message_template_status_update Webhook

The message_template_status_update field reports lifecycle changes for an existing WhatsApp template. It is the primary webhook field for approval, rejection, pause, disablement, archive, deletion, and appeal status.

What message_template_status_update Reports

This field identifies the template and reports the current lifecycle event, category, language, and any reason or extra metadata available for that event.

It is especially important for:

• moving newly created templates from pending to approved or rejected,
• detecting templates that were paused, disabled, or flagged,
• showing rejection reasons and recommendations,
• keeping archived or deleted template state in sync.

When It Fires

Meta sends it when a template is approved, rejected, disabled, archived, unarchived, paused, flagged, locked, reinstated, deleted, or enters appeal.

Event Values

Common event values include:

Payload Shape

{
  "object": "whatsapp_business_account",
  "entry": [
    {
      "id": "<WABA_ID>",
      "time": 1751247548,
      "changes": [
        {
          "field": "message_template_status_update",
          "value": {
            "event": "REJECTED",
            "message_template_id": 1689556908129835,
            "message_template_name": "abandoned_cart",
            "message_template_language": "en",
            "reason": "INVALID_FORMAT",
            "message_template_category": "MARKETING",
            "rejection_info": {
              "reason": "Variables are not clearly separated.",
              "recommendation": "Add descriptive text between variables."
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Optional nested objects:

reason values are ABUSIVE_CONTENT, INCORRECT_CATEGORY, INVALID_FORMAT, NONE (paused), PROMOTIONAL, SCAM, and TAG_CONTENT_MISMATCH. CATEGORY_NOT_AVAILABLE is deprecated. other_info.title is FIRST_PAUSE, SECOND_PAUSE, RATE_LIMITING_PAUSE, UNPAUSE, or DISABLED.

Dualhook Handling

Dualhook subscription: subscribed and forwarded. Dualhook's Meta app subscribes to message_template_status_update. Meta does not allow Webhook Override for template fields, so it arrives on Dualhook's app-level callback.

Dualhook uses the event to update template status in the dashboard, show review outcomes, classify template problems, and forward the management event to your configured endpoint. ARCHIVED, UNARCHIVED, PENDING_DELETION, and LIMIT_EXCEEDED update the stored status, REINSTATED sets it back to APPROVED, and DELETED removes the template from the dashboard. FLAGGED and LOCKED leave the stored status unchanged.

Only template metadata and operational delivery status are stored. Outbound message bodies may transit the allowlisted runtime but are not persisted, cached, or body-logged.

Implementation Notes

• Treat message_template_id plus language as the safest identity pair. Meta usually sends the ID as a JSON number but sometimes as a string, so normalize it to a string before comparing.
• For REJECTED, show both reason and rejection_info when present.
• For PAUSED, FLAGGED, and DISABLED, slow or stop sends that use the affected template.
• Keep unknown event values. Meta adds lifecycle events over time.
• Do not assume reason is always a string; scheduled deletion events can report null.

Related

• Webhook Subscription Fields
• Webhook Events & Notifications
• Templates
• Template Elements
• message_template_quality_update webhook