iMessage Max

A high-performance MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for iMessage that lets AI agents read, search, and send your messages with proper contact resolution.

Built in Swift for native macOS integration - single binary, no runtime dependencies.

Distribution Status

The project now ships a single Swift implementation:

• GitHub releases
• Homebrew
• source builds
• Codex plugin metadata
• Claude Desktop MCPB metadata

The old Python package has been retired and removed from the repository. Everything current lives under swift/.

Features

• 12 Intent-Aligned Tools - Work the way you naturally ask questions, not raw database queries
• Contact Resolution - See names instead of phone numbers via macOS Contacts
• Smart Image Handling - Efficient image variants (vision/thumb/full) to avoid token bloat
• Session Grouping - Messages grouped into conversation sessions with gap detection
• Attachment Tracking - Know which images are available locally vs offloaded to iCloud
• Native Performance - Swift with raw SQLite3, Core Image GPU acceleration
• Read-Only Safe - Only reads from chat.db, send requires explicit permission

Why This Exists

Most iMessage tools expose raw database structures, requiring 3-5 tool calls per user intent. This MCP provides intent-aligned tools:

"What did Contact A and I talk about yesterday?"
→ find_chat(participants=["Contact A"]) + get_messages(since="yesterday")

"Show me the exact details for this thread before I reply"
→ get_chat_details(chat_id="chat123")

"Show me photos from the group chat"
→ list_attachments(chat_id="chat123", type="image")

"Find where we discussed the launch timeline"
→ search(query="launch timeline")

Common Agent Workflows

The tools work best when an agent uses them as short workflows instead of isolated one-off calls.

Agents should treat chat_id values like chat123 as internal handles for tool calls and exact sends. When explaining results to a person, use the returned chat name, group name, or participant-derived label instead of saying "Chat 123."

Find the right conversation, then read it

find_chat(participants=["Contact A"])
get_chat_details(chat_id="chat123")
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", since="yesterday", limit=50)

Use this when the person matters more than the exact thread id.

Search first, then zoom in

search(query="launch timeline", limit=10)
get_context(message_id="msg_456", before=5, after=10)

Use this when you know the topic but not where it was discussed.

Check what needs attention

get_unread()
get_active_conversations(hours=24, min_exchanges=2)

Use this to surface unread threads and active conversations after a broad chat-list sweep.

Work with attachments safely

list_attachments(chat_id="chat123", type="image", since="30d")
get_attachment(attachment_id="att123", variant="vision")

Use list_attachments to discover the message where files were shared first. It still returns exact attachment ids and local-availability state before you fetch a file.

Send with exact targeting when it matters

find_chat(participants=["Contact A", "Contact B"])
send(chat_id="chat456", text="Please use the latest draft")

For sensitive sends, prefer resolving the exact chat first and then using chat_id so the message lands in the intended thread.

Installation

Homebrew (Recommended)

brew tap cyberpapiii/tap
brew install imessage-max

From Source

git clone https://github.com/cyberpapiii/imessage-max.git
cd imessage-max/swift
swift build -c release

# Binary is at .build/release/imessage-max

For local development, advanced setup, and the signed install workflow, see:

• swift/README.md

Protocol Support

iMessage Max is a dual-era MCP server. Both transports (stdio and HTTP) serve both eras concurrently, selected per request:

Era	Revisions	Lifecycle	Selected by
Modern	2026-07-28	Stateless, per-request _meta	io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion in the request _meta (or server/discover)
Legacy	2025-03-26 … 2025-11-25	initialize + session	initialize request / Mcp-Session-Id

Modern clients probe with server/discover and send the required MCP-Protocol-Version, Mcp-Method, and (for tools/call) Mcp-Name headers over HTTP. Legacy clients keep working unchanged. No client migration is required, and legacy support stays as long as real clients depend on it.

The server implements tools only. It has no prompts, resources, completion, subscriptions, tasks, or MRTR flows, on purpose. The official conformance suite runs against both eras with the documented baseline in docs/conformance-baseline.yml.

