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WhatsApp lets people message a business by username, without ever revealing a phone number. When that happens the conversation lands in your Inbox with no phone on the contact — so you can’t call them, text them, or include them in a broadcast that needs a number. The Request Phone Number step asks the contact to share it, and saves what they send straight onto the contact. This step is WhatsApp-only. It sits in the WhatsApp group of the flow builder palette and has no equivalent on Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, SMS or the LiveChat widget.
The one-tap share is built against WhatsApp API behaviour that has not been confirmed against a live number yet — both the request DMLY sends and the reply it reads back. Test this step on a real conversation before you rely on it in a live flow, and keep the typed-reply fallback in mind (below) as the path most likely to work today.

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What the step does

Add Request Phone Number to a flow and it sends the contact a request to share their number. It has a single output, RECEIVED, which the flow continues out of on the contact’s next reply — whether or not that reply actually contains a number. The number is saved to the contact’s phone field only when the reply reads as a phone number: 7 to 15 digits, optionally starting with +. Anything else continues out RECEIVED with no phone saved, so a stray reply never overwrites a good number with junk. Once a number is saved the contact behaves like any other phone-based contact — you can message them, and they can be matched to future conversations. Whatever you put after this step should cope with a contact who still has no phone.

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How it asks

DMLY picks one of three routes depending on the conversation:
1

Inside the 24-hour window

The contact gets a native WhatsApp prompt they can answer with one tap to share their number. This is the best experience and needs no template.
2

Outside the 24-hour window

WhatsApp doesn’t allow freeform prompts outside the window, so DMLY falls back to the approved dmly_request_phone template. See WhatsApp rules and limits for what the window is.
3

The contact just types it

The message doubles as an “or reply with your number” prompt, so a contact who types their number instead of tapping is still captured.
Outside the window, if dmly_request_phone isn’t approved by Meta, the step does not stall the flow — it continues straight out RECEIVED without asking, and without a number. Inside the window no template is involved, so approval doesn’t matter there. Check your template status before publishing: see Message templates.

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Only ask when you need to

Asking a contact who already gave you their number is a bad look. Put a Has a phone number is No condition in front of the step so it only fires when one is genuinely missing.
The ready-made Ask for phone number when missing template does exactly this — it checks for a phone, asks only if there isn’t one, sends a thank-you, and skips the ask entirely for contacts who already have a number. Install it from the templates picker when you create a new automation. See Automation templates.

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Build it yourself

1

Open the flow builder

Create or open an automation on a WhatsApp channel. See Flow builder.
2

Add a condition first

Branch on whether a phone number exists, so the ask is skipped for contacts you can already reach. Both branches need their own connection — an unconnected branch blocks publishing.
3

Add Request Phone Number

Drop the step on the “no phone” branch.
4

Continue from RECEIVED

Connect the RECEIVED output to whatever comes next — a thank-you message, a booking step, or the end of the flow.

Flow builder

How steps, outputs and connections fit together.

Common mistakes

Unconnected branches and other reasons a flow won’t publish.

WhatsApp rules and limits

The 24-hour window and when a template is required.

Contacts

How a contact’s phone number is used once it’s on file.