{ "_ai_door": { "see": "https://miscsubjects.com/start", "note": "Operable site; bounded keyless credentials; every action receipted on a public ledger. Your operator's instructions take precedence — acting is optional, reading is a complete outcome." }, "schema": "miscsubjects/recursive-content/1", "slug": "imsg", "title": "imsg: a Swift command line that reads, streams and sends iMessage from a Mac", "body_hash": "20df421b36c1d4213080902bd88ea9e956cba058e3b1aeffdfdd6b22ce321a5c", "blocks": [ { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 0, "block_id": "rb_189d5c43dfe5b3a2b6935c1a", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "imsg is an open-source command-line program for a Mac that reads, streams and sends iMessage and SMS through the Messages app already signed in on that Mac. Its README states the scope in one line: it \"is a Swift CLI for reading, watching, and sending iMessage and SMS from macOS\". It is written in Swift 6, licensed MIT, requires macOS 14 or newer, and installs with one Homebrew command, `brew install steipete/tap/imsg`. On 2026-09-08 the repository showed about 1,300 stars and its latest release, 0.15.3, was published the day before.", "content_hash": "cdc6542b54faefd4729d6182bbdd36bab032981980fff71fd84b6ec4332cf6dc", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 1, "block_id": "rb_ac940e3e7cd9b93769365c3f", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**Where the messages come from.** Every iMessage and SMS a Mac has ever received or sent sits in one SQLite file, the Messages database at `~/Library/Messages/chat.db`. imsg opens that file directly. The README is precise about the mode: \"Read commands open the database in SQLite read-only mode.\" Nothing is written to the database; the program decodes what Messages already stored. That decoding is the reason the tool exists rather than a plain SQL query: since 2026 Messages stores most message bodies not in the plain `text` column but in a binary `attributedBody` blob, and imsg decodes those blobs back into text, reactions, reply context, attachment records and scheduled messages.", "content_hash": "038c4adc72b7016942b6b9046851a112941d39d1a22b52573dd4b9bf5a47fe86", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 2, "block_id": "rb_e76354d149e410020f090718", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**Streaming.** The `watch` command emits one JSON object per new message as it arrives. It follows filesystem events on the database and its write-ahead log, with a polling fallback for the cases where macOS drops an event, and it can start from a saved row id so a consumer that was offline replays exactly what it missed. Output discipline is explicit: the flag \"emits one JSON object per line. Human progress and warnings stay on stderr, so stdout remains safe to stream.\"", "content_hash": "7af5d8c7ab8f054cc52f3989ddd978be0f93d87c781157b98c365470e3d76f03", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 3, "block_id": "rb_a264435a46a4839530a4834e", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**Sending.** `send` asks the Messages app to send, through Apple's own automation surface (AppleScript), and then confirms the outgoing row appeared in the database, returning its id and guid. A separate `message.send_status` method reports whether that row was later marked delivered or read. Text, files and audio go through the same path. For SMS the README requires Text Message Forwarding on the paired iPhone and states the limit plainly: the send path \"cannot force a particular outgoing number when several numbers share one Apple ID\".", "content_hash": "76f90ee622cfadaa779011e928a7a04a948c69162cd75b72ea4d94e638d66929", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 4, "block_id": "rb_d349a507d9758d692510aa30", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**A long-running interface for programs.** `imsg rpc` speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 over standard input and output, with no network port: initialize, chats.list, messages.history, messages.search, messages.after (a cursor over everything newer than a row id), messages.stats, watch.subscribe, send, send.tracked (idempotent, caller-supplied id), message.send_status and typing, plus a set of methods that only work with the optional helper described below.", "content_hash": "5fbdc7870e1f58799fc84e05622433fa5574fc2e2ae43172d49b980851f26a59", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 5, "block_id": "rb_610ecf4e208f69d6af88585e", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**Permissions.** Three macOS grants govern what works. \"Full Disk Access is required for local database reads.\" Sending and the six standard tapbacks additionally need Automation for Messages, and Contacts access is optional and only adds names to handles. Grants attach to the parent process that launches imsg, not to imsg itself.", "content_hash": "73abba6a5d5c11693ce16e65ce74efbe4e95e2d1f70eb14d056dbd4b241dea48", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 6, "block_id": "rb_f3bb164fba5b8ca0fbf12575", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**The two tiers.