Claude Code Channels: Text Your AI from iMessage — Complete Setup Guide

Text Claude Code from Your iPhone — No Bots, No Tokens, No Servers

Claude Code Channels now supports iMessage natively on Mac. You can text your AI assistant from your iPhone and it texts you back — no Telegram bot, no Discord server, no external service. Just iMessage.

If you watched my Discord and Telegram channel videos, this is the simplest one yet.

How It Works

Your Mac stores all iMessage data in a SQLite database called chat.db. The iMessage plugin polls this database every second for new messages. When it finds one, it pushes the message to Claude Code. For replies, Claude tells Messages.app to send a text through AppleScript.

Everything stays local on your Mac. No cloud services, no API tokens, no hosted bots.

Prerequisites

macOS (iMessage is Mac-only)
Claude Code installed and up to date
Full Disk Access permission for your terminal app

Step 1: Grant Full Disk Access

macOS protects the chat.db database. Your terminal needs Full Disk Access to read it.

Open System Settings
Go to Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
Add your terminal app (Terminal, iTerm2, Warp, or VS Code if you run Claude Code from there)
Restart your terminal if prompted

The key rule: whatever app launches bun (which runs Claude Code) needs this permission. Without it, the plugin exits immediately.

Step 2: Install the iMessage Plugin

First, make sure Claude Code is up to date:

claude update

Install the iMessage plugin:

/plugin install @anthropic/claude-plugin-imessage

If you get a "plugin not found" error, install or update the official marketplace first:

/plugin marketplace add anthropic/claude-plugin-official

Choose user scope when prompted so the plugin works across all your projects.

Step 3: Launch Claude Code with Channels

Exit Claude Code and restart with the channels flag:

claude --channels plugin:imessage:imessage

You should see: "Listening for channel messages". That's it — the plugin is now polling your messages database.

Step 4: Test with Self-Chat

Open Messages on your iPhone and text yourself (your iCloud phone number or email). Self-chat bypasses all access control — it works immediately with no setup.

Try sending: "Hey Claude, what's in my working directory?"

You'll see the message arrive in your terminal, Claude processes it, and the reply appears on your iPhone.

Note: In self-chat, every message appears twice (as sender and receiver). That's normal iMessage behavior, not a bug. To avoid this, allow-list a second phone number and text from that device instead.

Step 5: Access Control (Allow-Listing Contacts)

By default, only your self-chat works. Everyone else is silently dropped. To let someone else reach your Claude Code session:

/imessage:access allow +1234567890

You can also use Apple ID emails:

/imessage:access allow friend@icloud.com

Each time you add someone, Claude Code asks for confirmation — you can approve from your terminal OR directly from your iPhone by typing the secret code.

To remove access:

/imessage:access remove +1234567890

Check who has access anytime with:

/imessage:access

Everything is stored in access.json. Be careful who you allow-list — they'll have access to your Claude Code session and everything it can do on your Mac.

Real Use Cases

Remote File Lookup

You're on a call and someone asks about a config value. Instead of walking to your computer, just text Claude: "What API keys are in my .env file?"

Build Things While Away

Text: "Create a modern landing page and save it as landing.html" — Claude builds it, and the file is ready when you get back to your desk.

Check Build Status

Kicked off a test suite? Text: "Did the tests pass?" — Claude checks the output and texts back the results.

Morning Standup Prep

Before your standup, text: "What did I commit yesterday?" — Claude runs git log and sends you a formatted summary.

Additional Configuration

Disable the Signature

By default, replies include "Sent by Claude" at the bottom. To disable it:

IMESSAGE_APPEND_SIGNATURE=false claude --channels plugin:imessage:imessage

Group Chat Support

iMessage doesn't have @mentions, so you set trigger patterns instead:

/imessage:access set mention-patterns ["@claude", "hey claude"]

In group chats, only messages matching these patterns will trigger Claude.

Bypass Permissions (Use Carefully)

claude --channels plugin:imessage:imessage --dangerously-skip-permissions

This gives Claude full access to your system without asking for approval on each action. Fast, but use with caution — it's not limited to your project folder.

Things to Know

Claude Code must be running — close the terminal, messages stop. Keep a session open in the background.
macOS only — chat.db only exists on Mac.
First reply triggers an automation prompt — macOS asks if your terminal can control Messages. Click OK (one-time).
Security matters — unlike Discord/Telegram where you create a separate bot, this reads your personal messages database.

Related Guides

All three channel options work. Pick whichever platform you use the most.