One option is to use a local sandbox that simulates WhatsApp’s webhook model. That way you don’t have to override your production webhook or spin up a second WhatsApp app just to test.
I built an open-source tool called WaFlow that does this:
It runs locally in Docker.
You type into a simple chat UI, and it POSTs to your bot’s webhook exactly like WhatsApp would.
Your bot replies via a small API, and you can replay conversations for regression testing.
This lets you iterate on bot logic without touching your production WhatsApp Cloud API setup.