Client Icon Metadata

iMessage Max ships icons for the main MCP protocol surface and the client packaging surfaces that use their own metadata:

• MCP 2025-11-25 initialize responses include PNG serverInfo.icons.
• Each tool advertises a compact PNG tool icon.
• Codex plugin metadata lives in .codex-plugin/plugin.json and uses assets/codex/icon.png plus assets/codex/logo.png.
• Claude Desktop / MCPB metadata lives in mcpb/manifest.json and uses PNG assets under mcpb/assets/.

The committed PNG source set is under assets/icons/ at 16x16, 32x32, 64x64, 128x128, 256x256, and 512x512.

Setup

1. Grant Full Disk Access

Required to read ~/Library/Messages/chat.db:

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
2. Click + to add the binary

For Homebrew installs: The binary is at /opt/homebrew/Cellar/imessage-max/VERSION/bin/imessage-max (not the symlink at /opt/homebrew/bin/). Find it with:

# Open the folder containing the actual binary
open $(dirname $(readlink -f $(which imessage-max)))

For source builds: Add .build/release/imessage-max from your clone directory.

Tip: In the file picker, press ⌘+Shift+G and paste the path to navigate directly.

2. Grant Contacts Access

Required for resolving phone numbers to names. The app will request access on first run, or add manually:

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts → add imessage-max

3. Configure Your MCP Client

Add imessage-max to your MCP client's server configuration.

Many MCP clients use a JSON structure like this:

For Homebrew:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/imessage-max/VERSION/bin/imessage-max"
    }
  }
}

For source builds:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "/path/to/imessage-max/swift/.build/release/imessage-max"
    }
  }
}

If your client uses a different config format, point it at the same binary path.

4. Reconnect Your MCP Client

After saving the config, reconnect or restart your MCP client. The server should appear in the available tools, and you can verify the connection with diagnose.

Tools

find_chat

Find chats by participants, name, or recent content.

find_chat(participants=["Contact A"])              # Find a direct chat
find_chat(participants=["Contact A", "Contact B"]) # Find a group with both
find_chat(name="Project Group")                    # Find by chat name
find_chat(contains_recent="latest draft")          # Find by recent content

get_chat_details

Inspect a known thread without opening the full conversation.

get_chat_details(chat_id="chat123")                          # Participants, handles, state, last message
get_chat_details(chat_id="chat123", include_shared_summary=false) # Skip recent shared summary

get_messages

Retrieve messages with flexible filtering. Returns metadata for media.

get_messages(chat_id="chat123", limit=50)           # Recent messages
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", since="24h")        # Last 24 hours
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", from_person="Contact A")  # From specific person

get_attachment

Retrieve image content by attachment ID with resolution variants.

get_attachment(attachment_id="att123")                 # Default: vision (1568px)
get_attachment(attachment_id="att123", variant="thumb") # Quick preview (400px)
get_attachment(attachment_id="att123", variant="full")  # Original resolution

Variant	Resolution	Use Case	Token Cost
vision (default)	1568px	AI analysis, OCR	~1,600 tokens
thumb	400px	Quick preview	~200 tokens
full	Original	Maximum detail	Varies

list_chats

Browse recent chats with previews.

list_chats(limit=20)          # Recent chats
list_chats(is_group=True)     # Only group chats
list_chats(since="7d")        # Active in last week

search

Full-text search across messages.

search(query="draft")                           # Search all messages
search(query="budget", from_person="Contact A") # From specific person
search(query="launch", is_group=True)           # Only in group chats

get_context

Get messages surrounding a specific message.

get_context(message_id="msg_123", before=5, after=10)

get_active_conversations

Find chats with recent back-and-forth activity.

get_active_conversations(hours=24)
get_active_conversations(is_group=True, min_exchanges=3)

list_attachments

Browse shared items grouped by message. Each row includes exact attachment ids for follow-up fetches.

