# Everything people ask about Circles > Short, straight answers about connecting your personal WhatsApp to an AI agent with Circles: what it is, how agents connect, what they get back, how you stay in control, the WhatsApp risk, and the price. **Circles is the hosted WhatsApp MCP for your personal number.** It links your existing WhatsApp as a linked device and gives Instinct, Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Grok or your own agent only the chats you choose, with voice notes as text and sending off until you allow it. Free for 2 chats, Pro $29 a month (₪99 in Israel) with 14 days free, as of October 2026. Source: https://usecircles.app/en/faq · Updated 2026-10-27 ## What Circles is ### What is Circles? Circles is a hosted service that links your personal WhatsApp number and serves the chats you choose to your AI agents, over a remote MCP server and an HTTP API. Your agent does the thinking, and Circles gives it the chats, ready to use. ### Is there a WhatsApp MCP server for Claude? Yes. Circles is a hosted WhatsApp MCP server at `https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp` that Claude adds as a custom connector with one address and an approval. It works with your personal number and only the chats you open. ### Is there a hosted WhatsApp MCP, so I do not have to run a bridge on my laptop? Yes, that is what Circles is. There is nothing to install or keep running: you link WhatsApp from your phone and Circles keeps your chats in sync, even while your computer is asleep. ### Can I use my personal WhatsApp number without WhatsApp Business? Yes. Circles links your existing personal number as a linked device, like WhatsApp Web. You keep using WhatsApp on your phone as usual, and the people you talk to see no change. ### Is there an API for a personal WhatsApp account? Circles offers one for the chats you open: an HTTP API with an OpenAPI 3.1 description at `https://app.usecircles.app/api/openapi.json`, with the same permissions as the MCP server. It is meant for your own agent, n8n or a script. It has no bulk messaging. ### Is Circles made by WhatsApp or Meta? No. Circles is made by 3Peaks and is not a WhatsApp or Meta product. It connects the way WhatsApp Web does, as a linked device. ## Connecting ### How do I link my WhatsApp to Circles? Sign in with your WhatsApp number, then link it from your phone under Linked devices, with a code on the phone or a QR on your computer. History arrives in Circles in about 5 to 15 minutes. ### How do I connect WhatsApp to Claude? In Claude, add a custom connector with the Circles address `https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp`, then approve it on Circles' page. It works in Claude on the web, desktop and phone. [Step by step](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/claude). ### Can ChatGPT or Codex read my WhatsApp? Yes, with Circles. Add Circles as a custom connector or MCP server with its address and approve it on Circles' page; the app shows the current menu steps. [ChatGPT](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/chatgpt), [Codex](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/codex). ### How do I add a WhatsApp MCP to Claude Code? Create a token in Circles (New token), then run `claude mcp add --transport http circles https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer circ_..."`. [Details](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/claude-code). ### Can Cursor read WhatsApp messages through MCP? Yes. Cursor connects to Circles with a token: create one in Circles and paste the config it gives you into Cursor's MCP settings. Cursor cannot connect by address alone. ### Can Instinct read my WhatsApp? Yes. Circles connects Instinct with one tap and a send: WhatsApp opens your chat with Instinct with a one-time code already written, and you press send. No key to copy, ever. ### How do I connect WhatsApp to n8n or my own agent? Create a key in Circles and call the HTTP API with `Authorization: Bearer` and that key, or point any MCP client at `https://app.usecircles.app/api/mcp`. [API docs](https://usecircles.app/en/api-mcp-docs#api). ### Do I have to scan a QR code again every few weeks? No. Circles links once and stays linked, hosted, without your computer, as long as WhatsApp on your phone is opened at least every couple of weeks (WhatsApp logs out linked devices of a phone left unused for about 14 days). You link again only if WhatsApp logs the device out or you unlink it yourself. ## What agents get ### Does Circles transcribe voice notes? Yes. Voice notes and audio files are transcribed automatically, in Hebrew and English, and the text arrives inside the message so your agent can read and search what people said. ### Can an AI summarize a busy WhatsApp group? Yes. With Circles your agent reads the group in one call, voice notes included as text, and summarizes it. A cheap `activity` call