WhatsApp error 131008
Error 131008: Required parameter is missing
Error 131008 means the send was missing a value Meta requires. With templates, the usual cause is a variable sent empty, for example a {{1}} for the customer’s name when the name field was blank. Fill every variable with real text and send again.
Last updated
- Meta’s description
- “The request is missing a required parameter.” Meta’s error codes, 5 October 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Charged by Meta?
- No. Meta charges only for delivered messages, and this one was not delivered.
- Shown in Fliok analytics as
- “Missing template parameter”
Common causes
- A template variable sent as an empty string, often a blank name or order number from a website form or a spreadsheet.
- Fewer variables sent than the template defines.
- A required field missing from an API request built by hand.
How to fix it
- Give every {{variable}} a value; use a fallback such as “there” for a missing first name.
- Check the data coming from your website, store or sheet before it reaches the template.
- Compare your request with the template’s approved variables.
What Fliok does about it
- Fliok checks every template variable before sending. A blank one is refused with an error that names the exact parameter, so the message never reaches Meta to fail there.
- The check runs when a broadcast or a REST API send is created, and again in the worker that sends every message.
- Any that still reach Meta show as “Missing template parameter” in the analytics failure breakdown.
Meta sets and changes these codes. If anything here disagrees with Meta’s current reference (opens in a new tab), Meta is right.
Why does my approved template fail with 131008?
Approval checks the template, not each send. If a variable arrives empty at send time, for example because a form left the name blank, Meta rejects that send. Fill every variable.
Let Fliok catch it before Meta does
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