WhatsApp IDs

WhatsApp API uses specific suffixes to differentiate between a private chat message, a group message, or a message sent from a linked device (WhatsApp Web/Desktop).

WhatsBotCord provides built-in utilities in Helpers.Whatsapp to easily extract, format, and understand these identifiers without manual regex parsing.

The Three Suffixes

You will mostly encounter these three post-fixes when dealing with Raw WhatsApp IDs:

1. @s.whatsapp.net (Individual User) The standard identifier for a private chat with a regular phone number. Example: 1234567890@s.whatsapp.net

2. @g.us (Group Chat) The identifier for a WhatsApp Group. Example: 1234567890-987654@g.us

3. @lid (Linked Device) A modern identifier used when a user sends a message from a linked device (like WhatsApp Desktop) inside a group. Messages cannot be sent directly to a @lid, they must be mapped to their real phone number (@s.whatsapp.net) or the bot must reply gracefully using ChatContext.

You have reference to these exact suffix strings inside Helpers.Whatsapp.IdentifiersPostfixes.

Extracting Info from a Raw Message

When receiving a raw message from Baileys, it can be tricky to know who sent what. WhatsappHelper_ExtractWhatsappInfoInfoFromSenderRawMsg safely extracts the sender’s phone number information from standard individual messages AND linked device group messages.

import { Helpers } from "whatsbotcord";
import type { WhatsappIDInfo } from "whatsbotcord";

bot.Use(async (bot, senderLID, senderPN, chatId, rawMsg, msgType, senderType, next) => {
  const phoneInfo: WhatsappIDInfo = Helpers.Whatsapp.GetWhatsInfoFromSenderMsg(rawMsg);

  console.log("Raw ID:", phoneInfo.rawId); // "12345@s.whatsapp.net" or "9999@lid"
  console.log("Mention String:", phoneInfo.asMentionFormatted); // "@12345"
  console.log("Type:", phoneInfo.WhatsappIdType); // "pn" or "lid"

  await next();
});

Parsing Mentions

When users mention each other in a group (e.g., @12345), the text arrives as a string formatted with an @. You can easily parse this string back into a manageable WhatsappIDInfo object:

// Suppose the command was: !ban @123456789
const arg = args[0]; // "@123456789"

const info = Helpers.Whatsapp.GetWhatsInfoFromMentionStr(arg);
if (info) {
  console.log(info.rawId); // "123456789@lid" (or appropriate type)
}

Validation Helpers

You can quickly validate string formats using our boolean checkers to assert your command logic constraints:

• Helpers.Whatsapp.IsPNId("123@s.whatsapp.net") 👉 Returns true
• Helpers.Whatsapp.IsLIDId("9876@lid") 👉 Returns true
• Helpers.Whatsapp.IsMentionString("@123456") 👉 Returns true

Understanding these IDs will prevent errors when trying to dispatch messages directly via bot.SendMsg utilizing incorrect ID formats!