Kakao Friendtalk shut down (2025-12-31) — migrating to Brand Message

Kakao Friendtalk ended on 2025-12-31. Brand Message is the successor channel.

First thing to know: existing code does not break. The endpoint remains and calls still succeed. But what goes out is a Brand Message that Kakao substituted, so it is worth understanding what changed.

What is happening now

	Before 2025-12-31	From 2026-01-01
Calling /api/v2/friends/send	Sends a Friendtalk	Succeeds, delivered as a free-form Brand Message
Endpoint removal	—	Not removed
New development	Friendtalk	Brand Message

When to migrate

Migrate now if you need

• Template-based rich types — FL (list), FC (commerce), FM (composite), FP (premium video), FA (carousel)
• Non-friend recipients — targeting: N or I
• A broadcast to all consenting channel friends — targeting: F, no recipient list

None of these were possible with Friendtalk. Migrating is less about the shutdown than about gaining capability.

You can stay put if

• You send free-form types (FT/FI/FW) to individual recipients

That combination should in fact keep using the Friendtalk endpoint. The brand-message endpoint answers NOT_A_BRAND_MESSAGE for it.

// Leave this alone — moving it to brandMessage returns NOT_A_BRAND_MESSAGE.
await sendgo.friendtalk.send({
  messageType: 'FT',
  content: 'Hello! Here is this week\'s update.',
  contacts: [{ contact: '01012345678' }],
});

If you do not want the substitution

If having Friendtalk requests silently become Brand Messages is not acceptable, do not call Friendtalk at all — send SMS instead.

Message type mapping

Send the Friendtalk code. The server converts.

Friendtalk	Brand Message	Content
FT	BT	Text
FI	BI	Image
FW	BW	Wide image
FL	BL	List
FC	BC	Commerce
FM	BM	Composite
FP	BP	Premium video
FA	BA	Carousel

Do not rewrite FT to BT in your code. Keep sending FT.

Migrating

Before — Friendtalk to individual recipients

await sendgo.friendtalk.send({
  messageType: 'FI',
  content: 'Check out this week\'s deals!',
  imageUrl: 'https://cdn.example.com/banner.jpg',
  adFlag: 'Y',
  contacts: [{ contact: '01012345678' }],
});

After — Brand Message with a template

Brand Message references a template registered in the console, so you need a friendTemplateUuid.

// Single send to channel friends
await sendgo.brandMessage.send({
  targeting: 'M',
  messageType: 'FL',
  friendTemplateUuid: '9cd5460b-6458-4edc-9b11-c26d3013c340',
  adFlag: 'Y',
  contacts: [{ contact: '01012345678', var1: '29,000원' }],
});

// Broadcast to every consenting friend — no recipient list
await sendgo.brandMessage.broadcast({
  messageType: 'FW',
  friendTemplateUuid: '9cd5460b-6458-4edc-9b11-c26d3013c340',
  adFlag: 'Y',
});

The big shift: the body no longer travels in the request. Friendtalk carried content per call; Brand Message rich types reference a registered template and you fill its variables.

Campaign lookups split too

# Brand Message campaigns (BRAND_GROUP, BRAND_BASIC)
GET /api/v2/brand-messages

# Friendtalk campaigns
GET /api/v2/friends

The brand-message list does not return Friendtalk campaigns. Reporting code that spans both channels has to query both.

Checklist

• [ ] Found every Friendtalk call site (friendtalk, friends/send)
• [ ] Classified each: FT/FI/FW to individuals → leave as is
• [ ] Identified the ones needing rich types, non-friend targeting or broadcast → migrate
• [ ] Registered Brand Message templates and captured their friendTemplateUuid
• [ ] Set adFlag: 'Y' on promotional sends and checked the advertising rules
• [ ] Reporting queries both endpoints
• [ ] SDK upgraded to 1.2.1 or later (the release that reflects the shutdown)

Next

• Send a Kakao Alimtalk
• Error codes and retry strategy