list_attachments(type="image", since="7d")
list_attachments(chat_id="chat123", type="any")

get_unread

Get unread threads or unread messages. Default is summary by chat.

get_unread()                         # Summary by chat for last 7 days
get_unread(since="24h")              # Summary by chat for last 24 hours
get_unread(format="messages")        # Row-level unread messages

send

Send a message or file attachment (requires Automation permission for Messages.app).

send(to="Contact A", text="Checking in")
send(chat_id="chat123", text="Please use the latest draft")
send(chat_id="chat123", file_paths=["/path/save-the-date.jpg"])
send(to="Contact A", file_paths=["/path/reference.png"], text="Sharing the file here")

Rules:

• Exactly one of to or chat_id
• At least one of text or file_paths
• If both are provided, files are sent first and text is sent last

Release Checks

For a lightweight pre-release routine, use:

• docs/validation/2026-04-09-release-checklist.md
• docs/validation/2026-03-13-send-manual-validation.md

Additional send note:

• reply_to is currently unsupported
• Sends execute immediately when the destination is exact; there is no confirmation gate. Ambiguous destinations are refused with status: "ambiguous". The confirm parameter is deprecated and ignored (kept only for compatibility). Authorization happens in the user's conversation with the agent and in the client's tool-approval UI, not server-side.

Send result semantics (text sends are verified post-send against chat.db):

• status: "confirmed" means the message row was found in chat.db with no error; verified_message_guid is the evidence
• status: "uncertain" means transport accepted the send but the row was not found within the polling window; follow up with get_messages
• status: "mismatch" means the message landed in a different chat than intended; do not treat as success
• status: "failed_delivery" means the message row was found with a delivery error recorded; the message did not deliver, and verified_message_guid plus the error code are the evidence
• status: "partial_failure" means a multi-payload send dispatched some payloads before a later one failed; message lists what was dispatched and what failed — retry only the failed payload, never the whole call
• status: "sent" means verification was unavailable (DB unreadable); transport accepted only
• status: "pending_confirmation" means Messages accepted an attachment send, but the file transfer was not confirmed as finished within the polling window
• status: "failed" means the send failed
• status: "ambiguous" means the target could not be resolved safely

Notes:

• pending_confirmation is a normal non-fatal attachment state, not the same as a hard failure
• exact chat sends target the existing conversation identified by chat_id
• JSON-shaped tools return MCP structuredContent as well as legacy text content for older clients

Examples:

• {"status":"confirmed","verified_message_guid":"...",...} means delivery was verified in chat.db
• {"status":"pending_confirmation","success":false,...} means Messages accepted the attachment, but the MCP could not yet confirm final completion

diagnose

Troubleshoot configuration and permission issues.

diagnose()  # Returns: database status, contacts count, permissions, capabilities

Troubleshooting

Contacts showing as phone numbers

Run diagnose to check status. If contacts_authorized is false:

• Add the imessage-max binary to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts

"Database not found" error

Add the imessage-max binary to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access

Images show "attachment_offloaded" error

Some attachments are stored in iCloud, not on disk. list_attachments includes nested attachment summaries with available: true/false for each file. To download offloaded attachments, open the conversation in Messages.app.

MCP client not loading the server

1. Check config file syntax is valid JSON
2. Verify the binary path is correct
3. Reconnect or fully restart your MCP client

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  MCP Client /   │◄───►│  iMessage Max   │◄───►│  chat.db        │
│  Agent          │     │  (Swift MCP)    │     │  (SQLite)       │
└─────────────────┘     └────────┬────────┘     └─────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
                        ┌─────────────────┐
                        │  Contacts.app   │
                        │  (CNContactStore)│
                        └─────────────────┘

Requirements

• macOS 14+ (Sonoma or later)
• Full Disk Access permission
• Contacts permission (for name resolution)
• Automation permission for Messages.app (send only)

Advanced Setup

For HTTP mode, local background service setup, development commands, and contributor-focused workflow details, see:

• swift/README.md

License

MIT