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Content Types Overview

The Content API is not publicly available yet. To get access please fill out this form or contact your AE/SE.

Content Translations

When you send a message using a Content Template, Twilio will translate it to the most visual and engaging format available in each channel. Additionally, you can define a simplified version of rich content to be sent over channels like SMS that don't support rich features.

For example, let’s consider a Content Template that includes both twilio/text and twilio/list-picker types. If the message is addressed to a WhatsApp recipient, Twilio will render the list-picker type since it is the more visually rich content type supported on the WhatsApp channel. If the message with the same template is addressed to a recipient on Facebook Messenger, Twilio will render the text type because list-picker is not currently supported on the Facebook Messenger channel. As the underlying channels release new features or modify existing ones, Twilio will also evolve our content type offerings to keep up with the changes.

Channel Support

Twilio supports the following content types, which we describe in the sections that follow.

Channel Support

Content Type

SMS

MMS

WhatsApp

Messenger

twilio/text

Yes

Coming soon

Yes

Yes

twilio/media

Yes

Yes

Yes

twilio/location

Yes

twilio/quick-replies

Yes

Yes

twilio/call-to-action

Yes

Yes

twilio/list-picker

Yes

twilio/card

Yes

Yes

Channel Media Type Support

Twilio supports the following content types, which we describe in the sections that follow.

Channel Support

Content Type

SMS

MMS

WhatsApp

Messenger

Images

Yes

Yes

Yes

Video

Yes

Yes

Yes

Document

Yes

Coming Soon

Audio

Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Supported MIME Types

  • Images: JPG, JPEG, PNG
  • Documents: PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX
  • Video: MP4 (with H.264 video codec and AAC audio)

WhatsApp Approval Requirements

WhatsApp has channel-specific approval requirements and limitations. By default, to send outbound messages to WhatsApp users, template approval by WhatsApp is required. This is done as a separate API request via the Content API. However, if a WhatsApp subscriber initiates a 24-hour messaging session with an inbound message, then certain outbound rich content types can be sent without a template during the 24-hour session.

WhatsApp Session Type

Twilio Content Type User Initiated: 24 hour Session (initiated by inbound message) Business Initiated: Out of Session (initiated by a business - no inbound message)
twilio/text ✅ No Approval Required to Send Messages ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages
twilio/media ✅ No Approval Required to Send Messages ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages
twilio/location ✅ No Approval Required to Send Messages 🚫 Not supported
twilio/call-to-action ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages
twilio/quick-reply ✅ No Approval Required to Send Messages ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages
twilio/list-picker ✅ No Approval Required to Send Messages 🚫 Not supported
twilio/card ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages ⚠️ Template Approval Required to Send Messages

WhatsApp Template Approval Statuses

Templates can have the following statuses:

  • Pending: Indicates that the template is still under review by WhatsApp. Review can take up to 24 hours.
  • Approved: The template was approved by WhatsApp and can be used to notify customers.
  • Rejected: The template has been rejected by WhatsApp during the review process.
  • Paused: The template has been paused by WhatsApp due to recurring negative feedback from end users, typically resulting from "block" and "report spam" actions associated with the template. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to end users.
  • Disabled: The template has been disabled by WhatsApp due to recurring negative feedback from end users or for violating one or more of WhatsApp's policies. Message templates with this status cannot be sent to end users.

Common Components

The following parameters are used as an array in the "Actions" parameter of twilio/quick-reply, twilio/call-to-action, and twilio/card content types.

Actions:

Parameter

Type

Required

Variable Support

Description

type

string (enum)

yes

no

The type of action.

  • Call to Action Values: URL, PHONE_NUMBER
  • Quick Reply Value: QUICK_REPLY
  • Card Values: URL, PHONE_NUMBER, QUICK_REPLY

title

string

yes

no - quick_reply buttons on templates for WA business initiated messages.

yes - everywhere else

Display value for the action. For type QUICK_REPLY, this is the message that will be sent back when the user taps on the button.

  • Maximum 20 characters

url

string

yes - URL

no - others

yes

URL to direct to when the recipient taps the button.

phone

string

yes - PHONE_NUMBER

no - others

no

Phone number to call when the recipient taps the button.

  • E.164 formatted

id

string

no

yes

Postback payload. This field is not visible to the end user.

  • ​​Maximum: 200 characters
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