Imessage Mcp

imessage-mcp

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26 tools for locally exploring your iMessage history with AI.

> if this helped you, star it. it helps others find it.

An MCP server that gives AI assistants read-only access to your local iMessage database. Nothing is written, modified, or uploaded. Your messages stay on your Mac; the AI only sees what you ask about.

> Read-only access to 2 local files (chat.db + AddressBook). Zero network requests. Nothing is written, uploaded, or shared. All 26 tools are annotated readOnlyHint: true — your MCP client can auto-approve every call without prompts.

Install

npm install -g imessage-mcp

Or run without installing:

npx imessage-mcp doctor

Smithery: One-click install via the Smithery registry — search for imessage-mcp.

Add to your AI client

# Claude Code (one command)
claude mcp add imessage -- npx -y imessage-mcp

# Claude Desktop — add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

See [Setup](#setup) for Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Codex CLI, Cline, JetBrains, and Zed.

Claude Code Plugin

For slash commands and agents:

claude plugin add anipotts/imessage-mcp

Prerequisites

1. macOS (iMessage is macOS-only)
2. Node.js 18+ (node --version)
3. Database access for your host application — macOS protects chat.db with its Application Data permission. Grant access in: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access and enable the app running the MCP server (your terminal, Claude Desktop, or Cursor). GUI apps like Claude Desktop and Cursor may already have this permission.
4. Messages in iCloud enabled on your Mac (if you use multiple devices) — see [iCloud Sync & Multiple Devices](#icloud-sync--multiple-devices)

Privacy & Security

imessage-mcp reads your local iMessage database in read-only mode. No data leaves your machine. Nothing is written, modified, uploaded, or shared.

| Path | Access | Purpose | | --- | --- | --- | | ~/Library/Messages/chat.db | Read-only | Your iMessage database | | ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/ | Read-only | Contact name resolution |

No other files are accessed. No external APIs are called.

chat.db --> [imessage-mcp] --> stdio/http --> [Your MCP Client] --> AI Provider
  ^                                              ^
  Your Mac only                         Already authorized by you

What Can You Ask?

Once connected, ask your AI assistant anything about your messages in plain language:

• "Give me my 2024 iMessage Wrapped"
• "Do I always text first with [name]?"
• "What's my longest texting streak?"
• "Who reacts to my messages the most?"
• "What was the first text I ever sent my partner?"
• "What was I texting about on this day last year?"
• "Do I double-text [name] a lot?"
• "Who have I lost touch with?"

More examples

• "Show me the longest silence between me and [name]"
• "How many messages have I sent this year?"
• "Show my conversation with Mom"
• "What time of day am I most active texting?"
• "Show me messages people unsent"
• "What are the most popular group chats?"

Tools

26 tools across 10 categories. All read-only. All annotated with readOnlyHint: true.

| Tool | Description | | --- | --- | | search_messages | Full-text search with filters: query, contact, date range, direction, group chat, attachments | | yearly_wrapped | Spotify Wrapped for iMessage — full year summary | | who_initiates | Who starts conversations? Initiation ratio per contact | | streaks | Consecutive-day messaging streaks | | get_reactions | Tapback distribution, top reactors, most-reacted messages | | on_this_day | Messages from this date in past years |

All 26 tools

| Tool | Description | | --- | --- | | search_messages | Full-text search with filters: query, contact, date range, direction, group chat, attachments | | get_conversation | Conversation thread with cursor-based pagination | | list_contacts | All contacts with message counts and date ranges | | get_contact | Deep contact info with stats and yearly breakdown | | resolve_contact | Fuzzy-match a name, phone number, or email to a contact | | message_stats | Aggregate stats with time-series grouping | | contact_stats | Per-contact volumes, trends, and hourly patterns | | temporal_heatmap | 7x24 activity heatmap (day-of-week by hour) | | on_this_day | Messages from this date in past years | | first_last_message | First and last message ever exchanged with a contact | | who_initiates | Who starts conversations? Initiation ratio per contact | | streaks | Consecutive-day messaging streaks | | double_texts | Detect double-texting and unanswered message patterns | | conversation_gaps | Find the longest silences in a conversation | | forgotten_contacts | Contacts you've lost touch with | | yearly_wrapped | Spotify Wrapped for iMessage — full year summary | | list_group_chats | Group chats with member counts and activity | | get_group_chat | Per-member stats and monthly activity timeline | | list_attachments | Query attachments by contact, MIME type, and date range | | get_reactions | Tapback distribution, top reactors, most-reacted messages | | get_read_receipts | Read/delivery latency and unread patterns | | get_thread | Reconstruct reply thread trees | | get_edited_messages | Edited and unsent messages with timing | | get_message_effects | Slam, loud, confetti, fireworks analytics | | check_new_messages | Track new messages since your last check (baseline + delta) | | help | Full tool guide with usage examples |

