Integrating Sinch WhatsApp with NestJS: A Developer Guide - code-examples -

Frequently Asked Questions

Integrate Sinch WhatsApp with NestJS by setting up a new NestJS project, installing necessary dependencies like `@nestjs/config`, `axios`, and `class-validator`, configuring environment variables for Sinch credentials, and structuring the project into modules for Sinch API interaction, webhook handling, and optional database integration.
The Sinch Conversation API is a unified platform provided by Sinch that allows developers to manage conversations across various channels, including WhatsApp. It simplifies the process of sending and receiving messages, managing contacts, and handling other communication aspects.
NestJS provides a robust and scalable framework for building server-side applications. Its modular architecture, dependency injection, and TypeScript support make it well-suited for complex integrations like WhatsApp messaging through the Sinch API.
MongoDB is optional but recommended if you need to persist message history or other data related to your WhatsApp interactions. Use it when you require data storage and retrieval capabilities beyond the immediate request-response cycle.
Create a Sinch service in your NestJS project to handle API calls. Use `axios` to send HTTP requests to the Sinch API endpoint for sending WhatsApp messages. Ensure you have the recipient's phone number and the message text content.
The webhook secret is a crucial security measure to verify the authenticity of incoming webhook requests from Sinch. It ensures that the requests originated from Sinch and haven't been tampered with.
Secure your webhook endpoint by verifying the signature of incoming requests using the shared webhook secret. Implement a guard or middleware that calculates the signature from the request body and compares it with the signature provided in the `x-sinch-signature` header.
You'll need Node.js, npm or yarn, the NestJS CLI, a Sinch account with Conversation API access, a registered and approved WhatsApp Business Sender, a publicly accessible HTTPS URL for webhooks, and a basic understanding of NestJS concepts.
Your Sinch API token and Service Plan ID are found in your Sinch Customer Dashboard under APIs > API Credentials. Ensure these are kept secure and not exposed in your codebase.
Sinch sends webhook notifications to your specified endpoint for incoming WhatsApp messages. Create a webhook controller in your NestJS app to receive these notifications and process the message data accordingly. Verify the signature of the webhook requests for security.
The `body-parser` middleware, specifically `bodyParser.raw()`, is crucial for accessing the raw request body of incoming webhooks. This raw body is required for webhook signature verification to ensure the message integrity and security.
Your application interacts with your NestJS backend, which communicates with the Sinch platform using the Conversation API. Sinch then sends the messages to WhatsApp users, and incoming messages flow back through webhooks to your NestJS backend.
Docker is optional but recommended for containerizing your NestJS application and Sinch integration for consistent deployment across different environments.
Create DTOs for sending messages (recipient's number, message content) and receiving webhook payloads. These DTOs enhance code clarity and provide validation for incoming data. For webhooks, DTOs should handle various event types via validation and nested properties.
The Sinch webhook signature is verified using a SHA256 HMAC with your webhook secret and a concatenation of the timestamp and raw request body. This is compared to the received signature in the x-sinch-signature header to ensure message integrity.