WhatsApp error 132069: Flow throttled — cause and fix

WhatsApp error 132069 means your Flow is in the "throttled" state: WhatsApp detected that its endpoint is unhealthy, through latency, errors or downtime, and limits sending to 10 messages per hour. The cause is on your server. Fix the endpoint; the Flow goes back to published on its own once the metrics recover.

What does error 132069 mean?

"Flow is in throttled state and 10 messages using this flow were already sent in the last hour." — Meta, Cloud API error codes

Its neighbouring code describes the next stage:

"Flow is in blocked state." — Meta, code 132068

For both, Meta's instruction is the same: correct the Flow. These states only apply to Flows that call your endpoint for their data (Meta, Flow health and monitoring).

When does error 132069 happen?

WhatsApp monitors three metrics of a Flow's endpoint: the error rate (endpoint or client side), the latency and the availability. When one of them deteriorates significantly, the Flow first moves to Throttled, then to Blocked if things get worse. Meta sends several alert webhooks before it gets there.

Typical causes:

• an endpoint that takes several seconds to answer, because it queries a slow database or API;
• an endpoint that does not answer health check requests;
• a deployment that breaks decryption or returns errors in a row;
• a server that cannot be reached from the internet.

Where do you see it in Genuka WA?

Genuka WA classifies 132xxx codes as template: sending the same message again changes nothing until the endpoint is fixed.

How do I fix error 132069?

curl https://wa.genuka.com/api/v1/flows/flw_1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GENUKA_WA_API_KEY"
# { "data": { "id": "flw_1", "name": "book_appointment", "status": "throttled", ... }, "validationErrors": [] }

How do I prevent error 132069?

• Measure your endpoint's latency under real load, not only in development.
• Monitor the endpoint like a production service: availability, error rate, response time, with an alert that fires before WhatsApp reacts.
• Receive the flow.status_changed events to know when a Flow changes state without waiting for a send to fail.
• Plan a fallback path (web link, regular conversation) for when the Flow is not published.

Related error codes

• 131047: a Flow sent as an interactive message outside the 24-hour window is refused; you then need a template with a Flow button.
• 132001: the template carrying the Flow button cannot be found in that language, or is not approved.

FAQ

Can my users still fill in a throttled Flow?

Yes. In the Throttled state, Flows already received open and work; only sending new messages is limited to 10 per hour. In the Blocked state, however, even Flows already sent no longer open.

Are Flows without an endpoint affected?

No. Meta states that health monitoring only applies to Flows that use data from your endpoint.

Do I need to republish the Flow after fixing it?

No. WhatsApp automatically detects that the endpoint has recovered and moves the Flow back up, from Blocked to Throttled and then to Published.

Sources

• Meta — Error codes
• Meta — Flow health and monitoring