> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.whappy.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Channel

> Where a campaign talks — WhatsApp, Instagram or both — and what changes with each.

A campaign talks on **WhatsApp**, on **Instagram**, or on both. The choice decides how leads reach it, whether it can write first, and what it still needs before it can start.

## Choosing the channel

When you create a campaign, **Where does it talk?** offers WhatsApp and Instagram, pre-ticked with whatever your account has connected. The line under the boxes says what the choice means:

* **WhatsApp only**: it sends the first message from your number.
* **Instagram only**: no first message — leads write first.
* **Both**: it sends first messages on WhatsApp and answers people who write on Instagram.

<Note>
  The question is asked only on accounts where Instagram is offered. Everywhere else a campaign talks on WhatsApp, as every campaign did before.
</Note>

You can change it later under the campaign's **Options → Channels**. The change is saved as soon as you click. Two things are refused:

* **No channel at all.** Pick at least one.
* **Turning off a channel that still sends people to this campaign.** If this is the campaign your Instagram settings route DMs to, or the one a WhatsApp number sends inbound messages to, pick another campaign there first. The message tells you which.

A [campaign for existing customers](/campaign/client-campaigns) always keeps WhatsApp: it reaches customers with WhatsApp templates.

## What differs per channel

| | WhatsApp | Instagram |
| - | - | - |
| **How leads arrive** | Forms, imports and integrations give you a phone number; the campaign writes first. People who write to your number are answered too. | People write first: a DM, a reply to your story, a mention, or a comment that matches one of your comment rules. Which campaign answers them is set under **Integrations → Instagram**. |
| **First message** | An approved WhatsApp template, sent from your number. | None. An Instagram conversation cannot be started by a business. |
| **Replying** | Freely within 24 hours of the lead's last message; after that only an approved template, which you can send from [Chats](/leads/conversation-history#sending-a-template-from-chats). | The assistant replies within 24 hours of the lead's last message. A person can reply up to 7 days. After that, nothing until the lead writes again. |
| **Follow-ups and reminders** | Follow-ups go out in your working hours. | Follow-ups and appointment reminders go out only within 24 hours of the lead's last message. One held back is noted in the chat. |
| **Documents, images, voice notes from funnel steps or Chats** | Arrive as files and voice notes. | Arrive as a link. |
| **Files the assistant picks on its own** | Document or image with the reply, voice note after it. | Images and PDFs as attachments, within 24 hours. Voice notes are never offered. |
| **Moving a lead to another campaign** | The new campaign can send its first message. | Not possible to write first: the lead waits for its next step or writes again. |

Working hours, time zone and the other [Options](/campaign/options) are set once per campaign; there is no separate setting per channel.

<Note>
  A lead who has only a phone number can only be reached on WhatsApp. Sending such a lead to a campaign that does not talk on WhatsApp is refused by the API and by integrations, and a campaign holding such leads shows the warning *Some leads can only be reached on WhatsApp*.
</Note>

When a person writes to a number or an Instagram account whose campaign does not talk on that channel, the conversation goes to your **default campaign** instead.

## What a campaign needs before it can start

The campaign's own page lists what still needs fixing (**Before this campaign can start**) and what is worth checking while it runs. The channel changes that list:

| | WhatsApp only | Instagram only | Both |
| - | - | - | - |
| **No WhatsApp number connected** | Blocks | Not needed | Blocks |
| **Instagram isn't connected** | — | Blocks | Worth checking: WhatsApp still runs |
| **Some leads can only be reached on WhatsApp** | — | Worth checking | — |

An active plan and a finished funnel are needed on every channel. Whatever the channel, a **Close** step that moves leads into a campaign which does not talk on one of this campaign's channels shows *A move to another campaign skips some leads*: leads from the missing channel stay here.

## The campaigns list

The **Campaigns** page is a table with one row per campaign:

| Column | What it shows |
| - | - |
| **Channel** | The WhatsApp and/or Instagram mark. |
| **Campaign** | Its name. Click the row to open it. |
| **Leads** | How many leads it has. |
| **Chats** | How many conversations. |
| **Ready** | A green tick when the campaign can start; an amber triangle when it cannot. Hover it to read the first thing to fix: *No active subscription*, *WhatsApp not connected*, *Instagram not connected*, *First message has no number*, *Funnel incomplete*, or *Needs attention — open it*. |
| Switch and menu | The switch starts and stops the campaign (it stays off while the campaign is not ready). The menu offers **Rename**, **Duplicate** (not for campaigns for existing customers), **Set as default**, and **Delete** (not while it runs). |

Rows are ordered so that what needs you comes first: campaigns that **cannot start** at the top, then the **running** ones, then the **paused** ones that are ready to go.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.