How Whapi Processes and Updates WhatsApp Group Data

Learn how Whapi.Cloud automatically processes WhatsApp group metadata, resolves participant lists over time, and handles cases where users appear as @lid instead of phone numbers.

When working with WhatsApp groups through Whapi, it's important to understand how group-related data — such as participant lists, phone numbers, and identifiers — is collected, refreshed, and resolved in the background. This process affects how quickly and accurately your system can access participant details, especially in complex group environments or communities.

How metadata is collected after channel connection

When you connect a WhatsApp number to Whapi and make your first GET /groups or GET /grouprequest, you might notice that participant lists or member details are initially missing. This is expected behavior — group metadata is not retrieved instantly.

Instead, Whapi:

• Adds each group to a processing queue;

• Updates one group every 15 seconds, to stay safely within WhatsApp’s API rate limits and avoid 429 Too Many Requests errors;

• Gradually fills in group info and participant lists in the background.

So if your account is part of 100 groups, it may take up to 25 minutes for complete group metadata to become available.

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Why some participants may appear as @lid

In certain groups — especially communities or those with number privacy enabled — WhatsApp may return participant identifiers in the form of @lid, instead of phone numbers.

This is part of WhatsApp's privacy policy, and it means you won’t initially see the participant's number — only a placeholder ID like 1524746986546@lid. You can read more about it here: What Is lid in WhatsApp Groups?

Whapi handles this through a metadata refresh mechanism that attempts to resolve @lid entries over time.

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How Whapi resolves @lid to real phone numbers

If any group contains @lid participants:

1. Whapi automatically queues the group for metadata refresh.

2. The next group event (e.g. a new message) or your next GET /groupcall will trigger a new metadata request.

3. The group is processed (again, max one every 15 seconds).

4. If the returned metadata still contains @lid, the system will continue updating the group with each new event or metadata request — until phone numbers are resolved.

Note: WhatsApp itself controls when and how @lid values are replaced with phone numbers. This may happen after a delay, or partially — e.g. some members resolved, others not.

If your WhatsApp account is not permitted to access a participant’s phone number (e.g. due to privacy settings), the number will remain unavailable.

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Summary

• Whapi updates group metadata gradually after channel connection, at a safe rate of one group every 15 seconds.

• If a group includes anonymous participants (@lid), the system automatically retries metadata updates when triggered by group events or API requests.

• This continues in the background until phone numbers are resolved — if WhatsApp makes them available.

• These mechanisms ensure full group visibility without triggering rate limits or bans.

For questions related to integration, or for assistance with working with groups in your automation logic, please contact our support team: [email protected].