Run Genuka from WhatsApp with the assistant

Essential6 minChecked on 11/4/2026

What you will have: You write to Genuka's WhatsApp number and the assistant answers with your figures or acts for you.

The owner and the team follow and move the business forward from their phones, without opening the dashboard.

Before you start

Signed in to Genuka, this list ticks what your account already has.

Screens shown for:

Why it matters

In the field, at the market or on the move, opening the dashboard isn't always possible. The Genuka assistant also answers on WhatsApp: you write to a Genuka number from your own phone, and it does there what it does in the dashboard, with your rights. You can even send it a voice note, the photo of a receipt or an Excel file.

Summary

The WhatsApp assistant is the same assistant as the dashboard's. It recognizes you by the phone number of your Genuka account. It is open by default: your account just needs a phone number and the agent.access permission, and nobody must have turned it off for the company or for you.

Prerequisites

  • A phone number saved on your account, the one that has WhatsApp.
  • The agent.access permission (granted by default to all roles).
  • An AI token balance.
  • The channel must be available on your account: if the Assistant on WhatsApp card doesn't appear in My Account, it isn't yet.

Steps

1. Check that the channel is open for you

  1. Open Menu › Advanced › My Account.
  2. Find the Assistant on WhatsApp card.
  3. Check that the box Answer me on WhatsApp from my phone number is ticked. It is by default.
  4. The card says Write to (Genuka number) from (your number). Save the Genuka number in your contacts.

If the card shows "Add a phone number to your profile first", fill in your phone on the same screen, then come back to the card.

2. Write to the assistant

  1. In WhatsApp, open a conversation with the Genuka number shown on the card.
  2. Write your request as in the dashboard: "today's sales", "stock of rice 25 kg", "create an order of 3 bags for Awa".
  3. While it works, the assistant reacts to your message to show where it is, then answers.
  4. If your number is linked to several companies, it first asks you to choose the company from a list.
  5. For an edit or a deletion, it sends confirmation buttons: nothing happens without your tap.

3. Open or close the channel (administrator)

  • For the whole company: Settings › Company › Global Settings, WhatsApp assistant tab, box Allow this company to be managed from WhatsApp. The company.* permission is required.
  • For one member: Settings › Company › Team, open the member, Assistant on WhatsApp card, box Answer this member on WhatsApp from their phone number. The users.* permission is required.

Unticking either box closes the channel. Both are ticked as long as nobody has unticked them.

What you can send

MessageWhat the assistant does
TextIt answers or acts, as in the dashboard.
Voice noteIt transcribes it, then handles it like text.
Photo or PDFIt reads it (receipt, invoice, voucher) and can create an expense or an order from it. A scanned PDF, which is just an image, can't be read as text.
Excel or CSV fileIt reads it, for example to import a list.
Video, stickerNot supported: it tells you.

Useful commands

CommandEffect
/reset (or /new, /start)Starts a new conversation, without the previous context.
/switch (or /changer)Work on another company.
/help (or /aide)Reminds you what the assistant does and these commands.

After several hours without an exchange, a new message opens a new conversation anyway.

Edge cases and common mistakes

  • No answer at all. The number that writes doesn't match any Genuka account. Write from the number saved on your account, in the right format, and check it in My Account. For security, the assistant never answers an unknown number.
  • "The WhatsApp assistant is not enabled for your account." The box was unticked for the company or for you. An administrator ticks it again (see step 3).
  • "Your account does not have access to the Genuka assistant." Your role no longer has the agent.access permission. An administrator restores it in Settings › Company › Roles & Permissions.
  • The card doesn't appear in My Account. The channel is not yet available on your account. In Global Settings › WhatsApp assistant, a message says so too; you can prepare the setting there.
  • A shared number. The number acts as the identifier: anyone writing from that phone acts with the account's rights. Keep your team's numbers up to date and remove the number of an employee who leaves.
  • "No more AI credit." The assistant uses the same AI token balance as in the dashboard, including to read a photo or transcribe a voice note. Top up.
  • Administrator screen text. The WhatsApp assistant tab says that "the channel still has to be opened member by member". In fact, each member is open by default; the box on each member's page is mostly used to close the channel for someone.

FAQ

Do I need to install an app? No. You write to a WhatsApp number, from your usual WhatsApp.

Can the assistant do more on WhatsApp than in the dashboard? No. It has the same rights as your account, and edits always need a confirmation by button.

Can my employee use it? Yes, if they have a number on their account and the agent.access permission. They will only see what their role allows.

Does it use my messaging credits? No: AI tokens are used. The conversation takes place on Genuka's number, not on yours.

See also

Sign in to keep track of the lessons you have done.

Open in Genuka
Next lessonSet up an AI agent that answers your customers in the InboxContinue A question about this lesson?Ask the assistantIt answers from the lessons and shows you where to look.