[GOWS] Error 463 on send to cold contacts — tctoken/cstoken not included in outgoing messages

[m0d02x]

Description

Sending messages to contacts with no prior conversation history fails with gRPC error 463 on GOWS engine (PLUS tier).

{
  "statusCode": 500,
  "exception": {
    "message": "2 UNKNOWN: server returned error 463",
    "code": 2
  }
}

Environment

• WAHA version: 2026.3.1
• Engine: GOWS
• Tier: PLUS
• Platform: linux/x64

Root Cause

Per Baileys #2441 investigation:

• Error 463 = NackCallerReachoutTimelocked — WhatsApp server-side "reach-out time-lock" rate limit
• Affects messages to unknown/cold contacts (no prior conversation)
• Caused by missing tctoken and cstoken privacy fields in outgoing <message> nodes
• WhatsApp counts messages without these fields as "reaching out" and enforces time-based locks
• Confirmed: the fix was implemented in Baileys PRs #2257, #2339, and #2438

Expected Behavior

Messages should include tctoken/cstoken to avoid triggering the reach-out time-lock, matching official WhatsApp client behavior.

Actual Behavior

GOWS engine omits these tokens, causing 463 errors on cold contacts. Sending to existing contacts works fine.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a GOWS PLUS session
2. Attempt to send a message to a phone number that has never chatted with the session before
3. Observe 500 error with gRPC error 463

Related

• Duplicate of [GOWS] - POST /api/sendText retorna erro 500 (gRPC error 463) #1904 (same error, now with root cause identified)
• Baileys investigation #2441
• Baileys tctoken PR #2257
• Baileys cstoken PR #2438

[bergpinheiro]

We have a limit of 300 new conversations initiated with contacts we've never spoken to before. Customers have even reported this restriction within the app.

[trojantm]

tulir/whatsmeow#1081
Perhaps it's related.