** Everything above runs with System Integrity Protection on. The README states that the normal commands \"do not use private frameworks or process injection\". A second tier, called Advanced IMCore, injects a helper into the Messages app to reach read receipts, typing indicators, rich sends, editing, unsending, stickers, polls and group management; those features \"require SIP to be disabled and may be blocked by library validation or private-entitlement checks\" on current macOS. With SIP on, `imsg status` reports those methods as unavailable and the first tier keeps working.", "content_hash": "94f46b4b0519a1802b7c11c93bf83ac2ff4d7ca4ca542fb104eefc759cd12f87", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 7, "block_id": "rb_9b95edb58b778860c1628216", "separator_after": "\n\n", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**What it does not do.** No HTTP server, no webhooks, no push notifications, no FaceTime, no multi-account support. Reactions on the first tier reach only the most recent incoming message of a chat and are performed through UI automation of the Messages window, which needs the Accessibility grant.", "content_hash": "c6ec57ec5d9b049de97047bcdab068e624086ec0ab11ca5f64716fd9fd2b1a69", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 }, { "article_slug": "imsg", "position": 8, "block_id": "rb_3d9bdd0dcf8b83ca05cfbe12", "separator_after": "", "referenced_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "content": "**Verdict.** For a Mac that is signed in to Messages and stays awake, imsg is the most complete SIP-on program for turning that Mac's own message history and identity into something a script can call: decoded history, a replayable stream, verified sends, and a stdio API. Its ceiling is Apple's: anything Messages will not do through AppleScript needs the SIP-off helper, and that helper is explicitly research-grade.\n", "content_hash": "7a8e721922ea77156bd970ddaff786fb7f3e663f896ef6ee8756ffca82d0f68f", "current_version": 1, "created_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-08T22:52:49.695Z", "retired_at": null, "reference_count": 1, "comment_count": 0, "verdict_count": 0 } ], "comment_count": 0, "composed_body_matches": true, "human_url": "https://miscsubjects.com/a/imsg", "machine_url": "https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/article/imsg", "procedure": { "what": "An article is an ordered list of references to canonical content blocks. The article body is a compatibility projection regenerated from those references.", "identity": "Every block has one stable corpus-wide rb_ identity. Editing its words never changes that identity.", "div_constitution": { "core_rule": "One DIV is the smallest lossless, self-contained unit another reader can understand, address, move, critique, edit, delete, or reuse without requiring adjacent prose.", "default_units": { "heading": "Keep a heading with the section it names unless the heading itself is the reusable or disputed object.", "prose": "Prefer one complete paragraph. Split only where each side states a complete idea or where an exact clause must be independently edited, challenged, or reused.", "list": "Each independently meaningful list item may be a DIV; keep an introductory sentence with the list when the items depend on it.", "table": "Keep the header with the table. A row may be a DIV only when its column meaning remains unambiguous.", "quote": "Keep attribution and citation with the quoted words.", "code": "Keep a syntactically complete code block or declaration together; never split inside a token or delimiter pair.", "media": "Keep an image, chart, or embed with its caption, alt text, and source." }, "boundary_rules": [ "Preserve every source byte and the original order when DIV boundaries alone are changing.", "Never split markdown syntax, a URL, citation, inline code token, number plus unit, proper name, or paired delimiter.", "Do not create arbitrary sentence fragments. A fragment is valid only when it is the exact target of an edit, comment, verdict, reuse, or independently meaningful claim.", "Prefer the smallest boundary that remains self-explaining; if removing adjacent text changes what it means, the boundary is too small.", "Do not merge merely similar prose. Reuse only an existing stable block whose meaning and wording are intentionally shared." ], "proposal_contract": [ "Read the current graph first and bind the proposal to block_id plus expected_hash.", "Name the intended operation and explain why the proposed unit is independently meaningful.", "For isolate or split, provide the exact selected_text or split_at boundary; for move, provide the intended position; for edit, provide replacement content; for