R wrapper for Evolution Cloud API — a lightweight WhatsApp integration API.

Overview

evolution is a tidy-style R client for the Evolution API v2, a RESTful platform that enables automation across WhatsApp (via Web/Baileys or Cloud API modes). It wraps HTTP calls using {httr2}, exposes snake_case helper functions, and integrates structured logging with {cli} for use in modern R pipelines and production tasks.

With evolution you can:

Send plain text, media (image/video/document), WhatsApp audio, stickers, or status stories
Send locations, contacts, interactive buttons, polls, or list messages
Check if numbers are registered on WhatsApp
Use options(evolution.timeout) to control timeouts and verbose = TRUE for detailed CLI logs with timing

Note: This package is an independent wrapper for the Evolution API and is not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta.

Installation

# From CRAN
install.packages("evolution")
# Or the development version from GitHub
# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("StrategicProjects/evolution")

Quick Start

library(evolution)
client <- evo_client(
  base_url = "https://YOUR-HOST",
  api_key  = Sys.getenv("EVO_APIKEY"),
  instance = "yourInstance"
)
# Optional: set a global timeout (default: 60s)
options(evolution.timeout = 30)
# Send a simple message
send_text(client, "5581999990000", "Hello from R!", verbose = TRUE)

Functions Overview

Function	Description	Key Arguments
`evo_client()`	Creates preconfigured API client	`base_url`, `api_key`, `instance`
`send_text()`	Sends plain text message	`number`, `text`, `delay`, `verbose`
`send_status()`	Posts a status/story (text or media)	`type`, `content`, `caption`, `verbose`
`send_media()`	Sends image/video/document (URL, base64, or file)	`number`, `mediatype`, `mimetype`, `media`, `file_name`
`send_whatsapp_audio()`	Sends voice note (PTT)	`number`, `audio`, `verbose`
`send_sticker()`	Sends sticker (URL or base64)	`number`, `sticker`, `verbose`
`send_location()`	Sends location pin	`number`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `name`
`send_contact()`	Sends one or more contacts (auto wuid)	`number`, `contact`, `verbose`
`send_reaction()`	Sends emoji reaction to a message	`key`, `reaction`, `verbose`
`send_buttons()`	Sends message with interactive buttons ⚠️	`number`, `buttons`, `verbose`
`send_poll()`	Sends a poll	`number`, `name`, `values`, `verbose`
`send_list()`	Sends an interactive list message ⚠️	`number`, `sections`, `button_text`
`check_is_whatsapp()`	Checks if numbers are on WhatsApp	`numbers`
`jid()`	Builds WhatsApp JID from phone number	`number`

⚠️ send_buttons() and send_list() — Baileys users: Interactive buttons and list messages are not supported on the Baileys (WhatsApp Web) connector and are likely to be discontinued by Evolution API. Use send_poll() instead. These endpoints work only on the Cloud API connector.

💡 Local file support: send_media(), send_sticker(), and send_whatsapp_audio() accept local file paths (including ~/...) — files are auto-encoded to base64 via {base64enc}.

Examples

Send Text

send_text(client, "5581999990000", "Hello world!",
          delay = 1200, link_preview = FALSE, verbose = TRUE)

Send Media

# From URL
send_media(client, "5581999990000", "image", "image/png",
           media = "https://www.r-project.org/logo/Rlogo.png",
           file_name = "Rlogo.png", caption = "R Logo")
# From local file
send_media(client, "5581999990000", "document", "application/pdf",
           media = "report.pdf", file_name = "report.pdf",
           caption = "Monthly Report")

Send Contact

send_contact(client, "5581999990000",
  contact = list(
    fullName     = "Jane Doe",
    phoneNumber  = "+5581999990000",
    organization = "Company Ltd.",
    email        = "jane@example.com",
    url          = "https://company.com"
  ))

Send Location

send_location(client, "5581999990000",
  latitude = -8.05, longitude = -34.88,
  name = "Recife Antigo", address = "Marco Zero - Recife/PE")

Send List

send_list(client, "5581999990000",
  title = "Our Menu",
  description = "Select from the options below:",
  button_text = "View options",
  sections = list(
    list(title = "Drinks", rows = list(
      list(title = "Coffee", description = "Hot coffee", rowId = "1"),
      list(title = "Tea",    description = "Green tea",  rowId = "2")
    ))
  ))

Check WhatsApp Numbers

check_is_whatsapp(client, c("5581999990000", "5511988887777"))

Configuration

Option	Default	Description
`evolution.timeout`	`60`	HTTP request timeout in seconds
`verbose = TRUE`	per-call	Enables CLI logging with timing, request body, and response preview

Verbose Output

When verbose = TRUE, every function call logs structured diagnostics:

── evoapi POST message/sendText/myInstance ──
ℹ Timeout: 60s
ℹ Body:
  List of 2
   $ number: chr "5581999990000"
   $ text  : chr "Hello from R!"
✔ HTTP 201 (0.34s)
ℹ Content-Type: application/json
ℹ Response: {"key":{"remoteJid":"5581999990000@s.whatsapp.net", ...}

If an API error occurs, you get an actionable message:

Error in `.evo_post()`:
✖ Evolution API returned HTTP 400.
ℹ Endpoint: POST message/sendText/myInstance
! API message: instance requires property "number"

Security Tips

Never hardcode API keys. Use Sys.getenv("EVO_APIKEY") or .Renviron.
Base64 media: the package auto-strips data:*;base64, prefixes.
Contact wuid: automatically generated as <digits>@s.whatsapp.net.
Debugging: use verbose = TRUE and compare with a working curl request.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Open issues with reproducible examples and sanitised logs (remove API keys and phone numbers).