WhatsApp prioritizes quality developer experiences with Postman

When planning the Cloud API, the WhatsApp product development team focused on creating a quality developer experience. Close attention had to be paid to onboarding times to enable developers to quickly integrate new APIs. Thoughtful onboarding was necessary, otherwise it could take days to reach the basic starting point of ‘Hello World'.

Generally speaking, getting up and running with new APIs requires building GET requests as well as finding and inputting variables. Reducing the time developers spend reading documentation before working with the API is an important part of building a quality developer experience.

One option development teams like WhatsApp have to create a streamlined process would be to partner with an API platform. The platform would require robust collaboration capabilities and seamless communication, all available in one place. Additionally, since multiple toolsets are typically used in development by using an API platform greater efficiencies could be achieved for integrations.

After considering other options, the WhatsApp product team chose to partner with the Postman API Platform due to their familiarity with it and its recognition as an industry leader. Postman's ability to easily request different programming languages and frameworks was among the many reasons it was favored.

“For me, one of the most exciting things about Postman is that it is extremely accessible and welcoming for product managers. It's a well-thought-out platform. With Postman, we are able to more easily make APIs available to the world.”

Marco Wirasinghe, Head of Product and Developer Experience, WhatsApp Business Platform

Additionally, the strength of the Postman and the Meta developer communities provide ample opportunities for developers to share knowledge, best practices, and innovative use cases for the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Now, developers interested in the Cloud API can integrate WhatsApp directly into an existing tech stack and easily manage communications from one place using Postman. There's no need for multiple tools.

“I love that Postman focuses on the developer experience. I don't have to worry about nitty-gritty technical details when I use it. Instead, I can focus on achieving my goals. Postman has done a great job of being awesome.”

Arushi Grover, Senior Software Engineer, WhatsApp Business Platform

It's now possible to reach customers with meaningful and timely communication quicker than ever. It just takes one click to download the Postman Collection for the API to, for example, build message templates.

Variables are pre-filled, meaning API calls can be made immediately, saving a considerable amount of time. And once phone numbers have been added, developers can send WhatsApp Business messages. Automation is available for both text and media messages by building a workflow.

Developers can also refer to Postman's API documentation tools to add and access examples of API requests and responses. This enables a higher level of teamwork for existing team members and provides a point of reference for new developers.

To fuel collaboration, the Cloud API uses a public Postman workspace that augments documentation. Additionally, environments and collections can be grouped in the workspace enabling greater community engagement for developers using the Cloud API.

Last but not least, once messages have been sent, developers can assess conversation quality in an easy-to-use dashboard that tracks the business impact of messaging.

The Postman integration with the WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API helped create a streamlined, developer-friendly experience.

With Postman, onboarding time is reduced to minutes using automation and pre-filled data, which isn't the case with alternative methods that require manual setup. Developers can progress from signing up for the WhatsApp Business Platform to testing phone numbers and building message calls in a few minutes.

“Postman removes all the friction from onboarding as it is so intuitive. All the resources are in one easy-to-navigate and understand space. A developer can go from being a newbie to building advanced applications in a short time.”

Arushi Grover, Senior Software Engineer, WhatsApp Business Platform

The time-to-value, also known as the time taken to make the first API call, is expedited. Developers utilizing the Postman API Platform can begin sending test messages in minutes with a fully-featured sandbox, free test numbers, messages, code samples, and more.

Developers can quickly build APIs using a predictable methodology to enhance communications with customers covering everything from project management, to CRMs, to CX tools, and more.

“Postman creates an amazing developer experience, and there's great demand for it. I've enjoyed it as a developer, and as a product manager”

Marco Wirasinghe, Head of Product and Developer Experience, WhatsApp Business Platform

The partnership between the premier API platform Postman and the world's largest messaging app WhatsApp⁴ means developers have an easy way to build and scale communications. Using Postman, a best-in-class platform, the WhatsApp Business Platform can help future-proof its Cloud API.