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The moment it happens

Save photos, receipts and voice notes from WhatsApp to Drive

Anything you send to your WhatsApp business number is filed in Google Drive, receipts get their details pulled out, and you get a confirmation.

Runs
The moment it happens
Apps
Google Drive, WhatsApp Business
AI
Yes, uses the built-in AI allowance
Access
WhatsApp messaging; Drive write

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when I send a photo, document or voice note to my WhatsApp business number, save it to my Drive Inbox folder, read the details if it's a receipt, and reply to confirm.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Tradespeople, field staff and busy owners capture a lot on their phone: photos of finished jobs, receipts, quick voice memos. Those files stay in WhatsApp, mixed with personal chats, and are hard to find later.

Sending them to your business number and having them filed in Drive keeps work media together and backed up, with receipt details read out so expenses are easier to log.

What you get out of it

  • Work files out of your chats

    Photos and notes go to Drive instead of getting lost in WhatsApp.

  • Receipts made useful

    The supplier, date and amount are read from receipt photos.

  • Confirmation every time

    A reply tells you the file was saved.

  • Backed up

    Files in Drive are safe even if you lose your phone.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. You send a photo, document or voice note to your WhatsApp business number.

  2. The file is downloaded and saved to your Drive Inbox folder.

  3. If it's an image, AI checks whether it's a receipt and reads the supplier, date and total.

  4. You get a WhatsApp reply confirming it was saved, with the receipt details if found.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Google Drive
  • Connect WhatsApp Business
  • Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens
Save photos, receipts and voice notes from WhatsApp to Drivejust nowSucceeded
WhatsApp · MeSaved image-4f2a91c0.jpeg to Drive. Acme Builders Supply, 2026-10-18, 142.60

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Change what the AI looks for, or how it writes the result
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Google Drive and WhatsApp Business steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
save_whatsapp_photos_receipts_and_voice_notes_to_drive.pyexample
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
import base64, io
from googleapiclient.http import MediaIoBaseUpload
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, ai

FOLDER_ID = "your-folder-id"
WA = "https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/your-phone-number-id/messages"

def wa(to, text):
    http.post(WA, headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.secret('WHATSAPP_TOKEN')}"},
              json={"messaging_product": "whatsapp", "to": to, "type": "text", "text": {"body": text}}).raise_for_status()

@on_event
def handle(event):
    h = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.secret('WHATSAPP_TOKEN')}"}
    msgs = [m for e in (event.json or {}).get("entry", []) for c in e["changes"] for m in c["value"].get("messages", [])]
    drive = build("drive", "v3", credentials=Credentials(credentials.connection("google", "work")), cache_discovery=False)
    for m in (m for m in msgs if m["type"] in ("image", "document", "audio")):
        media = m[m["type"]]
        info = http.get(f"https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/{media['id']}", headers=h).json()
        data = http.get(info["url"], headers=h).content
        note = ""
        if m["type"] == "image":
            note = ai.generate(["If this is a receipt, give supplier, date and total in one line; otherwise reply NONE.",
                                base64.b64encode(data).decode()[:30000]], max_output_tokens=60).text.strip()
        name = media.get("filename") or f"{m['type']}-{m['id'][-8:]}.{info['mime_type'].split('/')[-1].split(';')[0]}"
        drive.files().create(body={"name": name, "parents": [FOLDER_ID], "description": note},
                             media_body=MediaIoBaseUpload(io.BytesIO(data), mimetype=info["mime_type"])).execute()
        wa(m["from"], f"Saved {name} to Drive." + (f" {note}" if note and note != "NONE" else ""))
    return {"saved": len(msgs)}

FAQ

Common questions

Which file types work?
Photos, PDFs and other documents, and voice notes.
How are receipts recognised?
Every image is checked; when it looks like a receipt, the supplier, date and total are added to the file description.
Can staff use it too?
Yes. Files can be saved into a folder per sender.
What permissions does it need?
WhatsApp messaging; Drive write. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
Yes. It uses ClickRuntime's built-in AI, so you don't need an OpenAI or Anthropic key. Every plan includes a monthly AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run for each event the app sends.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Save photos, receipts and voice notes from WhatsApp to Drive” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.