Pons
← All posts
Connect ChatGPT to WhatsApp via MCP

Connect ChatGPT to WhatsApp via MCP

How to use ChatGPT with your WhatsApp Business messages using Pons and the Model Context Protocol.

ChatGPT supports MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, which means you can connect it to external tools — including your WhatsApp Business inbox. With Pons, ChatGPT can list your conversations, search messages, and send replies.

Prerequisites

  • A ChatGPT Plus or Team subscription (MCP requires a paid plan)
  • A Pons account at pons.chat with a WhatsApp Business number connected (setup guide)

Step 1: Create an API key

  1. Sign in to pons.chat
  2. Click the key icon to open the API Key Manager
  3. Click Create Key
  4. Name it "ChatGPT" and select your scopes:
    • read — list conversations, search messages
    • write — mark as read, reactions
    • send — send messages
  5. Copy the key

Step 2: Add Pons as an MCP server in ChatGPT

  1. Open ChatGPT and go to Settings
  2. Navigate to the MCP Servers section
  3. Click Add Server
  4. Enter the details:
    • Name: Pons
    • URL: https://pons.chat/api/mcp
    • Authentication: Bearer token — paste your pons_ API key

Step 3: Use it

Start a new conversation and ask:

"List my WhatsApp conversations"

ChatGPT will use the Pons tools to fetch your conversations and display them.

More examples:

  • "Who hasn't gotten a reply on WhatsApp?"
  • "Search my WhatsApp messages for 'meeting tomorrow'"
  • "Send 'On my way' to +49123456789"
  • "What templates do I have available?"

Things to know

ChatGPT remembers context. You can have a conversation like: "Show me unanswered messages" → "Reply to the first one saying 'I'll check and get back to you'" — and ChatGPT will use the conversation ID from the first response.

Scopes control access. If you created a read-only key, ChatGPT can browse your conversations but can't send messages. This is useful if you want to use ChatGPT for analysis without giving it write access.

The 24-hour window matters. If a conversation's window is closed, ChatGPT will need to use send_template instead of send_text. Pons includes window status in the conversation data, so ChatGPT knows which to use.

Use cases

  • Daily summary — "Summarize my unread WhatsApp Business messages"
  • Customer triage — "Which WhatsApp conversations need a response? Draft replies for each."
  • Search — "Find any WhatsApp messages about the order #12345"
  • Template sending — "Send the welcome template to this list of phone numbers"