iMessage Max

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for iMessage that lets AI assistants read and search your messages with proper contact resolution.

Features

Contact Resolution - See names instead of phone numbers (resolves via macOS Contacts)
Participant Lookup - Find chats by typing names like find_chat(participants=["Nick", "Andrew"])
Session Grouping - Messages grouped into conversation sessions with gap detection
Token Efficient - Designed for AI consumption with compact responses and pagination
Read-Only Safe - Only reads from chat.db, never modifies your messages

Why This Exists

Most iMessage tools expose raw database structures, requiring 3-5 tool calls per user intent. This MCP provides intent-aligned tools that work the way you'd naturally ask questions:

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

"Show me recent group chats"
→ list_chats(is_group=True)

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

Installation

From PyPI (Recommended)

pip install imessage-max

Using UV

# Install UV if you haven't
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Install imessage-max
uv pip install imessage-max

From Source

pip install git+https://github.com/cyberpapiii/imessage-max.git

Setup

1. Grant Permissions

The MCP needs two macOS permissions to work properly:

Full Disk Access (Required)

Allows reading ~/Library/Messages/chat.db

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
Click + and add your terminal app (Terminal.app, iTerm, Warp, etc.)
If using Claude Desktop, add the process that runs Python:
- For UV: Add /Users/YOU/.local/share/uv/python/ (or find it with which python)

Contacts Access (Required for name resolution)

Allows resolving phone numbers to contact names

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts
Add the same apps/processes as above
Important: If using UV, you need to add UV itself (~/.cargo/bin/uv or similar)

2. Configure Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["imessage-max"]
    }
  }
}

Or if installed via pip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "imessage-max"
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop

The MCP will request Contacts access on first run if not already granted.

Tools

find_chat

Find chats by participants, name, or recent content.

# Find a DM by contact name
find_chat(participants=["Nick"])

# Find a group chat with multiple people
find_chat(participants=["Nick", "Andrew"])

# Find a named group chat
find_chat(name="Family")

# Find chat where you discussed something recently
find_chat(contains_recent="dinner plans")

get_messages

Retrieve messages with flexible filtering.

# Get recent messages from a chat
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", limit=50)

# Get messages from the last 24 hours
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", since="24h")

# Get only messages from a specific person
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", from_person="Nick")

# Get messages containing specific text
get_messages(chat_id="chat123", contains="flight")

list_chats

Browse recent chats with previews.

# List recent chats
list_chats(limit=20)

# List only group chats
list_chats(is_group=True)

# List chats active in the last week
list_chats(since="7d")

search

Full-text search across all messages.

# Search all messages
search(query="dinner")

# Search messages from a specific person
search(query="dinner", from_person="Nick")

# Search with time bounds
search(query="meeting", since="2024-01-01", before="2024-02-01")

# Search only in group chats
search(query="party", is_group=True)

get_context

Get messages surrounding a specific message.

# Get context around a message
get_context(message_id="msg123", before=5, after=10)

# Find message containing text and get context
get_context(chat_id="chat123", contains="that link", before=3, after=5)

get_active_conversations

Find chats with recent back-and-forth activity.

# Find active conversations in the last 24 hours
get_active_conversations(hours=24)

# Find active group conversations
get_active_conversations(is_group=True, min_exchanges=3)

list_attachments

List attachments with metadata.

# List recent attachments
list_attachments(limit=20)

# List images from a specific chat
list_attachments(chat_id="chat123", type="image")

# List attachments from a specific person
list_attachments(from_person="Nick", type="any")

get_unread

Get unread messages or summary.

# Get all unread messages
get_unread()

# Get unread summary by chat
get_unread(format="summary")

# Get unread from specific chat
get_unread(chat_id="chat123")

send

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

# Send to a contact
send(to="Nick", text="Hey, are we still on for dinner?")

# Send to a group chat
send(chat_id="chat123", text="Running 5 minutes late")

diagnose

Troubleshoot configuration and permission issues.

# Check setup
diagnose()
# Returns: pyobjc_available, contacts_authorized, contacts_loaded count

Troubleshooting

Contacts showing as phone numbers

Run the diagnose tool to check status:

{
  "pyobjc_available": true,
  "contacts_authorized": false,
  "authorization_status": "not_determined"
}

Fix: Add your Python interpreter or UV to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts.

"Database not found" error

The MCP can't access ~/Library/Messages/chat.db.

Fix: Add your terminal/Python to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.

Empty message previews

Some messages store text in attributedBody instead of text column. This is handled automatically as of v0.1.0.

MCP not loading in Claude Desktop

Check your config file syntax is valid JSON
Ensure the command path is correct
Restart Claude Desktop completely (Cmd+Q, not just close window)

Development

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/cyberpapiii/imessage-max.git
cd imessage-max

# Create virtual environment and install
uv venv
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

License

MIT

imessage-max

Documentation