Messages - Photon

im.messages sends, reads, mutates, and subscribes to messages. Get a chat.guid before calling message APIs. chat.guid is the server’s chat identifier. It is not an email address or phone number. If you only have a recipient address, create or resolve the chat first with im.chats.create(...).

Scenario	Argument shape
Send, read, edit, or unsend in one chat	First argument is `chat.guid`
List messages in one chat	`listInChat(chat.guid, options)`
Subscribe to one chat’s message events	`subscribeEvents({ chat: chat.guid })`
List recent messages across chats	`listRecent(options)`, no `chat.guid`

What You Can Do

Need	Use
Send plain text	`im.messages.sendText(chat.guid, text)`
Add a message effect	`effect: MessageEffect.*`
Format text	`formatting: [...]`
Send an attachment	Upload with `im.attachments.upload(...)`, then call `im.messages.sendAttachment(...)`
Send a card that opens your iMessage extension	`im.messages.sendCustomizedMiniApp(chat.guid, message)`
Reply to a message	`replyTo` on `sendText(...)`, `sendAttachment(...)`, or `sendMultipart(...)`
Send multipart content	`im.messages.sendMultipart(...)`
Add or remove a reaction	`im.messages.setReaction(...)`
Place a sticker	`im.messages.placeSticker(...)`
Edit a message	`im.messages.edit(...)`
Unsend a message	`im.messages.unsend(...)`
Notify anyway	`im.messages.notifySilenced(...)`
Get or list messages	`get(...)`, `listRecent(...)`, `listInChat(...)`
Subscribe to message events	`im.messages.subscribeEvents(...)`

Send Text

const sent = await im.messages.sendText(chat.guid, "Hello");

console.log(sent.guid);

sendText(...) returns Message. text is trimmed by the server and must not be empty after trimming. Common Message fields:

const message = {
  // Message GUID. Use it for edits, unsends, reactions, replies, and lookups.
  guid: "message-guid",
  // Chats that contain this message.
  chatGuids: ["any;-;[email protected]"],
  content: {
    text: "Hello",
    attachments: [],
    formatting: [],
    mentions: [],
  },
  isFromMe: true,
  dateCreated: new Date("2026-01-01T12:00:00Z"),
};

iMessage text bubble showing a sent Hello message

Message Effects

Message effects apply to the whole outgoing message: confetti, fireworks, slam, invisible ink, and similar iMessage effects.

import { MessageEffect } from "@photon-ai/advanced-imessage";

await im.messages.sendText(chat.guid, "Happy birthday", {
  effect: MessageEffect.confetti,
});

Constant	Effect
`MessageEffect.confetti`	Confetti
`MessageEffect.fireworks`	Fireworks
`MessageEffect.balloons`	Balloons
`MessageEffect.heart`	Heart
`MessageEffect.lasers`	Lasers
`MessageEffect.celebration`	Celebration
`MessageEffect.sparkles`	Sparkles
`MessageEffect.spotlight`	Spotlight
`MessageEffect.echo`	Echo
`MessageEffect.slam`	Slam
`MessageEffect.loud`	Loud
`MessageEffect.gentle`	Gentle
`MessageEffect.invisible`	Invisible ink

Clients that do not support a given effect show the message normally.

Text Formatting

formatting applies bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, or animated text effects to a range of text.

import { TextEffect } from "@photon-ai/advanced-imessage";

await im.messages.sendText(chat.guid, "Bold then bloom", {
  formatting: [
    { type: "bold", start: 0, length: 4 },
    { type: "effect", start: 10, length: 5, effect: TextEffect.bloom },
  ],
});

`type`	Effect	Shape
`"bold"`	Bold	`{ type: "bold", start, length }`
`"italic"`	Italic	`{ type: "italic", start, length }`
`"underline"`	Underline	`{ type: "underline", start, length }`
`"strikethrough"`	Strikethrough	`{ type: "strikethrough", start, length }`
`"effect"`	Animated text effect	`{ type: "effect", start, length, effect }`

start and length use UTF-16 code units. In plain ASCII text, offsets match what you see on screen. With emoji or other non-BMP characters, one visible character may use two code units.

Constant	Effect
`TextEffect.big`	Big
`TextEffect.small`	Small
`TextEffect.shake`	Shake
`TextEffect.nod`	Nod
`TextEffect.explode`	Explode
`TextEffect.ripple`	Ripple
`TextEffect.bloom`	Bloom
`TextEffect.jitter`	Jitter

iMessage messages showing bold italic underline strikethrough and text effects

Send Attachments

Sending an attachment has two steps:

Upload file bytes with im.attachments.upload(...) to get an attachment GUID.
Pass uploaded.attachment.guid to sendAttachment(...).

const uploaded = await im.attachments.upload({
  fileName: "photo.jpg",
  data: await readFile("photo.jpg"),
});

const sent = await im.messages.sendAttachment(chat.guid, uploaded.attachment.guid);

console.log(sent.guid);

The second argument to sendAttachment(...) is a server attachment GUID, not a local file path. Upload behavior, file extensions, Live Photos, and downloads are covered in attachments.

