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If iMessage sends are failing and you’ve ruled out your code, this page is organized by the error you’re seeing. Find the message in the headings below and follow the fix. Each section is self-contained, so you can land here from a search result and still get what you need. If your symptom isn’t listed, jump to Still stuck? for what to send us so we can trace it on our side.

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”Target not allowed for this project”

You’re on the Free or Pro plan. On these plans your project sends through a shared pool of lines, and a shared line will only message recipients you’ve registered as users of your project. Any other target is rejected with Target not allowed for this project.
This limit applies to shared-pool plans only. The Business plan uses a dedicated line and isn’t subject to the allowlist — see Line model.
Two things cause this error.

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1. You haven’t added yourself as a user

The target you’re messaging has to exist as a user on the project first. Add the number your iMessage is linked to:
1

Open the dashboard

Go to the Dashboard and select your project.
2

Open the Users tab

In the project, open Users.
3

Add yourself

Add a user with the phone number (or email) your iMessage is linked to, then send again. The target is now allowlisted.

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2. The number you added isn’t the one iMessage actually uses

If you’ve added yourself and still get the error, the handle you entered probably doesn’t match the one Apple actually sends iMessage from. This happens — Apple sometimes registers iMessage under a number or email you wouldn’t expect, so the user you added never matches the inbound sender. To find the handle iMessage is really using:
1

Message the debug line

Open debug.photon.codes. It opens an iMessage to our debug bot.
2

Read the handle it reports

The debug bot replies with the exact handle (phone number or email) Apple is sending from for your device.
3

Add that handle

Add that handle under Users in the Dashboard, then retry.
If the debug bot reports an email instead of a phone number, your iPhone is starting iMessage conversations from your Apple Account email rather than your number. To switch it, open Settings → Messages → Send & Receive on your iPhone and pick your phone number under Start new conversations from. Apple’s guide: If your iPhone sends text messages from your email address.
If the handle the debug bot reports isn’t what you expect at all, the underlying issue is on Apple’s side — iMessage isn’t registered to the number you think it is. Apple’s official guides for fixing iMessage registration and activation:

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Still stuck?

Send us:
  • Your project id (from photon projects show).
  • The exact error string you’re seeing.
  • The target handle you’re trying to message and the handle the debug line reports.
We’ll trace it on our side. Email us at help@photon.codes or ping us in the Discord linked in the footer.