Show HN: MCP server that exposes WhatsApp Business API using the PyWA library
A comprehensive MCP server has been created that exposes the full WhatsApp Business API through the PyWA library, enabling integration of WhatsApp messaging capabilities into AI applications.
Background
- **MCP (Model Context Protocol)** is a recently open-sourced protocol by Anthropic (the makers of Claude) that standardizes how AI apps connect to external tools and data sources — think of it as "USB-C for AI models." An MCP server lets an AI assistant do things like send messages, query databases, or interact with APIs on the user's behalf.
- **PyWA (Python WhatsApp API)** is a popular third-party Python library that wraps WhatsApp's official Business API, allowing developers to send/receive messages, manage templates, and handle media programmatically.
- **WhatsApp Business API** is the official, paid tier that lets businesses send notifications and customer-service messages via WhatsApp, separate from the consumer app. It requires approval from Meta (Facebook) and a business-number verification.
- This project bundles PyWA's functionality into an MCP server, meaning an AI assistant (e.g., Claude Desktop) could directly send WhatsApp messages, read incoming chats, or manage message templates just by being asked — without custom one-off code per use case.