Can Whatsapp Cloud API be used for business as a reseller?
like what is the difference between the new Whatsapp Cloud API and the API we get from Resellers?
Also, is there an API to automate the signup process?
Those Resellers you mention are often Business Solution Providers (BSPs), or BSP partners.
So that implies, in order to be WhatsApp Cloud API reseller, you will need to be either a BSP or BSP partner.
The Cloud API architecture significantly simplifies the BSP’s operational and infrastructure requirements to integrate with WhatsApp Business Platform.
See "What is the architecture of the Cloud API?", in Cloud API FAQs
As a BSP or its partner, a reselling program is available to you both for On-premises/Managed WhatsApp Business API and Cloud API. However, you need to take into account Cloud API is relatively new and all BSPs are currently adapting/expanding their current solutions to new service offered by Meta.
In other words, Cloud API is not yet available everywhere and current services offered by BSPs are more versatile and feature rich than Cloud API until this will eventually change.
The largest WhatsApp BSP is 360dialog, offering WhatsApp Business API integration Platform as a Service, and on-premises plans.
Since you asked about differences between Cloud API and BSPs, let me give a short comparison between Cloud API and 360dialog key differences, as an example:
Differences
360dialog
Meta Cloud API
Message Throughput (Per Second)
Flexible scalability setups for small to large businesses. Send up to 70 text messages per second for single-connect. Send up to 250 text messages per second for multi-connect.
Up to 80 messages per second of combined sending and receiving (inclusive of text and media messages). In the event of high system loads, a business may experience reduced message throughput. Starting in July 2022, support up to 250 messages per second of combined sending and receiving (inclusive of text and media messages), by request
SLA - Uptime
Standard and Premium support with different SLAs: >99%, >98%
Goals of 99.9% at GraphAPI.
SLA - Disaster Recovery
Average response time of 4h. Escalation Path to Meta team after 360dialog investigation.
No SLA
Sources:
Full comparison table of differences between On-premises and Cloud API solutions.
360dialog Pricing
So, as you might've noticed, with BSP will work more closely with you as a solution provider and will offer you more flexibility depending on the business scale.
WhatsApp Business API requires some developer effort, but there are also different WhatsApp API based solutions that make this whole process a lot easier.
One of them is get.chat WhatsApp Business Team Inbox & WhatsApp Integration API which will help you to integrate with WhatsApp much faster. Plus, it will enable access to non-technical people in your team/company, too!
I am a co-founder and CTO so I am open to answer any questions if you want to know more about our solution. Here is also a link to the docs if you're interested in learning more by yourself.
Further reading:
An easy guide about WhatsApp Business API by get.chat
Cloud API FAQs - offered by Meta directly
On-premises WhatsApp Business API FAQs - hosted by BSPs and resellers
now there are two types of Whatsapp Business API. The ones from the diferent Busniness Solution Providers (BSP) and the one from Meta (Whatsapp CloudAPI).
I think that untill now, each BSP has develped it´s own APIS starting off the one provided by Meta. So each BSP offeres his own APIs (endpoints, libraries..).
Meta has now published the API offered to the BSP and now every business has direct access to it. No more BSP are needed, unless you want and easy to use solution.
The main difference I see between BSP and Meta API is that BSP are easier to use. MetaAPI is a huge complex system.
Now you don't need to look at BSP, all you can do is set up, create a business account and developer effort to make things work according to your business desire, and create message templates.
please have a below link for further eloboration.
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/338665938087159
I was just wondering if it was at all possible to execute/action a trade on the MetaTrader platform upon receiving a signal or response from an api.
If someone could just point me to some documentation or even assess the feasibility of this for me, I would be extremely grateful as I cant seem to find any relevant to the topic.
You can try MetaApi https://metaapi.cloud cloud service which provides REST API and WebSocket API access to both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 accounts.
Official REST API documentation: https://metaapi.cloud/docs/client
SDKs: https://metaapi.cloud/sdks (javascript, python and Java SDKs are provided as per April 2021)
It supports reading account information, positions, orders, trade history, receiving quotes, and accessing market data.
The service also provides copy trading API https://metaapi.cloud/docs/copyfactory and API to calculate forex trading metrics on a MetaTrader account https://metaapi.cloud/docs/metastats.
In regards to your use case you can use two methods to achieve the desired behaviour. First is to use MetaApi trade API and second is to use CopyFactory signal API. Both of these are available as REST API and via official javascript and python SDKs.
according to
https://metaapi.cloud/docs/client/
under "Features" section,
"... read historical market data..."
under "Current level of MetaTrader feature support" section,
"... At this point we have good coverage of MetaTrader features except retrieving historical market data."
under "Feature limitations depending on offering type" section,
"... historical market data is available for G1 and MT4 G2 only..."
can help to understand better whether data retrievals are supported?