Audio Messages

To use Apple’s audio-message bubble UI, set isAudioMessage: true:

const audio = await im.attachments.upload({
  fileName: "voice.m4a",
  data: await readFile("voice.m4a"),
});

await im.messages.sendAttachment(chat.guid, audio.attachment.guid, {
  isAudioMessage: true,
});

Option	Meaning
`isAudioMessage: true`	Shows the audio-message UI, such as a play button and waveform
Omitted	Sends as a regular attachment

iMessage audio message bubble with play button and waveform

Send Mini App Cards

sendCustomizedMiniApp(...) sends a card that, when tapped, opens your iMessage extension and hands it url. Use it to launch your own app with a structured payload; for plain link previews, just put the URL in sendText(...). You need a published iMessage extension on the App Store before you can call this. appName, teamId, and extensionBundleId identify that extension so Messages.app can route the tap to it on the recipient’s device. appStoreId is optional — when set, recipients without the extension installed see an App Store install prompt. For most cards we recommend an image preview with an overlaid title:

const sent = await im.messages.sendCustomizedMiniApp(chat.guid, {
  appName: "MyGame",
  appStoreId: 1234567890,
  teamId: "ABCDE12345",
  extensionBundleId: "com.example.mygame.MessagesExtension",
  url: "https://mygame.example.com/level/7",
  layout: {
    image: await readFile("preview.jpg"),
    imageTitle: "Level 7",
  },
});

console.log(sent.guid);

Field	Meaning
`appName`	Display name of your app. Recipients without your extension installed see this on an App Store install prompt.
`appStoreId`	Optional numeric App Store id, e.g. `1234567890` from `apps.apple.com/app/id1234567890`. When set, must be a positive integer.
`teamId`	10-character uppercase alphanumeric Apple Team ID. Find it in App Store Connect → Membership.
`extensionBundleId`	Bundle identifier of the iMessage extension target inside your app.
`url`	Absolute URL delivered to your extension when the recipient taps the card.
`layout`	What the card looks like in the conversation, covered in Card Layout below.

This call does not accept replyTo, message effects, or subject. The only option you can pass in the final argument is clientMessageId, used as an idempotency key for job retries.

Card Layout

layout mirrors Apple’s MSMessageTemplateLayout — slot names match the Apple field names, so Apple’s documentation applies directly.

Slot	Where it renders
`caption`	Top-left, bold. The most prominent text slot.
`subcaption`	Below `caption`, on the left.
`trailingCaption`	Top-right.
`trailingSubcaption`	Below `trailingCaption`, on the right.
`image`	JPEG preview image filling the card.
`imageTitle`	Overlay text above the image.
`imageSubtitle`	Overlay text below `imageTitle`.
`summary`	Fallback text for notifications, lock screens, and other surfaces that cannot render the full card.

The server enforces these rules at send time:

At least one of caption, subcaption, trailingCaption, trailingSubcaption, or image must be set. summary alone is not enough — it only appears on fallback surfaces.
image and imageTitle must be set together. Setting one without the other is rejected.
imageSubtitle requires image.

layout.image must be JPEG bytes. The server checks the JPEG SOI marker (FF D8) and rejects any other format. Convert PNG, WebP, HEIC, or anything else to JPEG before calling.

Reply to a Message

To reply to a message, pass the target message GUID as replyTo:

await im.messages.sendText(chat.guid, "Replying to this", {
  replyTo: sent.guid,
});

replyTo works with text, attachment, and multipart sends:

Method	Reply field
`sendText(...)`	`options.replyTo`
`sendAttachment(...)`	`options.replyTo`
`sendMultipart(...)`	`options.replyTo`

For a multipart target, pass both the message GUID and the zero-based bubble index:

await im.messages.sendText(chat.guid, "Replying to the second bubble", {
  replyTo: {
    guid: sent.guid,
    partIndex: 1,
  },
});

iMessage reply showing a quoted original message and reply content

Send Multipart Messages

sendMultipart(...) sends text, mentions, and attachments as one logical message. Recipients see related bubbles instead of separate sends.

await im.messages.sendMultipart(chat.guid, [
  { text: "Look at this " },
  { text: "@Alice", mentionedAddress: "[email protected]" },
  {
    attachmentGuid: uploaded.attachment.guid,
    attachmentName: "photo.jpg",
  },
]);

Each part is one text, mention, or attachment bubble. Do not mix text and attachment fields in the same part object. Text part:

{
  "text":             "Look at this",       // Text content
  "mentionedAddress": "[email protected]",  // Optional; marks this text part as a mention
  "formatting":       []                    // Optional; applies only to this text part
}

