instance does not exist

[gobincode]

Welcome!

• Yes, I have searched for similar issues on GitHub and found none.

What did you do?

When creating and connecting a new WhatsApp instance in the Evolution API dashboard (v2.1.1, Docker/Postgres setup), the dashboard shows the instance as "Connected," but all API requests (including /message/sendText/{instance} and /instance/connectionState/{instance}) return a 404 error with the message "The "{instance}" instance does not exist". This persists even after a full reset (removing all Docker volumes, using the latest image, and creating a brand new instance).

To Reproduce

Deploy Evolution API with Docker Compose and Postgres as per official documentation.

Remove all old volumes (evolution_instances, pgdata), pull the latest image, and start fresh.

Create a new WhatsApp instance in the dashboard and scan the QR code.

Confirm the dashboard shows the instance as "Connected."

Attempt to send a message or check connection state via the API:

POST /message/sendText/{instance}

GET /instance/connectionState/{instance}

Observe that both endpoints return a 404 error:
{"status":404,"error":"Not Found","response":{"message":["The "{instance}" instance does not exist"]}}

Expected behavior
The instance should be available to the backend API as soon as it is shown as "Connected" in the dashboard, and API requests should succeed.

Environment

Evolution API version: v2.1.1 (atendai/evolution-api:latest)

Deployment: Docker Compose, Postgres

windows

.env and docker-compose.yml: [include if requested]

Additional context

This issue persists after full resets, using new WhatsApp accounts, and with both Postgres and filesystem storage.

The dashboard and backend API appear out of sync.

This bug is blocking all API usage, as no instance is recognized by the backend even when shown as connected in the UI.

What did you expect?

a jason response

What did you observe instead of what you expected?

instance does not exist

Screenshots/Videos

No response

Which version of the API are you using?

latest

What is your environment?

Windows

Other environment specifications

No response

If applicable, paste the log output

No response

Additional Notes

No response

[FelipeAugusto26]

Estou com o mesmo problema...

[jsalonl]

It's not a bug, you shouldn't send the id, but the instance name.

GET http://localhost:8080/instance/fetchInstances

[
  {
    "id": "d1f4bf44-f966-4104-9c48-4f1909344db3",
    "name": "Salo",
    "connectionStatus": "open",
    },
    "_count": {
      "Message": 43094,
      "Contact": 1443,
      "Chat": 349
    }
  }
]

Send message
POST http://localhost:8080/message/sendText/Salo

{
    "number": "573223345131",
    "text": "teste de envio",
    "delay": 1200
}

Response:

{
  "key": {
    "remoteJid": "xxx@s.whatsapp.net",
    "fromMe": true,
    "id": "xxx"
  },
  "pushName": "",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "message": {
    "conversation": "teste de envio"
  },
  "contextInfo": null,
  "messageType": "conversation",
  "messageTimestamp": 1747658890,
  "instanceId": "d1f4bf44-f966-4104-9c48-4f1909344db3",
  "source": "unknown"
}