I'm currently using Next.js for my front-end framework. I've been considering on using another javascript framework for my back-end, however it occured that me that existing CMS solutions like BigCommerce and Shopify exists.
I'm aware they have their own API reserved for developers, but from what I can see these are API usually made to develop tools and themes for other users on the platform itself. Is it possible that I can somehow leverage the power of these ecommerce CMS on my Next.js website? I don't know how these work because I've always seen them as softwares for non tech-specialists to build e-commerce without having the need to code. To know that an API for software exists is quite extraordinary
There's a lot that goes into building an e-commerce website, mainly the things that I am looking for is inventory management and supply chain management. Building these on top of a fullstack e-commerce website would take me too much time and goes beyond the constraint of the project. Do these API let you leverage their technology? But most importantly, do you have to pay a subscription fee to use their API as well as other features such as inventory management?
I am particularly interested in BigCommerce, because the Next.js commerce starter kit comes with BigCommerce integration out of the box (I'm not sure why they chose BigCommerce, as opposed to other CMS such as Shopify). Answers directly referring to BigCommerce are greatly appreciated.
The benefits and drawbacks of using an eCommerce CMS API can be pretty subjective. I have a large amount of experience with BigCommerce, and I can clarify with you that the BigCommerce API is used for much more than just building tools or themes for other BigCommerce users. I mostly see it used for custom integrations and extending the platform functionality.
Combining the API with your own back-end services can really give you unlimited possibilities in terms of functionality with the platform, especially where the platform may fall short in its native functionality. For example, if you feel like the store-credit system is lackluster natively - guess what? There are plenty of APIs that give you the potential to make your own store credit system and integration that suits your needs better.
To answer these questions:
Do these API let you leverage their technology?
The BigCommerce API has quite a bit of freedom in terms of which technologies you get to leverage. Pretty much every aspect of the platform has an API that can be used for your own needs.
Do you have to pay a subscription fee to use their API as well as other features such as inventory management?
There isn't any sort of subscription fee to use the BigCommerce API, and inventory management comes natively in the platform, as well as an API to manage your product inventory. There is also a large community of developers that have built apps for the platform that offer more advanced inventory management as well.
Whether or not you want to use the native BigCommerce functionality instead of a NextJS headless storefront all depends on your personal preference and goals. Using the built-in BigCommerce storefront is more simplistic and requires less development experience (if any at all), whereas if you wanted a headless storefront with BigCommerce using NextJS, this would ultimately give you more control, but would also require more coding/development knowledge.
An application-programming interface (API) is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a Web-based software application. Could someone explain to me in case of Google maps or Youtube which is the API and which is the software application? Are both visible to us and how? I know there are tons of articles out there, however I cannot clarify the above. APIs are like the waiters that transfer data among different machines. Okay, which exactly is the Google maps API and how do we call/use it? And which is the Google maps software application which is accessed by the API? When we write for example http://maps.google.co.uk/ do we call the API? My query may seem silly but I cannot find a good answer for that.
An application-programming interface (API) is a set of programming
instructions and standards for accessing a Web-based software
application.
Firstly, an API is not just for web-based software. Even your computer's OS provides APIs for hardware and software installed in the box.
For your question, an API is a method (code instructions) to connect your application to the features of another system. Allowing your application to use thay system's features as provided via the API.
Could someone explain to me in case of Google maps or Youtube which is
the API and which is the software application?
In the case of Youtube... Let's say you are making some Android video player app that you also want to be able to playback Youtube videos within that app. The software application is your own Android player code and to access the Youtube data you would use Youtube's Android API.
An example of using the API is this module : YouTubePlayer which as you can see provide API commands like loadVideo(String videoId, int timeMillis). Where videoId is the Youtube ID and timeMillis is the desired start time within the video).
When we write for example http://maps.google.co.uk/ how do we call the
API?
That's not how you would call the API. You must first visit the documentation of the API to see how it's expected to call features within your own app.
Google Maps : https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/
Let's assume now you're coding a Javascript app, you can see the commands here as a startng point. There is also an example page showing code & result.
Simple terms:
API = the waiter
Application Software = the chef
You order from the waiter. The waiter brings it to the chef. The chef prepares the food. The waiter then brings you your food. Then you figure out what to do with the food; eat it, take it home, throw it on the floor, let your dog eat it, give it the homeless, etc...
A website, app, etc... would send an API request (your order with the waiter) to Google Maps (the chef). If your API request is valid, Google Maps will send back an response (your cooked food with the waiter). Then the website or app takes the returned data and displays it in their custom way to you.
In the case of Google Maps, apps like Yelp and others use Google Maps' API to request specific data; routes, addresses, etc… and then they display it on their app.
To make an API request/call you have access to use the API, format it correctly, and figure out what to do when Google sends a response back : https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/
API is a set of functions and procedures that allow the creation of applications which access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service.
