How to get message from outside?

[skhwc-cnchung]

[/api/sessions/{sessionId}/messages]
Get message history for a session <- just only get outbound message, cannot get inbound.

Would you mind tell me? Thanks!

[rmyndharis]

Hi @skhwc-cnchung — great question. The GET /api/sessions/{sessionId}/messages endpoint returns both inbound and outbound messages from local history; it does not filter by direction. If you're only seeing outbound, one of these is most likely the cause:

1. You're filtering by from=<your number> instead of chatId=<contact>

The endpoint accepts these query params:

• chatId — every message in a conversation (both directions)
• from — only messages where the sender matches (so from=<your session number> naturally returns only outbound)
• limit, offset — pagination (default 50, max 100)

To get the full back-and-forth with a contact, filter by chatId:

curl "http://localhost:2785/api/sessions/{sessionId}/messages?chatId=628123456789@c.us&limit=100" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY"

The endpoint resolves both JID dialects (@c.us vs @s.whatsapp.net) and LID mappings, so a phone number will match even if the underlying rows are stored under a LID.

2. Inbound messages aren't being persisted in your version

In older versions, inbound messages were not always written to local history. As of v0.10.0+, inbound messages are persisted to the same table as outbound sends (with direction = INCOMING), so they appear in this endpoint's results.

If you're on an older version, upgrade to the latest (v0.10.2) and you'll see both directions:

docker pull ghcr.io/rmyndharis/openwa:latest
docker compose up -d

3. Real-time inbound via webhook

If you want inbound messages pushed to your app the moment they arrive (instead of polling history), set up a webhook — OpenWA emits message.received events you can subscribe to. See the Webhooks section in the dashboard.

Let me know which of those fits your case and I can help further. 🙂