Quick setup checklist
1
Use generic languages and avoid region-specific variants
Some WhatsApp template language variants do not map cleanly to RapidPro.app language codes. To reduce mismatches, use the generic language instead of region-specific variants.
Avoid these region-specific WhatsApp languages:
- Chinese (HKG)
zh_HK - Chinese (TAI)
zh_TW - English (UK)
en_UK - English (US)
en_US - Portuguese (Brazil)
pt_BR - Spanish (Argentina)
es_AR - Spanish (Spain)
es_SPA - Spanish (Mexico)
es_MX
Tip: If you already created templates using a region variant, create a second template using the generic language code and test which one is selected reliably.
2
Apply the WhatsApp to RapidPro.app language mapping
Use the mappings below to align WhatsApp template languages with RapidPro.app language codes:
af="afr" # Afrikaans
sq="sqi" # Albanian
ar="ara" # Arabic
az="aze" # Azerbaijani
bn="ben" # Bengali
bg="bul" # Bulgarian
ca="cat" # Catalan
zh_CN="zho" # Chinese (CHN)
hr="hrv" # Croatian
cs="ces" # Czech
da="dah" # Danish
nl="nld" # Dutch
en="eng" # English
et="est" # Estonian
fil="fil" # Filipino
fi="fin" # Finnish
fr="fra" # French
de="deu" # German
el="ell" # Greek
gu="gul" # Gujarati
he="enb" # Hebrew
hi="hin" # Hindi
hu="hun" # Hungarian
id="ind" # Indonesian
ga="gle" # Irish
it="ita" # Italian
ja="jpn" # Japanese
kn="kan" # Kannada
kk="kaz" # Kazakh
ko="kor" # Korean
lo="lao" # Lao
lv="lav" # Latvian
lt="lit" # Lithuanian
mk="mkd" # Macedonian
ms="msa" # Malay
mr="mar" # Marathi
nb="nob" # Norwegian
fa="fas" # Persian
pl="pol" # Polish
pt_PT="por" # Portuguese (PT)
pa="pan" # Punjabi
ro="ron" # Romanian
ru="rus" # Russian
sr="srp" # Serbian
sk="slk" # Slovak
sl="slv" # Slovenian
es="spa" # Spanish
sw="swa" # Swahili
sv="swe" # Swedish
ta="tam" # Tamil
te="tel" # Telugu
th="tha" # Thai
tr="tur" # Turkish
uk="ukr" # Ukrainian
ur="urd" # Urdu
uz="uzb" # Uzbek
vi="vie" # VietnameseWarning: If your template language does not map cleanly, RapidPro.app may select the wrong template (or none), especially in multilingual workspaces.
3
Validate templates against your workspace languages
- Open Workspace Settings → Languages and list your enabled languages.
- For each language you support, confirm you have a WhatsApp template created in a compatible language code.
- Standardize on one approach (generic language codes) so your team doesn’t mix variants across templates.
Tip: Use consistent naming in your provider dashboard (e.g., notify_delivery_eng, notify_delivery_fra) so it’s obvious which RapidPro.app language each template supports.
4
Test template language selection in a flow
- Pick one contact and set their Preferred Language to a target language you support.
- Trigger a simple WhatsApp flow step that sends a template message.
- Repeat with a second language.
- Confirm the correct template is selected each time.
Tip: When debugging, temporarily include a language marker in the template text (e.g., “(EN)”, “(FR)”) so you can confirm selection instantly—then remove it before production.
Common Issues
Templates aren’t being selected for the right language
Fixes:
- Confirm your WhatsApp template uses a language code that maps correctly (use the mapping list above).
- Avoid region-specific variants like
en_US,pt_BR,es_MX, etc. - Verify the contact’s preferred language is set correctly when testing.
One language works, but another doesn’t
Fixes:
- Check whether the failing language is one of the “avoid” variants.
- Create and approve a generic template instead (e.g., use
eninstead ofen_US). - Confirm the template is approved and active in your provider dashboard.