Errors 131008 and 131009: Missing or Invalid Parameter

Error 131008 means the request is missing a required field. Error 131009 means a field has a value Meta does not accept. Both are about the content of the request, so the same send will fail again until the missing or wrong value is corrected.

Symptom

A template, interactive message or media send fails immediately with 131008 or 131009. The same template or flow step fails for every recipient.

Why it happens

• 131008: something Meta requires is empty, for example a template variable, a button payload or a header the template expects.
• 131009: a value is present but not allowed, for example a phone number in the wrong format, a variable that is too long, a URL button with a malformed link, or a header file type the template does not accept.

Fix

1. Read the detail on the failed message: Meta usually names the field.
2. For a template, open it and compare the number of variables, buttons and header with what the step or campaign sends. Every variable needs a value, including ones you map from a contact field that may be empty.
3. Check formats: phone numbers with country code and no spaces, URLs starting with https, header files of the type and size the template was approved with.
4. Fix the step or the mapping once, then resend. Do not retry the original without the fix: it fails the same way.
5. If the field named in Meta's detail does not exist in what you built, send us the text. Open Support in the app and send the exact error text, the time and the number it happened on; the thread keeps the history.

In VGraple CRM

Flows and campaigns map template variables from contact fields and flow variables. A contact with an empty field is the most common cause of 131008, so give a variable a fallback value or filter the audience to contacts that have the field. The failed message shows the code and Meta's text.

Related errors

All codes are listed in the WhatsApp error codes reference.