How to add WhatsApp to Katana
Short answer
Katana has no native WhatsApp channel, but its REST API and webhooks give you everything needed. A small service listens for Katana events, sends approved WhatsApp templates through the WhatsApp Business Platform, and writes replies back as updates to purchase orders or sales orders.
Katana is a cloud inventory and manufacturing tool used by small make-to-order and make-to-stock shops, often fed by Shopify or WooCommerce. The people who need information fastest, suppliers, couriers, and the person on the shop floor, rarely sit in Katana all day. They live in WhatsApp.
That gap shows up as email chasing: a purchase order goes out, nobody confirms, a material runs short, and a manufacturing order stalls. Moving the nudge and the confirmation into WhatsApp shortens that loop without asking anyone to learn a new tool.
Because Katana is multi-tenant SaaS, the integration lives outside it. You listen to Katana, you talk to WhatsApp, and you keep the mapping between the two in your own small service.
What teams use it for
Supplier PO confirmation
When a purchase order is sent, message the supplier contact a template with the PO number and expected date, and let them reply with a confirm or a new date.
Material shortage alerts to the planner
When stock for a material drops below its reorder point or a manufacturing order cannot be fully allocated, notify the planner with the item and the affected orders.
Customer shipment updates
When a sales order is marked delivered or packed, send a status message to a customer who has opted in, instead of a generic email.
Production completion pings
When an operator finishes a manufacturing order, notify the sales owner so the customer promise can be updated the same day.
Quick stock lookup by message
Let an internal user text a SKU and get back on-hand and allocated quantity by reading the Katana inventory endpoints.
Katana integration surface
- Katana public REST API (base host and version vary, commonly a v1 path under katanamrp.com), authenticated with a bearer API key generated in Settings.
- Webhooks you register for events such as sales order, purchase order and manufacturing order changes, with a signature header you should verify.
- Resources for sales orders, purchase orders, manufacturing orders, products, variants, materials, suppliers, customers and inventory levels.
- API rate limits that apply per account, so a notifier should queue and back off on HTTP 429 rather than poll aggressively.
- Native integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce, QuickBooks, Xero) and connectors like Zapier or Make, which can act as a no-code bridge for simple triggers.
How it works
- 1
Create a WhatsApp Business Platform account
Register a business with Meta, add a phone number, and decide between the Cloud API directly or a business solution provider. Use a dedicated number.
- 2
Generate a Katana API key and register webhooks
Create the key under settings, then register a webhook URL for purchase order and manufacturing order events. Store the key in a secret manager.
- 3
Build the relay service
A small HTTPS service receives Katana events, verifies the signature, fetches the full record by id, and decides whether a message is warranted.
- 4
Define message templates
Outbound business-initiated messages need pre-approved templates with variables for PO number, date and item. Submit them and wait for approval.
- 5
Capture opt-in per contact
Store consent against the supplier or customer contact record, or a mapping table in your service, because Katana contact fields are not designed for it.
- 6
Handle inbound replies
Receive the WhatsApp webhook, match the sender to an open PO, parse a button reply, and update the purchase order or add a note through the API.
- 7
Add logging and a review queue
Record every message and every write. Anything the parser cannot match goes to a person instead of changing an order.
Example flows
Supplier confirms a PO date
Trigger: A purchase order is moved to the sent state in Katana.
- The relay reads the PO and its supplier contact.
- It sends a template with the PO number and requested date plus Confirm and Change date buttons.
- The supplier taps Change date and types a new one.
- The service validates the date and updates the expected arrival on the PO.
Result: The planner sees the new date in Katana without opening an email thread.
Shortage on a manufacturing order
Trigger: A manufacturing order shows missing material availability.
- The relay checks the material variant and open purchase orders.
- It composes a message with the material, shortfall and nearest incoming PO.
- It sends it to the planner number.
Result: The planner can expedite the right supplier the same hour.
Keeping data on-prem
Katana itself is SaaS and cannot be hosted on your servers, so the on-prem question is about where the relay and any language model run. Keep the relay, the consent table and message logs inside your own network or private cloud, and reach Katana only over its API from there. If you want free-text replies understood, for example a supplier writing around the 12th, run an open-weight model locally so those messages never go to a third-party AI service. WhatsApp traffic still passes through Meta's infrastructure, which is unavoidable, so keep template content to order numbers and dates and avoid pricing.
Security checklist
- Verify the Katana webhook signature and reject unsigned calls.
- Scope the API key to a service account and rotate it on a schedule.
- Keep consent records and message logs for audit, and honor opt-out keywords immediately.
- Never put unit prices or customer addresses in template variables.
Ways to get it done
No-code bridge with Zapier or Make plus a WhatsApp BSP
Effort: Hours to a couple of days.
A few one-way alerts, low volume, no inbound parsing.
Small in-house relay service on the Cloud API
Effort: One to three weeks including template approval.
Teams with a developer who want two-way flows and control.
Partner build with Netray
Effort: Typically a few weeks, scoped per flow.
You want free-text understanding on a private model, review queues and write-back with approval.
Pitfalls
- !Sending free-form messages outside the 24 hour service window fails without an approved template.
- !Supplier phone numbers in Katana are often unformatted; normalise to E.164 before sending.
- !Webhooks can arrive more than once, so make message sending idempotent per event id.
- !Auto-updating dates from loosely parsed replies causes wrong promises; require a confirm step.
Frequently asked questions
Does Katana have a built-in WhatsApp integration?
Not as a native channel to our knowledge. Check the integrations list in your account since it changes, but the dependable route is the REST API and webhooks combined with the WhatsApp Business Platform, either through your own service or a no-code connector.
Can I use my personal WhatsApp number?
No. Business messaging at any volume requires the WhatsApp Business Platform with a verified business and a number that is not registered on the consumer app. Plan a dedicated number early because migration later is awkward.
Can suppliers reply and update Katana?
Yes, through your relay. The reply arrives as a webhook, you match it to the open purchase order, and you call the Katana API to update the expected date or add a note. Keep a human review step for anything ambiguous.
Will webhooks keep up with high order volume?
Generally yes, but design for retries and bursts. Acknowledge quickly, queue the work, and respect Katana rate limits when you fetch records. Deduplicate by event id so a retry does not send the same message twice.
Is this possible without sending data to a public AI?
Yes. Simple templates and button replies need no AI at all. For free-text replies, run a small open-weight model inside your own environment and send only the extracted fields, such as a date, to Katana.
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