Setup

Claude Desktop

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Claude Code

claude mcp add imessage -- npx -y imessage-mcp

Or add to .mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

OpenAI Codex CLI

codex --mcp-config '{"imessage":{"command":"npx","args":["-y","imessage-mcp"]}}'

Or add to ~/.codex/config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your project root:

stdio (default):

{
  "servers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

HTTP transport (remote / Docker):

{
  "servers": {
    "imessage": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cline (VS Code)

Add via the Cline MCP settings UI, or edit cline_mcp_settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

JetBrains IDEs

Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > MCP Servers > Add:

• Name: imessage
• Command: npx
• Args: -y imessage-mcp

Zed

Add to ~/.config/zed/settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

CLI Commands

imessage-mcp doctor — run setup diagnostics

Checks macOS version, Node.js version, chat.db access, database permissions, AddressBook, and message count.

$ npx imessage-mcp doctor

imessage-mcp doctor

  ✓ macOS: Running on macOS (darwin)
  ✓ Node.js: Node v22.0.0 (>= 18 required)
  ✓ chat.db: Found at /Users/you/Library/Messages/chat.db
  ✓ Database access: Database readable
  ✓ Messages: 97,432 messages indexed
  ✓ AddressBook: 342 contacts resolved

All checks passed — ready to use!

Pass --json for machine-readable output:

npx imessage-mcp doctor --json

imessage-mcp dump — export messages or contacts to JSON

# Export last 1000 messages
npx imessage-mcp dump > messages.json

# Filter by contact
npx imessage-mcp dump --contact "+15551234567"

# Date range with custom limit
npx imessage-mcp dump --from 2024-01-01 --to 2024-12-31 --limit 5000

# Export contacts (excluding spam/promo by default)
npx imessage-mcp dump --contacts > contacts.json

# Include all contacts (even ones you never replied to)
npx imessage-mcp dump --contacts --all > all-contacts.json

# Export all messages (including unfiltered contacts)
npx imessage-mcp dump --all > all-messages.json

Transport Modes

By default, imessage-mcp uses stdio transport — the standard for local MCP clients like Claude Desktop and Claude Code. For workflow tools (n8n, Lutra, Copilot Studio) or remote access, HTTP transport is available.

| Flag | Short | Default | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | --transport | -t | stdio | Transport mode: stdio, http, or sse | | --port | -p | 3000 | Port for HTTP/SSE transport | | --host | -H | 127.0.0.1 | Bind address (use 0.0.0.0 for Docker/remote) |

Streamable HTTP (recommended for HTTP)

npx imessage-mcp --transport http --port 3000

Starts a Streamable HTTP server on http://127.0.0.1:3000/mcp. Supports POST, GET, and DELETE on /mcp with session management via mcp-session-id headers. This is the MCP 2025-03-26 standard.

Legacy SSE (for older clients)

npx imessage-mcp --transport sse --port 3000

Starts a legacy SSE server: GET /sse to establish the stream, POST /messages?sessionId= for JSON-RPC requests. Use this only if your client does not support Streamable HTTP.

Docker

Run imessage-mcp as an HTTP server in Docker. Copy your chat.db to a volume mount:

docker build -t imessage-mcp .
docker run -p 3000:3000 -v /path/to/chat.db:/data/chat.db:ro imessage-mcp

The container starts with --transport http --host 0.0.0.0 on port 3000 by default. Connect any MCP client to http://localhost:3000/mcp.

To secure the HTTP endpoint with authentication:

docker run -p 3000:3000 -e IMESSAGE_API_TOKEN=your-secret-token -v /path/to/chat.db:/data/chat.db:ro imessage-mcp

All requests must then include the Authorization: Bearer your-secret-token header.

