Your first WhatsApp agent in 15 minutes

What you will achieve

By the end of this tutorial you will have a working AI agent on WhatsApp, ready to reply to messages automatically. Estimated time: 15 minutes.

Prerequisites

• An active Rela AI account (sign up here)
• A phone number with WhatsApp available to connect
• Access to the dashboard from a desktop browser

Step 1: Register your account

1. Open the dashboard at https://app.rela.ai.
2. Click Create account and enter your details.
3. Confirm your email by clicking the verification link.

You should see the main dashboard with the sidebar menu visible.

Step 2: Create a WhatsApp agent

1. In the sidebar, click Agents.
2. Click the New Agent button.
3. Fill in the fields:
   • Name: Test Assistant
   • Channel: select WhatsApp
   • Model: leave the default model
4. Click Create.

You should see the agent configuration page with the prompt sections visible.

Step 3: Configure the prompt sections

The agent prompt is divided into three key sections. Configure each one:

Identity

You are a virtual assistant for ACME company.
Your name is Ana and you help customers with general inquiries.

Instructions

1. Greet the user by name if you know it.
2. Answer questions about business hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
3. If you don't know the answer, indicate that a human agent will reach out soon.

Rules

- Never share prices without system confirmation.
- Always respond in the user's language.
- Keep responses under 3 paragraphs.

Click Save after completing each section.

Step 4: Connect your number via QR

1. On the agent page, go to the WhatsApp Connection section.
2. Click Generate QR code.
3. Open WhatsApp on your phone and go to Linked Devices > Link a device.
4. Scan the QR code displayed on screen.
5. Wait for the status to change to Connected (green indicator).

You should see the number status as "Connected" with a green dot next to the number.

Step 5: Test with a message

1. From another phone (or the same one, using a different contact), send a WhatsApp message to the connected number.
2. Type: Hello, what are your business hours?
3. Wait for the agent's response (it usually arrives in 2-5 seconds).

You should see a response from the agent mentioning business hours Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.

Step 6: Verify the response in the dashboard

1. Return to the dashboard and go to Agents > Test Assistant.
2. Click the Conversations tab.
3. Select the recent conversation.

You should see the full history: the user's message and the AI-generated response.

Summary

Next steps

• Assign tools to your agent so it can query data or create tasks
• Configure OTP authentication to protect sensitive information
• Connect data sources so your agent responds with real information