/imessage:configure — iMessage Channel Setup

There's no token to save — iMessage reads

~/Library/Messages/chat.db

directly. This skill checks whether that works and orients the user on access policy.

Arguments passed:

$ARGUMENTS

(unused — this skill only shows status)

---

Status and guidance

Read state and give the user a complete picture:

1. Full Disk Access — run

   ls ~/Library/Messages/chat.db

   . If it fails with "Operation not permitted", FDA isn't granted. Say: "Grant Full Disk Access to your terminal (or IDE if that's where Claude Code runs): System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access. The server can't read chat.db without it."

2. Access — read

   ~/.claude/channels/imessage/access.json

   (missing file = defaults:

   dmPolicy: "allowlist"

   , empty allowlist). Show:
   • DM policy and what it means in one line
   • Allowed senders: count, and list the handles
   • Pending pairings: count, with codes if any (only if policy is

     pairing

     )

3. What next — end with a concrete next step based on state:

   • FDA not granted → the FDA instructions above
   • FDA granted, policy is allowlist → "Text yourself from any device signed into your Apple ID — self-chat always bypasses the gate. To let someone else through:

     /imessage:access allow +15551234567

     ."
   • FDA granted, someone allowed → "Ready. Self-chat works; {N} other sender(s) allowed."

---

Build the allowlist — don't pair

iMessage reads your personal

chat.db

. You already know the phone numbers and emails of people you'd allow — there's no ID-capture problem to solve. Pairing has no upside here and a clear downside: every contact who texts this Mac gets an unsolicited auto-reply.

Drive the conversation this way:

1. Read the allowlist. Tell the user who's in it (self-chat always works regardless).
2. Ask: "Besides yourself, who should be able to text you through this?"
3. "Nobody, just me" → done. The default

   allowlist

   with an empty list is correct. Self-chat bypasses the gate.
4. "My partner / a friend / a couple people" → ask for each handle (phone like

   +15551234567

   or email like

   them@icloud.com

   ) and offer to run

   /imessage:access allow <handle>

   for each. Stay on

   allowlist

   .
5. Current policy is

   pairing

   → flag it immediately: "Your policy is

   pairing

   , which auto-replies a code to every contact who texts this Mac. Switch back to

   allowlist

   ?" and offer

   /imessage:access policy allowlist

   . Don't wait to be asked.
6. User asks for

   pairing

   → push back. Explain the auto-reply-to- everyone consequence. If they insist and confirm a dedicated line with few contacts, fine — but treat it as a one-off, not a recommendation.

Handles are

+15551234567

or

someone@icloud.com

.

disabled

drops everything except self-chat.

---

Implementation notes

• No

  .env

  file for this channel. No token. The only OS-level setup is FDA plus the one-time Automation prompt when the server first sends (which can't be checked from here).

• access.json

  is re-read on every inbound message — policy changes via

  /imessage:access

  take effect immediately, no restart.