Attachment part:

{
  "attachmentGuid":   "attachment-guid",    // Attachment GUID
  "attachmentName":   "photo.jpg"           // Optional display name
}

Input	Rule
`parts`	Must not be empty
Text part	Pass `text`; it is trimmed and must not be empty after trimming
Attachment part	Pass `attachmentGuid`; do not pass a local file path
`mentionedAddress`	Text parts only
`formatting`	Applies only to the current text part

iMessage multipart message with text mention and image attachment

Multiple images are also multipart messages: upload each image, then put each attachment GUID in the same sendMultipart(...) call.

const photos = await Promise.all(
  ["photo-1.jpg", "photo-2.jpg", "photo-3.jpg"].map(async (fileName) => {
    return im.attachments.upload({
      fileName,
      data: await readFile(fileName),
    });
  }),
);

await im.messages.sendMultipart(chat.guid, [
  {
    attachmentGuid: photos[0]!.attachment.guid,
    attachmentName: "photo-1.jpg",
  },
  {
    attachmentGuid: photos[1]!.attachment.guid,
    attachmentName: "photo-2.jpg",
  },
  {
    attachmentGuid: photos[2]!.attachment.guid,
    attachmentName: "photo-3.jpg",
  },
]);

iMessage message containing multiple image attachments

Reactions and Stickers

Reactions

setReaction(...) adds or removes a tapback / emoji reaction. The fourth argument is true to add and false to remove.

await im.messages.setReaction(chat.guid, sent.guid, { kind: "love" }, true);

await im.messages.setReaction(chat.guid, sent.guid, { kind: "love" }, false);

`kind`	Meaning
`"love"`	Heart
`"like"`	Thumbs up
`"dislike"`	Thumbs down
`"laugh"`	Laugh
`"emphasize"`	Emphasis
`"question"`	Question mark
`"emoji"`	Custom emoji; also pass `emoji`

await im.messages.setReaction(chat.guid, sent.guid, { kind: "emoji", emoji: "👍" }, true);

iMessage messages with tapback and emoji reactions

Stickers

A sticker is an image placed on top of a message. Upload the sticker image first, then call placeSticker(...). Sticker placement is not screen pixels. Think of the target message bubble as a small coordinate space: x: 0.5, y: 0.5 is roughly the center. Larger x moves right; smaller x moves left. Larger y moves down; smaller y moves up. Start near 0.5, 0.5 and make small adjustments. Do not pass pixel-like values such as 120 or 90.

const sticker = await im.attachments.upload({
  fileName: "sticker.png",
  data: await readFile("sticker.png"),
});

await im.messages.placeSticker(chat.guid, sent.guid, sticker.attachment.guid, {
  x: 0.54,
  y: 0.48,
  scale: 0.45,
  rotation: -0.08,
  width: 96,
});

Field	Meaning
`x`	Horizontal position. `0.5` is roughly centered; larger moves right, smaller moves left
`y`	Vertical position. `0.5` is roughly centered; larger moves down, smaller moves up
`scale`	Optional scale factor
`rotation`	Optional rotation. Use small values such as `-0.08` or `0.08` for a slight tilt; do not pass `8`
`width`	Display width. Pass it explicitly to keep large source images from covering the message

Custom sticker placed on an iMessage bubble

For multipart messages, reactions and stickers can target one bubble with partIndex. partIndex is zero-based. When omitted, the first bubble is targeted.

await im.messages.setReaction(chat.guid, sent.guid, { kind: "like" }, true, {
  partIndex: 1,
});

placeSticker(...) supports the same partIndex option.

Edit and Unsend

edit(...) changes a sent message and returns the updated Message.

const edited = await im.messages.edit(chat.guid, sent.guid, "Corrected text", {
  backwardCompatText: "Edited: Corrected text",
});

console.log(edited.guid);

unsend(...) retracts a sent message and returns void.

await im.messages.unsend(chat.guid, sent.guid);

Operation	Apple window	Returns
`edit(...)`	Within 15 minutes of sending	`Message`
`unsend(...)`	Within 2 minutes of sending	`void`

After the Apple window expires, the server rejects the request and the SDK throws. See error handling.

Option	Used by	Meaning
`backwardCompatText`	`edit(...)`	Fallback text for clients that cannot display message edits
`partIndex`	`edit(...)`, `unsend(...)`	Target bubble index for multipart messages; zero-based
`clientMessageId`	`edit(...)`, `unsend(...)`	Idempotency key for job retries

Notify Anyway

notifySilenced(...) triggers Apple’s “Notify Anyway” action after a recipient has Focus silence enabled.

await im.messages.notifySilenced(chat.guid, sent.guid);

Returns void. To check Focus state before sending, use im.addresses.isFocusSilenced(address).

