Connect your channels

WhatsApp live now

Before you start

• A phone with WhatsApp installed and the SIM active.
• The app running on a machine that stays awake — pairing is lost if that machine is off for long.
• The facts you want it to answer from: prices, hours, delivery, what it must never promise.

Steps

1. 1. Open ChannelsIn the app dashboard, open Channels and choose WhatsApp. You will see a QR code.
2. 2. Link your numberOn your phone: WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices → Link a device, then scan the QR. The dashboard switches to “connected” within a few seconds.
3. 3. Send a test messageFrom a different phone (or ask a friend), send “do you deliver today?”. The reply should use your facts, not a canned string.
4. 4. Teach it your businessFill in prices, opening hours, delivery areas and lead times, then add the refusals: no invented prices, no promises about a specific time, no medical or legal advice.
5. 5. Set quiet hours and hand-offDecide when it answers, and what it says when a human is needed — typically “let me check with the owner”.
6. 6. Review the first dayRead the transcripts in the dashboard and correct anything that was wrong. Two rounds of corrections is usually enough for it to sound like you.

Common failures

• Logging out the linked device on your phone ends the session — pair again.
• One number per session. Running it twice on the same number drops one.
• If the machine sleeps, replies stop until it wakes; a small server or an always-on PC is the honest fix.

Facebook Page needs setup

Before you start

• A Facebook Page you administer (a personal profile is not enough).
• A free Meta developer account at developers.facebook.com.
• The app reachable at a public HTTPS address, so Meta can call it back.
• Two-factor authentication on the Facebook account that holds the tokens.

Steps

1. 1. Create the Meta appdevelopers.facebook.com → My Apps → Create app → choose the Business type. Name it after your business.
2. 2. Add the login productAdd Facebook Login for Business and paste this redirect URI:
3. 3. Ask for the right permissionsFor your own Page, basic access to pages_manage_posts and pages_read_engagement is enough — no review needed while you are the only admin.
4. 4. Copy the credentialsApp settings → Basic: copy the App ID and App Secret. Treat the secret like a password.
5. 5. Paste them into the appSettings → Channels → Facebook, paste both values, then press Connect and pick the Page you want to post to.
6. 6. Confirm the long-lived tokenThe app exchanges the short-lived login for a long-lived Page token on connect. If posting stops after about 60 days, that exchange did not happen — reconnect.
7. 7. Post one draftCreate a draft from the dashboard and check it appears in your Page's publishing tools. Delete it once you are happy.
8. 8. Set the scheduleChoose the daily time and what it posts from — an offer, a product photo, a catalog item, or a line you write each week.

Common failures

• Tokens expire: a user token lasts about 60 days unless it is exchanged for a Page token.
• An unpublished Page cannot be posted to.
• Anything that looks like engagement bait or a prohibited product is rejected by Meta — the post just will not appear.

Messenger needs setup

Before you start

• The Meta app and Page from the Facebook steps above.
• A public HTTPS address for the webhook — the app's tunnel works for testing, a domain is better for good.
• The privacy policy URL from this site, because Meta asks for one.

Steps

1. 1. Add the Messenger productIn the Meta app, add Messenger and open its settings.
2. 2. Generate a Page tokenRequest pages_messaging for your Page and generate the Page access token.
3. 3. Register the webhookPaste the callback URL below, and invent a verify token — a long random string you paste into both places.
4. 4. Subscribe to the eventsSelect messages, messaging_postbacks and message_deliveries. Without messages nothing arrives.
5. 5. Subscribe your PageAdd the Page to the app's Messenger subscriptions. This is the step people forget.
6. 6. Paste into the appSettings → Channels → Messenger: Page token plus the same verify token. The app confirms the webhook with Meta.
7. 7. Test a real messageSend your Page a DM from a personal account and watch the reply appear in the app's transcript.
8. 8. Request App ReviewUntil pages_messaging has Advanced Access, only app testers get replies. Include a screen recording of the flow — that is what reviewers ask for.

Common failures

• The 24-hour window: you may reply freely within 24 hours of the customer's last message; outside it, only approved message tags work.
• A mismatched verify token makes Meta reject the webhook with a 403 — the URL must answer within a few seconds.
• Review is not instant. Plan days, not hours, and answer only testers until it is approved.

Instagram needs setup

Before you start

• An Instagram Business or Creator account — personal accounts cannot be connected.
• That account linked to the same Facebook Page as your Meta app.

