Message Options

Configuration options for sending messages

MiscMessageGenerationOptions

Options that can be passed when sending messages to control various aspects like quoting, ephemeral messages, timestamps, and more.

type MiscMessageGenerationOptions = MinimalRelayOptions & {
  timestamp?: Date
  quoted?: WAMessage
  ephemeralExpiration?: number | string
  mediaUploadTimeoutMs?: number
  statusJidList?: string[]
  backgroundColor?: string
  font?: number
  broadcast?: boolean
}

---

Core Options

timestamp

timestamp · Date

Optional custom timestamp for the message. If not provided, current time is used.

Example:

await sock.sendMessage(jid, { text: 'Hello' }, {
  timestamp: new Date('2024-01-01T12:00:00Z')
})

quoted

quoted · WAMessage

The message you want to quote/reply to. Pass the full WAMessage object.

Example:

// Quote/reply to a message
await sock.sendMessage(jid, 
  { text: 'This is a reply' }, 
  { quoted: originalMessage }
)

Type Reference:

type WAMessage = proto.IWebMessageInfo & {
  key: WAMessageKey
  messageStubParameters?: any
  category?: string
  retryCount?: number
}

ephemeralExpiration

ephemeralExpiration · number | string

Disappearing message expiration time in seconds. Common values:

• 86400 - 24 hours
• 604800 - 7 days (default)
• 7776000 - 90 days
• 0 - Disable disappearing messages

Example:

// Send a message that disappears after 24 hours
await sock.sendMessage(jid, 
  { text: 'Secret message' }, 
  { ephemeralExpiration: 86400 }
)

// Disable disappearing messages for this message
await sock.sendMessage(jid, 
  { text: 'Permanent message' }, 
  { ephemeralExpiration: 0 }
)

Note: The default ephemeral expiration is defined as:

const WA_DEFAULT_EPHEMERAL = 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 // 7 days

mediaUploadTimeoutMs

mediaUploadTimeoutMs · number

Timeout in milliseconds for uploading media to WhatsApp servers. Default is 30000ms (30 seconds).

Example:

// Increase timeout for large media files
await sock.sendMessage(jid, {
  video: fs.readFileSync('large-video.mp4')
}, {
  mediaUploadTimeoutMs: 60000 // 60 seconds
})

---

Status & Broadcast Options

statusJidList

statusJidList · string[]

Array of JIDs to send status messages to. Used when sending to status@broadcast.

Example:

// Send status to specific contacts
await sock.sendMessage('status@broadcast', {
  text: 'My status update'
}, {
  statusJidList: [
    '[e-mail]',
    '[e-mail]'
  ]
})

backgroundColor

backgroundColor · string

Background color for status messages (hex color code).

Example:

await sock.sendMessage('status@broadcast', {
  text: 'Colorful status'
}, {
  backgroundColor: '#FF5733',
  statusJidList: ['[e-mail]']
})

font

font · number

Font type/style for status messages. WhatsApp supports different font styles for text statuses.

Example:

await sock.sendMessage('status@broadcast', {
  text: 'Status with custom font'
}, {
  font: 2,
  backgroundColor: '#000000',
  statusJidList: ['[e-mail]']
})

broadcast

broadcast · boolean

Whether this message is a broadcast message.

Example:

await sock.sendMessage('[e-mail]', {
  text: 'Broadcast message'
}, {
  broadcast: true
})

---

Relay Options

messageId

messageId · string

Override the auto-generated message ID with a custom ID.

Example:

await sock.sendMessage(jid, 
  { text: 'Custom ID message' }, 
  { messageId: 'MY_CUSTOM_MESSAGE_ID_12345' }
)

useCachedGroupMetadata

useCachedGroupMetadata · boolean · default: "true"

Whether to use cached group metadata or fetch fresh from the server.

Example:

// Force fresh group metadata fetch
await sock.sendMessage(groupJid, 
  { text: 'Group message' }, 
  { useCachedGroupMetadata: false }
)

---

MinimalRelayOptions

Base options inherited by MiscMessageGenerationOptions.

type MinimalRelayOptions = {
  messageId?: string
  useCachedGroupMetadata?: boolean
}

---

MessageRelayOptions

Extended relay options used internally for message relay operations.

type MessageRelayOptions = MinimalRelayOptions & {
  participant?: { jid: string; count: number }
  additionalAttributes?: { [_: string]: string }
  additionalNodes?: BinaryNode[]
  useUserDevicesCache?: boolean
  statusJidList?: string[]
}

participant

participant · { jid: string; count: number }

Send only to a specific participant. Used when message decryption fails for a single user.

participant.jid · string · required

JID of the specific participant

participant.count · number · required

Retry count for this participant

additionalAttributes

additionalAttributes · { [key: string]: string }

Additional attributes to add to the WA binary node.

additionalNodes

additionalNodes · BinaryNode[]

Additional binary nodes to include in the message.

useUserDevicesCache

useUserDevicesCache · boolean · default: "true"

Whether to use the devices cache or fetch fresh from the server.

---

Usage Example

Complete example showing multiple options:

import makeWASocket from '@whiskeysockets/baileys'

const sock = makeWASocket({ /* auth config */ })

// Send a quoted message with ephemeral expiration
const sentMsg = await sock.sendMessage(
  '[e-mail]',
  {
    text: 'This is a reply that will disappear',
    mentions: ['[e-mail]']
  },
  {
    // Quote the original message
    quoted: originalMessage,
    
    // Make it disappear after 24 hours
    ephemeralExpiration: 86400,
    
    // Custom timestamp
    timestamp: new Date(),
    
    // Custom message ID
    messageId: 'custom_id_123',
    
    // Force fresh group metadata
    useCachedGroupMetadata: false
  }
)

console.log('Message sent:', sentMsg.key.id)

Status Message Example

// Send a styled status update to specific contacts
await sock.sendMessage(
  'status@broadcast',
  {
    text: '🎉 Check out my new status!'
  },
  {
    backgroundColor: '#4A90E2',
    font: 3,
    statusJidList: [
      '[e-mail]',
      '[e-mail]',
      '[e-mail]'
    ]
  }
)

Media Upload Example

import fs from 'fs'

// Send large video with extended timeout
await sock.sendMessage(
  jid,
  {
    video: fs.readFileSync('large-video.mp4'),
    caption: 'Check out this video!'
  },
  {
    // Extend timeout for large file
    mediaUploadTimeoutMs: 120000, // 2 minutes
    
    // Quote another message
    quoted: previousMessage
  }
)