Meta and Whatsapp: "Onboarding Failure You have been temporarily blocked from performing this action" error

When I try to link my newly created Meta app with WhatsApp capabilities by navigating to Left sidebar → WhatsApp → Quickstart → Continue, I encounter the following error:

Onboarding Failure
You have been temporarily blocked from performing this action.

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The actual Meta error shown in the browser console is:

{
  "data": {
    "xfb_create_whatsapp_business_test_account": null
  },
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "A server error field_exception occurred. Check server logs for details.",
      "severity": "CRITICAL",
      "mids": ["mids"],
      "debug_link": "https://www.meta.com/debug/?mid=mids",
      "code": 2859015,
      "api_error_code": 10,
      "summary": "Your account is restricted right now",
      "description": "You have been temporarily blocked from performing this action.",
      "description_raw": "You have been temporarily blocked from performing this action.",
      "is_silent": false,
      "is_transient": false,
      "is_not_critical": false,
      "requires_reauth": false,
      "allow_user_retry": false,
      "fbtrace_id": "fbtrace_id",
      "www_request_id": "www_request_id",
      "help_center_id": "help_center_id",
      "path": [
        "xfb_create_whatsapp_business_test_account"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "extensions": {
    "server_metadata": {
      "request_start_time_ms": "request_start_time_ms",
      "time_at_flush_ms": "time_at_flush_ms"
    },
    "is_final": true
  }
}

Solution

I was able to fix this issue by resolving account security and verification requirements on Meta’s side.

What worked for me was enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) on all related accounts: my Facebook account, my Meta Developers account, and my Business Manager account.

I also verified my Business Manager information using the following page (replace the businessId with your actual Business ID):
https://business.facebook.com/latest/settings/business_info?business_id=${businessId}

Next, I enabled 2FA through the Accounts Center:
https://accountscenter.facebook.com/password_and_security/two_factor/

In addition, I completed identity verification here:
https://www.facebook.com/id/hub/

After completing all of the above steps, I waited about 48 hours. Once Meta lifted the restriction, I was able to successfully link my Meta app with WhatsApp.

Optionally, you can try contacting Meta Business Support using this link (replace with your Business ID):
https://business.facebook.com/direct-support?business_id=${MY16NUMBERSBUSINESSID}

Support responses can be limited, but in some cases they may help confirm whether your account is restricted.

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