Steps

1. 1. Switch the account typeInstagram app → Settings → Account type → switch to Business or Creator. This is reversible.
2. 2. Link it to the PageIn the Facebook Page settings, connect the Instagram account. Both must be in the same Meta Business portfolio for the smoother path.
3. 3. Add the Instagram productIn the Meta app, add Instagram and request instagram_basic, instagram_manage_messages and pages_show_list.
4. 4. Copy the account idFetch the linked Instagram business account ID from the Graph API explorer (the app shows the exact call).
5. 5. Connect in the appSettings → Channels → Instagram: connect the account and paste the business account ID.
6. 6. Test a DMMessage the account from another Instagram account and confirm the reply.
7. 7. Request messaging reviewSame review as Messenger; instagram_manage_messages also controls replying to comments if you want that later.

Common failures

• Personal accounts simply have no API access to messages.
• Captions are limited to 2,200 characters and images to specific ratios — the app's formatter handles both, but your source image must be good enough.

YouTube needs setup

Before you start

• A YouTube channel. A Brand account is better than a personal one for handing over access later.
• A Google Cloud project (free).
• One video to test with, uploaded as private.

Steps

1. 1. Create the projectconsole.cloud.google.com → new project. Keep the project ID — you will need it for the quota request.
2. 2. Enable the APIAPIs & services → Library → enable YouTube Data API v3.
3. 3. Configure the consent screenChoose External, fill the app name and support email, and add your own address as a test user.
4. 4. Add the redirect URICredentials → Create credentials → OAuth client ID → Web application, and paste the URI below.
5. 5. Copy client ID and secretPaste both into Settings → Channels → YouTube in the app.
6. 6. Consent oncePress Connect and sign in with the Google account that owns the channel. The refresh token is stored in the app's key vault, not in the browser.
7. 7. Upload a private testTitle, description, tags and privacy=private. Check it in YouTube Studio before you schedule anything public.
8. 8. Set the schedulePick a daily time. Publishing more than a few videos a day will hit the quota below.
9. 9. Know your quotaAn upload costs about 1,600 of the default 10,000 daily units, so roughly six uploads a day. Ask for a quota increase in the Cloud console if you need more.

Common failures

• While the OAuth app is unverified, only test users you listed can consent, and Google shows a warning screen.
• The quota resets at midnight Pacific time — a burst at the end of the day simply fails until tomorrow.
• Uploading to the wrong channel is a consent mistake: sign in as the Brand account, not a personal profile.

Google needs setup

Before you start

• The same Google Cloud project you made for YouTube (one project can serve both).
• A Google Business Profile with a verified location.

Steps

1. 1. Request Business Profile accessEnable the Business Profile API in the Cloud console, then submit the access request form. This one is approval-gated and can take weeks.
2. 2. Enable Calendar and GmailEnable the Google Calendar API, and the Gmail API if you want the assistant to send confirmations by email.
3. 3. Choose the scopesBusiness Profile management for review replies, Calendar events for bookings, Gmail send for confirmations. Ask for nothing you do not use — reviewers check.
4. 4. Connect the accountSettings → Channels → Google, press Connect, and grant access on the Google screen.
5. 5. Pick the locationChoose which verified business location the assistant may reply for. Wrong location is the most common cause of “no reviews found”.
6. 6. Reply to one review yourselfDraft it in the dashboard and publish, so you see exactly what goes out before it is automated.

Common failures

• Without API access approval, the Business Profile calls return an error no matter how good the token is.
• An unverified or suspended location cannot be replied to.
• Review replies follow Google's content policy: no incentives, no personal data, no links to unrelated sites.

Imo not available

Imo publishes no bot API, no webhooks and no message-delivery platform for third parties. That is not a HerovaAi limitation — there is simply nothing to connect to.

The ways people automate Imo in the wild are an unofficial client library or a phone bridge driving the app's UI. Both break whenever Imo updates, both violate their terms, and both put the account at risk of a ban — including the number your customers already know. We will not build that into something you depend on.

What to do instead

• Keep Imo manual, and answer it during the hours you already check it.
• Ask Imo for partner or business API access directly — if enough businesses ask, these things appear.
• Move the conversations that matter to a channel with a real API: WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram, all of which are on this page.
• If you only need Imo as a notification channel, forward those notifications to an email the assistant can read.