Send messages from a CSV file using Node.js

Table of contents

Introduction
Prerequisites
Install required packages
Create the CSV file
Create a file with the code
Replace the API token
Run the program
Conclusion

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to send messages to phone numbers stored in a CSV file using Node.js, the axios library, and the Utio API. We will read the phone numbers and both text and media messages from the CSV file, and then send them using the Utio API.

This article is just a small taste of all the API features. Explore dozens of use cases and ready-to-use code examples here.

Prerequisites

Basic understanding of JavaScript and Node.js
Node.js installed on your computer
A text editor for writing code (e.g: Visual Studio Code, Atom, Vim)
A Utio API token (you can obtain this by signing up here)

Install required packages

First, create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your terminal. Then, run the following commands to create a new package.json file and install the necessary libraries:

npm init -y
npm install axios csv-parse

Create the CSV file

Create a new file named numbers.csv in your project directory with two columns:

First column: phone number in E164 format with the country prefix.
Second column: text message to send to the target phone number.

The spreadsheet document should look like this:

Phone number	Message body
+1234567890	👋 Welcome to {{your-business-name}}! Thanks for signing up. We are just a message away!
+1234567890	💐 Your order has been shipped. Tracking number is {{tracking-number}}. Don't hesitate to reach out to if you need help! 🤗

The equivalent spreadsheet document exported as CSV should look like this:

+1234567890,"👋 Welcome to {{your-business-name}}! Thanks for signing up. We are just a message away!"
+1234567890,"💐 Your order has been shipped. Tracking number is {{tracking-number}}. Don't hesitate to reach out to if you need help! 🤗"

You can export any Office Excel or Google Sheets document as CSV file by following these instructions:

Create a file with the code

Send text messages

Create a new file named send_messages.js in your project directory and add the following code:

const axios = require('axios')
const fs = require('fs/promises')
const { parse } = require('csv-parse/sync')

// Set local path of the CSV file
// You can export any Excel/Google Sheets document as CSV
const csvFile = 'file.csv'

// Replace this with your Utio API token
// Get your API token here: https://whatsapp.utio.io/apikeys
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE'

// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Utio
// you want to use for messages delivery (24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE'

// Set the download URL of the file to be sent.
// The file must be publicly accessible from the Internet and return the file binary content
// You can also upload a local file in Google Drive and make the file publicly available for download
// Accepted file formats are: images (JPEG, WEBP, PNG), video (MP4), audio (MP3, OGG) and documents (PDF, XLSX, DOCX, ZIP...)
const fileUrl = 'https://picsum.photos/seed/picsum/600/500'

// Define the headers for the API request
const headers = {
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  'Authorization': `${token}`,
}

// Define the URL for the Utio API
const url = 'https://whatsapp-api.utio.io/v1/messages'

const normalizePhone = phone => {
  return `+${phone.replace(/\D/g, '')}`
}

const sendMessage = async (phone, message) => {
  const body = { device, phone, message: message.trim() }
  try {
    const response = await axios.post(url, body, { headers })
    console.log(`=> Message created: ${phone}`)
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to create message to ${phone}:', error.response ? error.response.data : error)
  }
}

const main = async () => {
  try {
    console.log('=> Reading CSV file...')
    const data = await fs.readFile(csvFile, 'utf-8')
    const records = parse(data, { columns: false, skip_empty_lines: true })

    console.log('=> Processing messages...')
    for (const [phone, message] of records) {
      if (!phone || !message) {
        continue
      }

      const number = normalizePhone(phone)
      if (number && number.length >= 8 && message) {
        await sendMessage(number, message)
      }
    }
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Error:', err)
  }
}

main()

Send media messages

In this example, we will create a different program called send_media.js in order to send multiple image media messages to different phone numbers loaded from a Google Sheets document.

In order to send a media message, the easiest way is to provide a file download URL. If your file is not already uploaded somewhere, you can upload the file to Google Drive and make the file publicly available to be downloaded by Utio in order to send it later.

Example download URL from a public file in Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1RG3CAPiwiFlFATUlIIwhk0RrbEU4PgVP&export=download

Important: the given download URL must return the file binary content, otherwise it will fail.