Safe Mode — redact all message bodies

Prevent message bodies from being sent to the AI. Only metadata (counts, dates, contact names) is returned. No actual message text.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"],
      "env": { "IMESSAGE_SAFE_MODE": "1" }
    }
  }
}

Useful for demos, shared environments, or when you want analytics without exposing private conversations.

Smart Filtering — spam/promo exclusion

By default, listing and global search tools only include contacts you have actually replied to. This filters out spam, promo texts, and unknown senders.

Filtered tools: search_messages (global), list_contacts, message_stats (global), temporal_heatmap (global), who_initiates (global), streaks (global), on_this_day (global), forgotten_contacts, yearly_wrapped.

Unfiltered tools: get_conversation, get_contact, contact_stats, first_last_message, conversation_gaps, get_reactions, get_read_receipts, get_thread, get_edited_messages, get_message_effects, group chats, attachments, check_new_messages.

To include all contacts (including unrecognized senders), pass include_all: true to any filtered tool.

Sync & New Messages — real-time notifications

> Looking for iCloud sync? This section covers real-time message tracking within imessage-mcp. To sync your full message history from iPhone/iPad to your Mac, see [iCloud Sync & Multiple Devices](#icloud-sync--multiple-devices).

By default, every query reads the latest data — if someone texts you, your next tool call sees it immediately. No sync needed.

For proactive awareness, the check_new_messages tool tracks what arrived since your last check:

1. First call sets a baseline
2. Subsequent calls report the delta — count, who messaged, and optional text previews

For push notifications (opt-in):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "imessage-mcp"],
      "env": { "IMESSAGE_SYNC": "watch" }
    }
  }
}

This watches your iMessage database for changes and notifies your AI client within seconds. Uses macOS FSEvents — zero CPU when idle.

Configuration

| Variable | Default | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | IMESSAGE_DB | ~/Library/Messages/chat.db | Path to iMessage database | | IMESSAGE_SAFE_MODE | false | Set to 1 to redact all message bodies | | IMESSAGE_SYNC | off | Sync mode: off, watch (FSEvents), or poll:N (every N seconds) | | IMESSAGE_API_TOKEN | (none) | Bearer token for HTTP/SSE auth. If set, requests must include Authorization: Bearer |

iCloud Sync & Multiple Devices

iCloud Sync & Multiple Devices

imessage-mcp reads your Mac's local database (~/Library/Messages/chat.db). This database only contains messages that have been synced to your Mac. If your conversations live on your iPhone or iPad but haven't synced, imessage-mcp won't see them.

> If you only use iMessage on your Mac, you can skip this — your messages are already in chat.db.

How iMessage sync works

Apple's "Messages in iCloud" keeps your full message history synchronized across all your Apple devices:

┌─────────────┐         ┌──────────┐         ┌──────────────┐
│ iPhone/iPad │ ──────►  │  iCloud  │ ──────►  │   Your Mac   │
│  (sends &   │ ◄──────  │(Messages │ ◄──────  │              │
│  receives)  │         │in iCloud)│         │  chat.db      │
└─────────────┘         └──────────┘         └──────┬───────┘
                                                     │
                                                     ▼
                                              imessage-mcp
                                              reads this ↑

Without "Messages in iCloud" enabled on your Mac, the Mac's chat.db only contains messages sent and received while Messages.app was actively running on that Mac.

Setup

1. Enable on your Mac

1. Open Messages.app on your Mac
2. Go to Settings (Cmd+,) > iMessage tab
3. Check "Enable Messages in iCloud"
4. Keep Messages.app open — sync begins automatically

2. Enable on your iPhone/iPad

1. Open Settings > tap your name (Apple ID) > iCloud > Messages
2. Toggle "Use on this iPhone" ON

3. Same Apple ID on all devices

All devices must be signed into the same Apple ID. Check: Mac (System Settings > Apple ID), iPhone (Settings > tap your name).

4. Wait for sync to complete

Initial sync can take hours or even days for large message histories. During sync:

• Messages.app must remain open on your Mac
• Your Mac should be connected to Wi-Fi and power
• You'll see a "Syncing with iCloud" status in Messages.app

5. Sync contacts for name resolution

imessage-mcp resolves phone numbers to names usin

…

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: anipotts
• Source: anipotts/imessage-mcp
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://npmjs.com/package/imessage-mcp

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.