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ERROR CODES
Error 131049
Error 131049 ("This message was not delivered to maintain healthy ecosystem engagement") is returned by the WhatsApp Cloud API when Meta declines to deliver a marketing template because the recipient has already received their allowed volume of marketing messages from businesses in the current period. The message is not delivered and not charged.
frequency cappingheld messagemarketing templateerror 131049 frequency cap
Why it matters
131049 is the most misunderstood WhatsApp error. It says nothing about your number's quality; it is the per-user frequency cap acting on a recipient who gets a lot of marketing. Retrying immediately fails again, and since April 2026 Meta counts rapid retries against the sender. The correct response is to wait and retry once later, or to reach the person with a utility message about something they actually did.
In VGraple CRM
Recipients failing with 131049 are placed in a held state with the reason, retried once after a cooling period, and reported as capped rather than failed so the campaign numbers stay honest. The suppression rules also skip contacts who received marketing from you in the last days, which lowers how often you hit the cap at all. The 131049 guide has the full playbook.
Related terms
Frequency Capping, Held Message, Marketing Template, help/error-131049-frequency-cap.