Show HN: WhatsApp MCP Server

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Project and MCP Context

  • Several commenters note this is one of many WhatsApp MCP servers and technically straightforward: essentially wrapping existing APIs with MCP decorators.
  • Enthusiasm is less about novelty of the code and more about MCP adoption and the prospect of standardized, pluggable tools for LLMs.
  • Some praise the design: Go bridge using whatsmeow, local SQLite storage, and a Python MCP layer as a privacy‑first, self‑hosted setup.
  • Others question mixing Go and Python; answer given is familiarity and whatsmeow being Go-native, with a possible future refactor in pure Go.

WhatsApp’s Centrality (or Not)

  • The claim that “99% of your life is stored in WhatsApp” is heavily debated.
  • For some regions (India, much of Latin America, South Africa, Western/Northern Europe), WhatsApp is described as socially mandatory and used for family, work, businesses, appointments, delivery, 2FA, and community groups.
  • Others report fragmented use across Telegram, Signal, Discord, Snapchat, Instagram, Messenger, SMS/iMessage, etc., making any single‑app focus inadequate.
  • Explanations for WhatsApp dominance: group chats, simple phone‑number onboarding, early cost advantage vs SMS, cross‑platform reach, and network effects.

AI in Personal Communication

  • Some users like the idea of summaries, search, and automation for high‑volume group chats and personal organization.
  • Others are disturbed by AI‑mediated messaging, seeing it as devaluing effortful communication and potentially eroding trust when people realize replies are AI‑generated.

Privacy, Consent, and Legality

  • Strong pushback on piping other people’s messages into cloud LLMs without consent; several say they’d stop communicating with anyone who does this.
  • Discussion of legal risks under EU/German law (data protection and personality rights), especially if LLM providers can train on that data.
  • Local LLMs are seen as safer but still problematic if used to secretly compose replies; using them for search/summaries is viewed as more acceptable.
  • Debate over WhatsApp’s E2E encryption vs extensive metadata collection, and concern that integrated “Meta AI” features may blur privacy guarantees.

Abuse, Bans, and Security

  • Risk noted that automation via unofficial APIs can trigger WhatsApp bans; others report long‑running bridges that haven’t been banned, suggesting behavior‑based detection.
  • MCP itself is flagged as having security risks (e.g., tool poisoning); sandboxing and isolation of MCP servers is recommended.

Desired Features and Limitations

  • Requested enhancements include robust group selection, unread‑message summarization, and multi‑network support (Beeper/Matrix, Telegram, Signal, etc.).
  • Some doubt the practicality and social acceptability of having an LLM heavily involved in personal messaging, regardless of technical feasibility.