How to Use WhatsApp with Claude (2026): 5 Ways That Work

No. As of October 2026 Anthropic offers none of these:

• a Claude WhatsApp number or bot
• a first-party WhatsApp connector (the 1,000+ entries in Claude's connector directory include third-party Business API tools like Bird and LetsBot, not a personal WhatsApp connector)
• a WhatsApp channel for Claude Code (the request, anthropics/claude-code#36814, is still open)

The official ways to reach Claude from your phone are:

• The Claude mobile app, including Remote Control (claude remote-control or /rc) to drive a Claude Code session running on your computer.
• Claude Code channels for Telegram, Discord and iMessage: /plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official, then claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official. See our Telegram guide and Discord guide.
• Dispatch in Claude Cowork, which sends tasks from the Claude app to your desktop.

These steps install the maintained fork. The original lharries repo uses the same steps, but run go run main.go in the bridge folder instead of go run ..

1. Install the prerequisites

You need Go 1.26+, Python 3.11+ and uv (curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh). FFmpeg is optional and converts audio into WhatsApp voice notes.

2. Start the bridge and link your phone

git clone https://github.com/verygoodplugins/whatsapp-mcp.git
cd whatsapp-mcp/whatsapp-bridge
go run .

On your phone, open WhatsApp → Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device and scan the QR code shown in the terminal. Leave the bridge running: it syncs your history into whatsapp-bridge/store/ and receives new messages.

3a. Add it to Claude Code

claude mcp add whatsapp -- uv --directory /absolute/path/to/whatsapp-mcp/whatsapp-mcp-server run main.py

Run /mcp inside Claude Code to check that it's connected.

3b. Or add it to Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/absolute/path/to/whatsapp-mcp/whatsapp-mcp-server", "run", "main.py"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. If uv isn't found, put its full path from which uv in command.

4. Try it

• "Summarize what my family group talked about this week."
• "Find the address Maria sent me last month."
• "Draft a reply to the last message from Sam, show it to me, and send it once I approve."

Windows note

The bridge uses go-sqlite3, which needs CGO. Install a C compiler through MSYS2, run go env -w CGO_ENABLED=1, then start the bridge.

Unofficial clients. All personal-account options (the MCP servers, the channel plugin in linked-device mode, OpenClaw) log in as a linked device through reverse-engineered libraries (whatsmeow or Baileys). WhatsApp's terms prohibit unofficial clients and automated or bulk messaging. Reading your own chats and sending occasional messages is low-profile use. Mass messaging is how numbers get banned, so use a spare number for anything automated.

Prompt injection. The lharries README warns that a WhatsApp MCP is a "lethal trifecta": Claude can read your private data, receives text from strangers, and can send messages out. A message in a group chat could tell Claude to forward your chats to someone else. Keep tool-approval prompts on for send_message and send_file.

Privacy. The MCP servers store your full message history unencrypted in a local SQLite file. Hosted connectors hold your messages on the vendor's servers.

Meta's AI provider rule. Since 15 January 2026, Section 4.7 of the WhatsApp Business terms bars general-purpose AI assistants from the Business Platform when AI is the main function. That is why ChatGPT's 1-800 WhatsApp number shut down. In June 2026 the European Commission ordered Meta to reopen access in the EU while its investigation runs. A business can still use Claude to answer its own customers, handle bookings or send order updates.