# Send WhatsApp session message

A regular message consists of simply a textual message. Below is a example to send one to a WhatsApp number:

```bash
curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.connectly.ai/v1/businesses/<business_id>/send/messages \
     --header 'Accept: application/json' \
     --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     --header 'X-API-Key: <YOUR_KEY_HERE>' \
     --data '
```

If the request goes through, a message ID will be included in the response, with which you can track the message delivery status if you are subscribed to the [webhook](../message-api/webhook-api).

To read more on how to send a regular message, see [send-session-message](../message-api/message-service-api/messageservice/send-session-message "mention").

**Eligibility for sending WhatsApp messages**

Notice that you can NOT send a regular message to the customer first if the customer has not messaged first. Once the customer messaged you first there is a 24-hr eligibility window for businesses to reply to the customer message. After that, only [template messages](..#send-a-whatsapp-template-message) can be sent to the customer.\
