iMessage Max

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

Features

Media Enrichment - Images converted to viewable format, video thumbnails extracted, links unfurled with titles
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

Desktop Extension (Recommended)

One-click install with icon support in Claude Desktop:

Prerequisites:

UV must be installed:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Grant Full Disk Access to uvx (required to read iMessage database):
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
- Click + and add ~/.local/bin/uvx (press Cmd+Shift+G to enter path)

Install:

Download imessage-max.mcpb
Double-click to install, or drag into Claude Desktop
Grant Contacts access when prompted (for name resolution)

Troubleshooting: Run the diagnose tool to check permissions status.

From PyPI

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. Returns metadata for media, links are enriched.

# 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")

Messages with attachments return metadata (not image content) for performance:

{
  "messages": [{
    "id": "msg_123",
    "text": "Check out this photo!",
    "from": "nick",
    "media": [{
      "type": "image",
      "id": "att123",
      "filename": "IMG_1234.heic",
      "size_bytes": 2457600,
      "dimensions": {"width": 4032, "height": 3024}
    }],
    "links": [{
      "url": "https://instagram.com/p/abc",
      "domain": "instagram.com",
      "title": "Post by @user",
      "description": "Check out this amazing..."
    }]
  }]
}

Media Type	Response
Images (HEIC/JPEG/PNG)	Metadata only: id, filename, size, dimensions
Videos (MOV/MP4)	Metadata: id, filename, duration
Audio (voice notes)	Metadata: id, filename, duration
Links	Open Graph metadata (title, description, domain), capped at 10 per request

To view an image: Use get_attachment(attachment_id="att123") - see below.

get_attachment

Retrieve full image content by attachment ID. Use after get_messages to view specific images.

# Get image optimized for AI analysis (default)
get_attachment(attachment_id="att123")

# Get quick thumbnail preview
get_attachment(attachment_id="att123", variant="thumb")

# Get original full resolution
get_attachment(attachment_id="att123", variant="full")

Variant	Resolution	Use Case	Token Cost
`vision` (default)	1568px	AI analysis, reading text in images	~1,600 tokens
`thumb`	400px	Quick preview, browsing multiple images	~200 tokens
`full`	Original	When you need maximum detail	Varies

Example workflow:

1. get_messages(chat_id="chat123") → See media metadata: {"id": "att123", "filename": "photo.heic"}
2. get_attachment(attachment_id="att123") → View the actual image content

This metadata-first approach prevents slowdowns when fetching messages with many images.

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. By default, returns unread messages from the last 7 days to match Messages.app behavior.

# Get unread messages (default: last 7 days)
get_unread()

# Get unread from last 24 hours
get_unread(since="24h")

# Get unread from last 14 days
get_unread(since="14d")

# Get ALL historical unread messages (may include stale data)
get_unread(since="all")

# 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