Quickstart: Low-Level WAClient

Quickstart: Low-Level WAClient#

Use this guide if you want direct control over socket lifecycle and events.

Prerequisites#

  • Python 3.11+

  • WhatsApp account on phone

  • Internet connection

Install#

pip install waton

For local development from repository root:

pip install -e .[dev]
maturin develop

Minimal client example#

import asyncio

from waton.client.client import WAClient
from waton.infra.storage_sqlite import SQLiteStorage


async def main() -> None:
    storage = SQLiteStorage("waton_low_level.db")
    client = WAClient(storage)

    async def on_connection_update(event):
        print(f"[connection] status={event.status}")
        if event.qr:
            print("[connection] qr received")

    async def on_message(node):
        print(f"[node] tag={node.tag} attrs={node.attrs}")

    async def on_event(event):
        print(f"[event] type={event.get('type')}")

    client.on_connection_update = on_connection_update
    client.on_message = on_message
    client.on_event = on_event

    await client.connect()
    print("Connected. Running ping...")
    pong = await client.send_ping()
    print(f"Ping OK: {pong.attrs}")

    await asyncio.sleep(10)
    await client.disconnect()
    await storage.close()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Run#

python my_low_level.py

Expected output#

  • [connection] status=connecting

  • QR event appears and can be scanned

  • [connection] status=open

  • Ping OK: ...

When to use WAClient directly#

  • You need normalized event stream handling (client.on_event).

  • You need custom lifecycle/reconnect behavior.

  • You are building your own abstraction layer.

Next steps#

Contents