Create a new file named send_media.js in your project directory and add the following code:

const axios = require('axios')
const { parse } = require('csv-parse/sync')

// Set local path of the CSV file
// You can export any Excel/Google Sheets document as CSV
const csvFile = 'file.csv'

// Set the download URL of the file to be sent.
// The file must be publicly accessible from the Internet and return the file binary content
// You can also upload a local file in Google Drive and make the file publicly available for download
// Accepted file formats are: images (JPEG, WEBP, PNG), video (MP4), audio (MP3, OGG) and documents (PDF, XLSX, DOCX, ZIP...)
const fileUrl = 'https://picsum.photos/seed/picsum/600/500'

// Replace this with your Utio API token
// Get your API token here: https://whatsapp.utio.io/apikeys
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE'

// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Utio
// you want to use for messages delivery (24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE'

// Define the headers for the API request
const headers = {
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  'Authorization': `${token}`
}

// Define URLs for the Utio API
const baseUrl = 'https://whatsapp-api.utio.io/v1'
const url = `${baseUrl}/messages`
const filesUrl = `${baseUrl}/files`

const uploadFile = async (url) => {
  const body = { url }
  try {
    const response = await axios.post(filesUrl, body, { headers })
    return response.data.id
  } catch (error) {
    // If the file already exists, obtain the file ID from the response
    if (error.response && error.response.status === 409 && error.response.data) {
      return error.response.data.meta.file
    }
    console.error('Failed to upload file:', error.response ? error.response.data : error)
  }
}

const normalizePhone = phone => {
  return `+${phone.replace(/\D/g, '')}`
}

const sendMessage = async (phone, message, file) => {
  const body = {
    phone,
    message: message.trim(),
    device,
    media: { file }
  }
  try {
    await axios.post(url, body, { headers })
    console.log(`==> Message created: ${phone}`)
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to create message to ${phone}:', error.response ? error.response.data : error)
  }
}

const main = async () => {
  try {
    if (!fileUrl) {
      throw new Error('Missing required fileUrl')
    }

    console.log('=> Reading CSV file...')
    const data = await fs.readFile(csvFile, 'utf-8')
    const records = parse(data, { columns: false, skip_empty_lines: true })

    console.log('=> Uploading file...')
    const file = await uploadFile(fileUrl)
    if (!file) {
      throw new Error('Failed to upload file: check the error')
    }

    console.log('=> Processing messages...')
    for (const [phone, message] of records) {
      if (!phone || !message) {
        continue
      }

      const number = normalizePhone(phone)
      if (number && number.length >= 8 && message) {
        await sendMessage(number, message, file)
      }
    }
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Error:', err)
  }
}

main()

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Replace the API token

In the send_messages.js file, make sure you have defined the API token of your actual Utio account:

// Replace this with your Utio API token
const token = 'ENTER API KEY HERE'

Optionally, if you have multiple WhatsApp numbers connected in your Utio account, you can specify which WhatsApp number you want to use for the messages delivery by specifying the Utio unique device ID (24 characters hexadecimal value) in the following line:

// Optionally specify the target WhatsApp device ID connected to Utio
// you want to use for messages delivery (24 characters hexadecimal value)
const device = 'DEVICE ID GOES HERE'

Run the program

Run the program in the cloud

Run the program on your computer

Before running the program, if you plan to send hundreds of messages in a row, we recommend to define a lower messages delivery speed per minute no more than 2-3 messages per minute to prevent ban issues due to anti-spam policies by WhatsApp. Learn more about best practices and how to reduce risk here.

Open a terminal in your project directory and run the following command to execute the send_messages.js script:

node send_messages.js

Similarly, you can run the send_media.js script in order to send media messages:

node send_media.js

If everything is set up correctly, you should see output indicating the messages have been created successfully:

=> Message created: +1234567890
=> Message created: +1234567890
=> Message created: +1234567890

Note messages will be added to your number's message delivery queue and delivered asynchronously in background over time based on your number's subscription message delivery speed per minute limit or the manually configured delivery speed you have defined in your number's settings.

Messages may take several minutes or hours, depending on how much you have created, to be effectively delivered to the target phone numbers via WhatsApp. You can monitor the progress fo the messages delivery in the web panel or automatically by using webhook events.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to send messages to phone numbers stored in a CSV file using Node.js, the axios library, and the Utio API.

You can update numbers.csv file and run the program again anytime you want to send new messages through your Utio connected WhatsApp number.

You can further customize the script to handle additional columns, create different types of messages, or integrate it with your own software as needed.