Messaging

Available Methods

Method	Quotes original?	Description
ctx.reply(text)	Yes	Reply with text
ctx.replyWithImage(data, options?)	Yes	Reply with an image
ctx.replyWithVideo(data, options?)	Yes	Reply with a video
ctx.replyWithAudio(data, options?)	Yes	Reply with audio
ctx.replyWithDocument(data, options?)	Yes	Reply with a document
ctx.send(text)	No	Send text to the chat
ctx.sendImage(data, options?)	No	Send an image
ctx.sendVideo(data, options?)	No	Send a video
ctx.sendAudio(data, options?)	No	Send audio
ctx.sendDocument(data, options?)	No	Send a document

Detecting Replies

When an incoming message is a reply to another message, you can access the quoted message info:

wa.on("message", async (ctx) => {
  if (ctx.isReply) {
    const quoted = ctx.quotedMessage!;
    console.log(`Reply to message ${quoted.messageId} from ${quoted.sender}`);

    // Narrow by type
    if (quoted.type === "text") {
      console.log(`Quoted text: ${quoted.text}`);
    } else if (quoted.type === "image") {
      console.log(`Quoted image (${quoted.mimetype})`);
    }
  }
});

The quotedMessage is a discriminated union on the type field:

Type	Interface	Fields
"text"	QuotedTextMessage	text
"image" "video" "audio" "document" "sticker"	QuotedMediaMessage	mimetype, caption?, filename?
"contact"	QuotedContactMessage	displayName
"location"	QuotedLocationMessage	latitude, longitude
undefined	QuotedUnknownMessage	(unrecognized message type)

All quoted message types include messageId and sender (the JID of who sent the original message).

Quoting a Specific Message

By default, ctx.reply*() quotes the message that triggered the handler. You can quote any message by passing quotedMessageId explicitly:

wa.on("message:text", async (ctx) => {
  // Quote a different message by ID
  await ctx.send("Check out that message above!", {
    quotedMessageId: "ABCDEF123456",
    quotedSender: "[email protected]",
  });
});

quotedSender is the JID of the person who sent the quoted message — required in groups so WhatsApp can display the correct name.

Reply vs Send

whatspurr has two families of context methods for sending messages:

• ctx.reply*() — creates a quoted reply (the recipient sees your message linked to the original, like long-pressing a message and tapping "Reply" in WhatsApp)
• ctx.send*() — sends to the same chat without quoting

wa.on("message:text", async (ctx) => {
  // Quoted reply — appears as a reply to the user's message
  await ctx.reply("Got it!");

  // Plain message — no quote, just sent to the chat
  await ctx.send("Here's some extra info.");
});

Sending via API

For sending to arbitrary JIDs (outside a handler context):

// Plain message
await wa.api.sendMessage("[email protected]", "Hello!");

// Quoted reply to a specific message
await wa.api.sendMessage("[email protected]", "Replying to this!", {
  quotedMessageId: "ABCDEF123456",
  quotedSender: "[email protected]",
});