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Coexistence is Meta’s official way to let one WhatsApp Business number work in two places at once: the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, and a platform like Ciarem through the API. In Ciarem you activate it from Channels > WhatsApp with the Keep using your phone — connect via coexistence option.

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What it means day to day

  • A customer messages your number. The message arrives on your phone and in Ciarem’s Inbox.
  • Ciarem’s AI agent replies. The reply appears in the customer’s chat and in your app’s conversation thread.
  • You answer someone manually from your phone. Ciarem sees it, so the agent knows a human already responded and does not talk over you.
Your number, your app, and your customer chats stay where they are. The AI answers on the same number.

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When you reply from the phone

A reply you send from the WhatsApp Business app appears in Ciarem’s Inbox within seconds, as an outgoing message labeled WhatsApp Business app, so the thread in Ciarem is always complete. The moment that reply arrives, three things happen:
  • The conversation is marked as being handled from the app, with a marker in the thread: “Someone is replying from the WhatsApp Business app.”
  • The AI stops immediately. Even a reply it was in the middle of writing is cancelled, so it never talks over you.
  • Ciarem’s composer locks, with a Take over button for when someone wants to continue from the Inbox instead.
Edits and deletions sync too: a message you edit on the phone updates in Ciarem, and one you delete shows “This message was deleted”. The mirroring is one-way. Replies the AI or your team send from Ciarem are never duplicated back, and messages sent from the app never count toward your Ciarem message usage.

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What carries over when you connect

  • Chat history: the last 6 months of your conversation history sync into Ciarem after activation, so the agent has context on existing conversations. Anything older than 6 months stays only in your phone’s app.
  • Your app keeps its own features: greetings, away messages, labels, and broadcast lists you set up in the app keep working there, though they apply only to the app side.

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Limitations to know

  • Group chats are not visible to Ciarem. Humans can keep using groups from the app; the agent ignores them.
  • Broadcast lists and Status stay app-only.
  • Writing to a customer from Ciarem more than 24 hours after their last message requires an approved message template, as on any API line. From the app you can keep writing as usual. See WhatsApp costs and the 24-hour window.

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Can I switch to a full API line later?

Yes. If your volume grows and the platform becomes your team’s main workspace, you can connect the number as a dedicated line instead (the Connect WhatsApp Business option). Keep in mind that a full API line means the number no longer lives in the Business app.