If you're working with WhatsApp Flow JSON and see an error like this:

INVALID_DEPENDENCIES

Footer should have property left-caption when property right-caption is present.

—or the reverse:

Footer should have property right-caption when property left-caption is present.

It means your component is missing a required companion property. Let’s walk through what’s happening and how to fix it.

What This Error Means

This error shows up when a property depends on another one being present, but it’s not.

In this case, the Footer component expects that if you define either left-caption or right-caption, you must define both. They’re a pair.

The Problem

Here’s a Flow JSON example that will trigger the error:

{
  "screens": [
    {
      "id": "FIRST_SCREEN",
      "layout": {
        "children": [
          {
            "type": "Footer",
            "left-caption": "left",
            "on-click-action": {
              "name": "complete",
              "payload": {}
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

What’s wrong here?

  • left-caption is defined.

  • right-caption is missing.

  • WhatsApp expects both if either one is used.

The Fix

To fix this, add the missing right-caption field, like so:

{
  "screens": [
    {
      "id": "FIRST_SCREEN",
      "layout": {
        "children": [
          {
            "type": "Footer",
            "left-caption": "left",
            "right-caption": "right",
            "on-click-action": {
              "name": "complete",
              "payload": {}
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Now, the dependency is satisfied. No more error.

For more troubleshooting insights related to WhatsApp Business API, check out heltar.com/blogs.