Get and List Messages

Get One Message

When you have a message GUID, call get(...):

const message = await im.messages.get(sent.guid);

console.log(message.content.text);

Missing messages throw NotFoundError.

List Recent Messages

listRecent(...) lists recent messages across chats:

const recent = await im.messages.listRecent({
  pageSize: 25,
});

for (const message of recent.messages) {
  console.log(message.guid, message.content.text);
}

listInChat(...) lists messages in one chat:

const page = await im.messages.listInChat(chat.guid, {
  pageSize: 25,
  before: new Date("2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
});

for (const message of page.messages) {
  console.log(message.guid);
}

For pagination, pass the previous response’s nextPageToken as the next request’s pageToken:

let pageToken;

do {
  const page = await im.messages.listInChat(chat.guid, {
    pageSize: 50,
    pageToken,
  });

  for (const message of page.messages) {
    console.log(message.guid, message.content.text);
  }

  pageToken = page.nextPageToken;
} while (pageToken);

Filter	Meaning
`after`	Only messages created after this time
`before`	Only messages created before this time
`isFromMe`	`true` for sent messages only, `false` for received messages only
`isRead`	`true` for read messages only, `false` for unread messages only
`pageSize`	Number of messages per page; range `1..100`
`pageToken`	`nextPageToken` from the previous response

Embedded Media

Digital Touch and handwritten-message media are not exposed as regular attachments. Use getEmbeddedMedia(...) to read that media.

const media = await im.messages.getEmbeddedMedia(chat.guid, message.guid);

console.log(media.mimeType, media.data.byteLength);

Case	Result
Message is Digital Touch or handwritten media	Returns `{ data, mimeType }`
Chat or message does not exist	Throws `NotFoundError`
Message is not an embedded-media type	Throws `ValidationError`, with `error.code === ErrorCode.operationNotSupported`

Message Events

subscribeEvents(...) streams live message changes. To scope it to one chat, pass { chat: chat.guid }:

for await (const event of im.messages.subscribeEvents({ chat: chat.guid })) {
  switch (event.type) {
    case "message.received":
      console.log(event.message.guid, event.message.content.text);
      break;

    case "message.edited":
      console.log(event.messageGuid, event.editedAt);
      break;

    case "message.unsent":
      console.log(event.messageGuid, event.retractedAt);
      break;
  }
}

Omit the filter to receive events for all visible chats:

for await (const event of im.messages.subscribeEvents()) {
  console.log(event.chatGuid, event.type);
}

Common event fields:

const event = {
  // Event type.
  type: "message.received",
  // Durable event sequence.
  sequence: 123,
  // Chat that owns the event.
  chatGuid: "any;-;[email protected]",
  // Whether the current account produced the event.
  isFromMe: false,
  occurredAt: new Date("2026-01-01T12:00:00Z"),
  // Participant that triggered the event; may be absent.
  actor: {
    address: "[email protected]",
    service: "iMessage",
  },
  // Present on message.received.
  message: {
    guid: "message-guid",
  },
};

`event.type`	Extra fields	Meaning
`message.received`	`message`	A message was received or became visible
`message.edited`	`messageGuid`, `content`, `editedAt`	A message was edited
`message.read`	`messageGuid`, `readAt`	A message was marked read
`message.unsent`	`messageGuid`, `retractedAt`	A message was retracted
`message.reactionAdded`	`messageGuid`, `reaction`, `targetPartIndex?`	A reaction was added
`message.reactionRemoved`	`messageGuid`, `reaction`, `targetPartIndex?`	A reaction was removed
`message.stickerPlaced`	`messageGuid`, `sticker?`, `placement?`, `targetPartIndex?`	A sticker was placed on a message

Write method return values tell you that the call you made has completed. Event streams are for changes from other people, other devices, or another part of your system. In production, consume live streams and recovery together; see events.

Next Steps

Attachments — upload files, get attachment GUIDs, and send attachment messages
Chats — create chats and get chat.guid
Events — handle live events and recovery
Error Handling — handle errors, retries, and idempotent writes

​What You Can Do

​Send Text

​Message Effects

​Text Formatting

​Send Attachments

​Audio Messages

​Send Mini App Cards

​Card Layout

​Reply to a Message

​Send Multipart Messages

​Reactions and Stickers

​Reactions

​Stickers

​Edit and Unsend

​Notify Anyway

​Get and List Messages

​Get One Message

​List Recent Messages

​Embedded Media

​Message Events

​Next Steps

What You Can Do

Send Text

Message Effects

Text Formatting

Send Attachments

Audio Messages

Send Mini App Cards

Card Layout

Reply to a Message

Send Multipart Messages

Reactions and Stickers

Reactions

Stickers

Edit and Unsend

Notify Anyway

Get and List Messages

Get One Message

List Recent Messages

Embedded Media

Message Events

Next Steps