How to check and change admin-only mode in a WhatsApp group

You can use the Whapi Cloud API to check whether a group is set to admin-only mode (only admins can send messages) and to change that setting.

Checking the current setting

Call GET to get group details. In the response, look for the announcements field:

• "announcements": true is present — only admins can send messages.

• The announcements field is absent — everyone can send messages.

API reference: Get groups Get group

Changing the setting

Call PATCH /groups/{GroupID} with this body:

{
  "setting": "send_messages",
  "policy": "admins"
}

Set "policy" to "admins" to restrict messaging to admins, or "anyone" to let all participants write.

curl --request PATCH \
  --url https://gate.whapi.cloud/groups/{GroupID} \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header 'authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN' \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "setting": "send_messages",
    "policy": "admins"
  }'

Your channel must be an admin in the group to change this setting.

API reference: Update group setting