An API is like building block for your application. Multiple API's can exchange data without knowing the other's implementation. In a good design pattern , we should design API's for different independent tasks and then merge them.
Google Maps API
This is the google maps API which a developer can use to develop his own piece of software.
Whenever we use any software and it's different features, we might be using their API's without generally knowing of them.
A software application is always visible to us, but an API is visible only if the developer wants to expose it for community use.
EDIT
Using Google maps API
This link has the documentation and examples on how to use the google maps API using javascript.
Hope it helps!
When you use software, web applications included, you are in most cases using a wrapped API. Software developers took the time to take a raw back end API which executes commands on the system, and made these endpoints easy to use for a specific user in an intended universe of discourse, or domain. End users do not have direct access to everything the API has to offer all at once, so it is not "available" in the same sense that it is available to the developers, but it is available in another sense because they are using the API to execute commands on the system by virtue of the Application that was Programmed with that Interface existing and working.
The Google Maps API is used to integrate the power of Google Maps into almost any application. It provides facilities for customization and much more. When you use the Google Maps webapp, it is, to my knowledge, built using many components of the Google Maps API, as are the Google Maps apps for any other platform, such as Android. Does this mean you as a user are using the API? Only through the application; the application talks to the API for you.
“An application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types. An API defines functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations, which allows definitions and implementations to vary without compromising each other. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks.
APIs often come in the form of a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. In other cases, notably SOAP and REST services, an API is simply a specification of remote calls exposed to the API consumers.
An API specification can take many forms, including an International Standard, such as POSIX, vendor documentation, such as the Microsoft Windows API, or the libraries of a programming language, e.g., the Standard Template Library in C++ or the Java APIs.
An API differs from an application binary interface (ABI) in that an API is source code-based while an ABI is a binary interface. For instance POSIX is an API, while the Linux Standard Base provides an ABI”.
To speak plainly, an API is the messenger that runs and delivers your request to the provider you’re requesting it from, and then delivers the response back to you.
To give you a familiar example, think of an API as a waiter in a restaurant.
Imagine you’re sitting at the table with a menu of choices to order from, and the kitchen is the provider who will fulfill your order.
What’s missing is the critical link to communicate your order to the kitchen and deliver your food back to your table.
That’s where the waiter (or API) comes in. ”AHEM”
The waiter takes your order, delivers it to the kitchen, and then delivers the food (or response) back to you. (Hopefully without letting your order crash if designed correctly)
Now that we’ve whetted your appetite, let’s apply this to a real API example. In keeping with our theme, let’s book a flight to a culinary capital – Paris.
You’re probably familiar with the process of searching for airline flights online. Just like at a restaurant, you have a menu of options to choose from ( a dropdown menu in this case). You choose a departure city and date, a return city and date, cabin class, and other variables (like meal or seating, baggage or pet requests)
In order to book your flight, you interact with the airline’s website to access the airline’s database to see if any seats are available on those dates, and what the cost might be based on certain variables.
But, what if you are not using the airline’s website, which has direct access to the information? What if you are using online travel service that aggregates information from many different airlines? Just like a human interacts with the airline’s website to get that information, an application interacts with the airline’s API.
The API is the interface that, like your helpful waiter, runs and and delivers the data from that online travel service to the airline’s systems over the Internet.
It also then takes the airline’s response to your request and delivers right back to the online travel service .
And through each step of the process it facilitates that interaction between the travel service and the airline’s systems - from seat selection to payment and booking.
So now you can see that it’s APIs that make it possible for us all to use travel sites. They interface with with airlines’ APIs to gather information in order to present options back to us
The same goes for all interactions between applications, data and devices - they all have API’s that allow computers to operate them, and that's what ultimately creates connectivity.
API’s provide a standard way of accessing any application, data or device whether it is shopping from your phone, or accessing cloud applications at work.
So, whenever you think of an API, just think of it as your waiter running back and forth between applications, databases and devices to deliver data and create the connectivity that puts the world at our fingertips. And whenever you think of creating an API,
--MuleSoft
Is there any way currently to do a parallel payment in paypal with the rest api? I am building a mobile application and can only use the rest api system however there is no documentation on how you can use parallel payments with REST.
You can do everything else so it seems to me like the developers got to that feature and just gave up :P.
This feature is a huge part of our website and if we cannot use it on the mobile app it will mean we have to redo how we handle transactions on the site so that both areas are consistent.
If this feature is not available since rest was supposed to be the refresh of all their API's to support newer tech is it coming? Does anyone know and if you do any information on a timeline would be helpful.
REST API does not support parallel payments at this time, it's in the product road map but not yet in the released APIs.
An alternative for your use case is to integrate the webview embedded Express Checkout flow into your APP, it provides the most identical experience to payers since the new UI was released.