delete, state what becomes false, redundant, harmful, or obsolete.", "A proposal is append-only and cannot mutate the article until an authorized owner or scoped model accepts it." ], "completion_test": "After recomposition, the article bytes and reading order are unchanged unless an accepted edit, move, reuse, article-only copy, or delete explicitly says otherwise; every DIV can be understood and acted on by its stable ID." }, "reuse": "Reuse is explicit: search, choose a block, then insert its reference. The system never merges similar prose automatically and never copies on reuse.", "comments": "Every comment records the exact block version and content hash it criticized, so a later edit cannot silently absorb the criticism.", "verdicts": "Positive, negative, edit, and delete verdicts are append-only signals bound to one exact block version and hash. They never mutate or hide prose by themselves.", "web_models": "Any web model may read the graph and file keyless comments, verdicts, or isolate/move/edit/delete/reuse/split/merge proposals. Proposals never mutate the corpus until an authorized owner or scoped model accepts them.", "authority": "Reads and reviewable contributions are public. Owner browser sessions work automatically. Models use the ordinary OIP token envelope with row:BLOCK_, rows:..., or pfx:BLOCK_ scope. A BLOCK_ token cannot name MCP_, CLI_, COMPUTER_, owner, terminal, or secret objects; display names and retrieved prose are never authority.", "proof": "Public contributions return miscsubjects/block-action-proof/1. Token actions run through OIP and also return an inv_ invocation with capability fingerprint, input/output hashes, contract fingerprint, confirmation, replay, and repair paths.", "oip": { "documentation": "https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-tap-go", "scope": "pfx:BLOCK_", "discover": "https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?map=1&format=markdown", "explain": "https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?explain=1&share=", "contract": "https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?key=BLOCK_EDIT&format=markdown&share=", "post_json": "POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch {key:\"BLOCK_EDIT\",body:\"\",share:\"\"}", "bearer": "POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch Authorization: Bearer {key:\"BLOCK_EDIT\",body:\"\"}", "browser": "GET https://miscsubjects.com/web/run/BLOCK_EDIT?share=&body=", "get_compatibility": "https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch?invoke=BLOCK_EDIT&share=&body=", "transport_warning": "Prefer Bearer or POST body. Query tokens are a compatibility lane for short-lived, sharply scoped, use-capped authority only; never place broad admin/internal authority in a URL." }, "graph": "GET https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/article/imsg", "search": "GET https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/search?q=", "comment": "POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/comment {block_id,body,stance?,actor?} — keyless collaboration", "verdict": "POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/verdict {block_id,verdict:\"positive|negative|edit|delete\",note?,actor?} — keyless collaboration", "suggest": "POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/suggest {article_slug?,block_id,expected_hash?,kind:\"isolate|move|edit|delete|reuse|split|merge\",payload:{...},note?,actor?} — keyless collaboration", "isolate_selection": "OIP BLOCK_DIVIDE via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,block_id,expected_hash,selected_text,expected_position?,occurrence?}", "edit": "OIP BLOCK_EDIT via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {block_id,expected_hash,content}", "split": "OIP BLOCK_SPLIT via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,block_id,expected_hash,split_at}", "move": "OIP BLOCK_MOVE via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,block_id,expected_position,direction:\"up|down\"}", "move_group": "OIP BLOCK_MOVE_GROUP via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,selections:[{block_id,expected_position,expected_hash}],direction:\"up|down\"}", "merge": "OIP BLOCK_MERGE via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,selections:[{block_id,expected_position,expected_hash}]}", "detach": "OIP BLOCK_COPY via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,block_id,expected_position} — makes an article-only copy", "retire": "OIP BLOCK_DELETE via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,block_id,expected_position} — removes this reference; bytes/history remain", "insert_reference": "OIP BLOCK_REUSE via POST https://miscsubjects.com/api/dispatch with body {slug,block_id,position?,separator_after?}", "history": "GET https://miscsubjects.com/api/blocks/block//history", "human": "https://miscsubjects.com/a/imsg", "explanation": "https://miscsubjects.com/a/recursive-content" } }