💬 iMessage MCP Server

Access your iMessage conversations through the Model Context Protocol

⚠️ Local-only server — This MCP server reads directly from local macOS database files (~/Library/Messages/chat.db and ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/). It must run on the same Mac where your iMessages are loaded and Apple ID is configured. Remote or cloud deployment is not supported.

✨ Features

📥 Read Messages

• Get recent messages with smart filtering

• View unread messages grouped by sender

• Search across all conversations

• Filter by date, service (iMessage/SMS), attachments

💬 Conversations

• View full chat history with any contact

• See recent conversations at a glance

• Support for group chats

• Track read/unread status

📤 Send Messages

• Send text messages to any contact

• Share images and files

• Send multiple attachments at once

• Works with phone numbers and emails

📎 Attachments

• Browse messages with attachments

• Get attachment metadata (size, type, path)

• Filter for images only

• View all attachments in a conversation

Related MCP server: mac-messages-mcp

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• macOS with iMessage configured

• Node.js 18 or later

• Full Disk Access permission (see below)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/sameelarif/imessage-mcp.git
cd imessage-mcp
pnpm install
pnpm build

Granting Full Disk Access

The MCP server needs permission to read your iMessage database.

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access

2. Click the + button

3. Add your terminal app (Terminal, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Warp, VS Code, Ghostyy, etc.)

4. Restart the application

🔧 Configuration

Claude Desktop

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imessage": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/imessage-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

🛠️ Available Tools

🧪 Test Client

An interactive CLI is included for testing with the Vercel AI SDK:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
pnpm test-client

Commands: exit • clear • tools

📁 Project Structure

src/
├── index.ts              # MCP server entry point
├── test-client.ts        # Interactive test client
├── tools/
│   ├── messages.ts       # Message tools
│   ├── conversations.ts  # Conversation tools
│   └── attachments.ts    # Attachment tools
└── utils/
    ├── logger.ts         # Pretty CLI logging
    └── sdk.ts            # SDK initialization

📜 Scripts

🙏 Acknowledgements

• Built with @photon-ai/imessage-kit for iMessage database access

• Uses the Model Context Protocol by Anthropic

• Test client powered by Vercel AI SDK

📄 License

Licensed under the MIT License.