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jelou phone-numbers manages the WhatsApp numbers your company buys through Jelou: US numbers (+1) billed with your plan. With these commands you check whether you can buy, buy a number, read the SMS with Meta’s verification code and release numbers you no longer use.
For WhatsApp, always use jelou phone-numbers buy. jelou voice numbers buy --provider twilio buys numbers for the voice service: it does not go through your plan and the number does not work for WhatsApp.

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From number to connected channel

1

Check whether you can buy

It buys nothing. It tells you whether the purchase is allowed and what it would cost (see Purchase cost).
2

Find an available number

It only queries the provider’s inventory; it buys nothing.
3

Buy the number

The CLI shows the cost and asks for confirmation. Once you confirm, the number is bought right away and you get its id.
4

Connect it to WhatsApp

The WhatsApp activation opens in Jelou with the number already selected. While you complete Meta’s sign-in, the CLI prints the SMS with the verification code in the terminal and finishes when that number’s channel is connected.

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Purchase cost

The purchase is charged according to your company’s plan: Before you confirm, buy shows you which of the three cases applies and, if there is a charge, the price of the line. If it cannot read the price, it does not buy. The purchase also depends on your plan’s channels: if you have used them all, capability and buy tell you so and nothing is bought.

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jelou phone-numbers capability

It shows:
  • whether you can buy now;
  • the cost of the next purchase (included in the plan, line already paid for, or new line);
  • open lines (paid for, with no number);
  • connected channels against your plan’s limit;
  • numbers that have no channel yet.

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jelou phone-numbers list

Lists the company’s numbers, newest first. --status filters by state:

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jelou phone-numbers messages

Shows the SMS the number received since you bought it, newest first (up to 20). When Meta verifies the number, the code arrives here. If you just asked for the code and it does not show up, wait a few seconds and run the command again.

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jelou phone-numbers buy

If the purchase fails because the payment or the purchase is still pending confirmation, run the same command again after a few seconds. Repeating it never charges or buys twice.
Common errors:

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jelou phone-numbers delete

Releases the number: it goes back to the provider and, on Self Service, its line stops being charged from the next invoice (the current period is not refunded). Only active numbers with no channel can be released; if the number is connected, delete or disconnect that channel first.
Releasing a number cannot be undone: you cannot get it back afterwards.

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Connect the number with channels activate

--phone-number makes jelou channels activate whatsapp work on a number bought with phone-numbers buy:
  • The WhatsApp activation opens in Jelou with that number already selected.
  • While you wait, the CLI prints in the terminal every SMS the number receives, including Meta’s code.
  • The wait ends when that number is connected, not when any other WhatsApp channel of the company shows up.
--project and --name only prefill the activation: you can change them there before finishing.
When it finishes, the CLI returns the new channel’s channel_id, bot_id and project. The bot_id is the one used by jelou template and jelou campaign.
If the number already has a channel, activate --phone-number fails before opening the browser and returns that channel’s id. With --watch, instead, it finishes right away with that channel as the result.

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Use from an agent

With --agent or --no-input, buy and delete require --yes. An agent should read capability, show the cost to the user and pass --yes only after the user agrees.
In JSON mode, buy adds a charge field with the kind of charge (included, open_line or new_line) and, when there is a charge, the price. When a purchase is left pending, the error is TRANSIENT_ERROR with retryable: true: the agent can repeat the same command with no risk of a double charge.