Introduction
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to send messages to phone numbers stored in a CSV file using Ruby and the HaberChat API. We will read the phone numbers and messages from the CSV file, and then send them using the HaberChat API.
Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of Ruby
- Ruby installed on your computer
- A text editor for writing code (e.g: Visual Studio Code, Atom, Vim)
- A HaberChat API token (you can obtain this by signing up here)
Install required packages
First, create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your terminal. Then, run the following command to install the necessary libraries:
gem install httparty csv
Create the CSV file
Create a new file named numbers.csv
in your project directory with two columns:
- First column: phone number in E164 format with the country prefix.
- Second column: text message to send to the target phone number.
The spreadsheet document should look like this:
Phone number | Message body |
---|---|
+1234567890 | 👋 Welcome to {{your-business-name}}! Thanks for signing up. We are just a message away! |
+1234567890 | 💐 Your order has been shipped. Tracking number is {{tracking-number}}. Don't hesitate to reach out to if you need help! 🤗 |
The equivalent spreadsheet document exported as CSV should look like this:
+1234567890,"👋 Welcome to {{your-business-name}}! Thanks for signing up. We are just a message away!"
+1234567890,"💐 Your order has been shipped. Tracking number is {{tracking-number}}. Don't hesitate to reach out to if you need help! 🤗"
Create a file with the code
Create a new file named send_messages.rb
in your project directory and add the following code:
require 'httparty'
require 'csv'
csv_file = 'numbers.csv'
# Replace this with your HaberChat API token
# Get your API token here: https://app.haber.chat/apikeys
api_token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE'
# Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to HaberChat
# you want to use for messages delivery (24 characters hexadecimal value)
device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE'
headers = {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'Authorization': api_token
}
url = 'https://api.haber.chat/v1/messages'
def send_message(phone, message)
body = {
phone: phone,
message: message,
device: device
}
response = HTTParty.post(url, body: body.to_json, headers: headers)
if response.code == 200
puts "=> Message created: #{phone}"
else
puts "Failed to create message to #{phone}: #{response.body}"
end
end
CSV.foreach(csv_file) do |row|
phone, message = row
send_message(phone, message)
end
Replace the API token
In the send_messages.rb
file, make sure you have defined the API token of your actual HaberChat account:
# Replace this with your HaberChat API token
api_token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE'
Optionally, if you have multiple WhatsApp numbers connected in your HaberChat account, you can specify which WhatsApp number you want to use for the messages delivery by specifying the HaberChat unique device ID (24 characters hexadecimal value) in the following line:
// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to HaberChat
// you want to use for messages delivery (24 characters hexadecimal value)
device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE'
Run the program
Open a terminal in your projectdirectory and run the following command to execute the send_messages.rb
script:
ruby send_messages.rb
If everything is set up correctly, you should see output indicating the messages have been created successfully:
=> Message created: +1234567890
=> Message created: +1234567890
=> Message created: +1234567890
Note messages will be added to your number's message delivery queue and delivered asynchronously in background over time based on your number's subscription message delivery speed per minute limit or the manually configured delivery speed you have defined in your number's settings.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you learned how to send messages to phone numbers stored in a CSV file using Ruby, the httparty
library, and the HaberChat API.
You can update the numbers.csv
file and run the program again anytime you want to send new messages through your HaberChat connected WhatsApp number.
You can further customize the script to handle additional columns, create different types of messages, or integrate it with your own software as needed.