first tells it which chats moved and how much. ### Can an AI find a PDF someone sent me months ago? Yes. The `documents` tool lists every PDF, Word file and sheet sent in your open chats, and `get_media` fetches one. Files older than about 25 days are fetched from your phone on request, so the phone needs to be online. ### Can AI read photos and documents from WhatsApp chats? Circles hands your agent the file itself, up to 50 MB each, and the agent reads it. Circles does not describe images or extract PDF text. ### How far back does history go? Circles keeps full history by default: everything WhatsApp delivers to a linked device, often years, plus everything new. On Free your agents look back a month and on Starter 3 months; on Pro they reach all of it, or you can narrow it to the last 90, 60 or 30 days. ### Can I search all my WhatsApp chats with AI? Yes, across every chat you opened in Circles. The `search` tool matches text and what was said in voice notes, in one chat or all of them. ### Which MCP tools does Circles have? Nine: allowed_chats, activity, people, catch_up, search, documents, group_members, get_media, send. An agent sees only the tools it may use, so one without send permission never sees `send`. ## Privacy and control ### Can I give an agent only some of my chats? Yes. In Circles each chat is hidden, read, or read and send, and a hidden chat does not exist for agents. You can change a level at any time, and the next request sees the change. ### Can the AI send WhatsApp messages without my approval? Only in chats you opened for sending, within the daily cap (default 5 across all agents). In those chats an agent sends without asking Circles each time, so ask your agent to show you drafts first. Circles never retries a send. ### Can I see what an agent did? Yes. Every request an agent makes through Circles, including refused ones, is in your activity log under the agent's name. ### Do agents see phone numbers? Circles names chats and people the way you see them, and group member lists never include numbers. A sender nobody has any name for may appear by their number. ### What happens to my data if I unlink? Once WhatsApp confirms the logout, Circles deletes everything it stored from that number: chats, messages, files and contacts. [What Circles keeps](https://usecircles.app/en/security#data). ## WhatsApp risk ### Will my WhatsApp get banned for using an MCP server? No one can promise it will not. Each personal-number tool, Circles included, connects as an unofficial linked device, which WhatsApp's terms do not authorise. Circles reads by default, caps sends, never broadcasts and uses a dedicated IP address. ### What if WhatsApp logs the device out? Your phone and your chats on it are not affected. Circles stops receiving new messages until you link the number again from your phone. ### What IP address does Circles connect to WhatsApp from? Circles connects each customer through a dedicated IP address shared with no other customer. It is tested before use and never swapped for a shared one. ### Does WhatsApp show a warning about Circles? Green-API reported in September 2026 that WhatsApp is testing a warning about unofficial linked devices on an Android beta. As described, it concerns unofficial linked devices in general, Circles included. ## Price ### How much does a WhatsApp MCP cost? Circles has plans from $0, as of October 2026: Free for 2 chats, Starter at $9.90 a month for up to 5, and Pro at $29 a month (₪99 in Israel) for every chat and sending, with 14 days of Pro free. [Pricing](https://usecircles.app/en/pricing). ### Is there a free plan? Yes: Free, at $0. Your agent can read 2 groups or chats and look back a month, and it never writes or sends. Whoever chooses no paid plan after the 14-day Pro trial moves to Free. ### Is the trial really free? Yes. Every signup starts with 14 days of Pro, with no card. A charge comes only when you choose a paid plan and pay for it. ### Can I cancel any time? Yes, with one WhatsApp message to the Circles number. A paid plan keeps working to the end of the period you paid for, then you move to Free. ### Do I get anything for inviting friends? Yes. A friend who joins with your invite link gets two free weeks on top of the trial, 4 weeks of Pro in all, and you get two free weeks for every friend who joins, up to 10 rewarded invites a week. ## Keep reading - [WhatsApp MCP, at a glance](https://usecircles.app/en/whatsapp-mcp): What Circles is, the nine tools, and how it connects. - [Is it safe?](https://usecircles.app/en/security): Per-chat levels, capped sends, the activity log, and the honest risks. - [Guides](https://usecircles.app/en/docs): Link WhatsApp, choose chats and connect your agent, step by step. --- 14 days free. Link your number, pick the chats, then connect Instinct with one tap or Claude, ChatGPT and Codex with one address. Start: https://usecircles.app/start?lang=en