working.
• Reconnects are capped and logged; no Twilio fallback occurs after a Web disconnect—restart the relay after re-linking.

FAQ & Safety

• Twilio errors: 63016 “permission to send an SMS has not been enabled” → ensure your number is WhatsApp-enabled; 63007 template not approved → send a free-form session message within 24h or use an approved template; 63112 policy violation → adjust content, shorten to <1600 chars, avoid links that trigger spam filters. Re-run pnpm warelay status to see the exact Twilio response body.
• Does this store my messages? warelay only writes ~/.warelay/warelay.json (config), ~/.warelay/credentials/ (WhatsApp Web auth), and ~/.warelay/sessions.json (session IDs + timestamps). It does not persist message bodies beyond the session store. Logs stream to stdout/stderr and also /tmp/warelay/warelay.log (configurable via logging.file).
• Personal WhatsApp safety: Automation on personal accounts can be rate-limited or logged out by WhatsApp. Use --provider web sparingly, keep messages human-like, and re-run login if the session is dropped.
• Limits to remember: WhatsApp text limit ~1600 chars; avoid rapid bursts—space sends by a few seconds; keep webhook replies under a couple seconds for good UX; command auto-replies time out after 600s by default.
• Deploy / keep running: Use tmux or screen for ad-hoc (tmux new -s warelay -- pnpm warelay relay --provider twilio). For long-running hosts, wrap pnpm warelay relay ... or pnpm warelay webhook --ingress tailscale ... in a systemd service or macOS LaunchAgent; ensure environment variables are loaded in that context.
• Rotating credentials: Update .env (Twilio keys), rerun your process; for Web provider, delete ~/.warelay/credentials/ and rerun pnpm warelay login to relink.