Blocking Users

Block and unblock users, and fetch your blocklist in WhatsApp using Baileys

Block a User

Block a user to prevent them from sending you messages:

await sock.updateBlockStatus(jid, 'block')

Unblock a User

Unblock a previously blocked user:

await sock.updateBlockStatus(jid, 'unblock')

Function Signature

The updateBlockStatus function is implemented in src/Socket/chats.ts:373-391:

const updateBlockStatus = async (jid: string, action: 'block' | 'unblock') => {
    await query({
        tag: 'iq',
        attrs: {
            xmlns: 'blocklist',
            to: S_WHATSAPP_NET,
            type: 'set'
        },
        content: [
            {
                tag: 'item',
                attrs: {
                    action,
                    jid
                }
            }
        ]
    })
}

Fetch Blocklist

Retrieve a list of all blocked contacts:

const blocklist = await sock.fetchBlocklist()
console.log(blocklist)
// Output: ['[e-mail]', '[e-mail]']

Blocklist Implementation

From src/Socket/chats.ts:359-371:

const fetchBlocklist = async () => {
    const result = await query({
        tag: 'iq',
        attrs: {
            xmlns: 'blocklist',
            to: S_WHATSAPP_NET,
            type: 'get'
        }
    })

    const listNode = getBinaryNodeChild(result, 'list')
    return getBinaryNodeChildren(listNode, 'item').map(n => n.attrs.jid)
}

The function returns an array of JID strings representing all blocked users.

Complete Example

// Block a user
const userToBlock = '[e-mail]'
await sock.updateBlockStatus(userToBlock, 'block')
console.log(`Blocked ${userToBlock}`)

// Fetch and display blocklist
const blocklist = await sock.fetchBlocklist()
console.log('Current blocklist:', blocklist)

// Unblock a user
if (blocklist.includes(userToBlock)) {
    await sock.updateBlockStatus(userToBlock, 'unblock')
    console.log(`Unblocked ${userToBlock}`)
}

// Verify blocklist updated
const updatedBlocklist = await sock.fetchBlocklist()
console.log('Updated blocklist:', updatedBlocklist)

Listen for Block Status Changes

You can track block status changes through events:

sock.ev.on('blocklist.update', ({ blocklist }) => {
    console.log('Blocklist updated:', blocklist)
})

Blocking a user will:

• Prevent them from sending you messages
• Hide your last seen, online status, and status updates from them
• Not notify them that they’ve been blocked

Use fetchBlocklist() during initialization to sync your local blocklist state with WhatsApp servers.

Implementation Details

Both functions use WhatsApp’s blocklist XML namespace:

• Block/Unblock: Sends an IQ query with type: 'set' and an item containing the action
• Fetch Blocklist: Sends an IQ query with type: 'get' and parses the returned item nodes

The functions are exported from the makeChatsSocket in src/Socket/chats.ts:1225-1271.