v0.9.0

JSON Output

• feat: include reply_to_text and reply_to_sender on message payloads
  emitted by history, search, watch, and rpc so consumers can quote
  the parent of a threaded reply (or non-reaction association) without a
  follow-up chat.db lookup. The parent is resolved by joining
  thread_originator_guid or the non-reaction associated_message_guid
  back to the message table; absent parents leave the fields nil (#115, thanks
  @omarshahine).

JSON-RPC

• feat: expose bridge-backed message RPC methods for rich sends, attachments, tapbacks, edits, unsends, deletes, and notify-anyways; include the CLI version in imsg status --json so callers can gate newer RPC action surfaces.

Private API Bridge

• fix: support threaded attachment replies via send-rich --file and
  send-attachment --reply-to, including the macOS 26 attachment staging
  fallback (#113, #114, thanks @omarshahine).
• fix: edit now applies on macOS 14+ instead of silently no-opping by passing
  the backing IMMessageItem and attributed compatibility text to IMCore (#116,
  thanks @zshawauxlol).

Attachments

• fix: avoid hanging attachment metadata conversion when ffmpeg emits enough output to fill stdout or stderr pipes.

v0.8.2

JSON-RPC

• fix: keep imsg rpc stdout strictly JSONL when startup fails before the
  database opens; Full Disk Access failures now answer the caller's request
  with a JSON-RPC error instead of printing the human permission banner to
  stdout.

v0.8.1

Release Packaging

• fix: include the IMCore bridge helper dylib in macOS release archives and
  search Homebrew install paths for brew-installed advanced features (#111,
  thanks @omarshahine).

Messaging

• fix: route JSON-RPC send through the IMCore bridge when it is available,
  with automatic AppleScript fallback and an explicit transport override
  (#108).
• fix: resolve JSON-RPC typing direct recipients against existing chat GUIDs
  before synthesizing an iMessage/SMS prefix (#109).
• fix: stage bridge attachments before dylib sends and let
  send-attachment --transport auto fall back to AppleScript for normal files
  when the bridge is unavailable (#110, thanks @omarshahine).

v0.8.0

Linux Read-Only Preview

• feat: add a Linux read-only core build with fixture-backed tests and GitHub
  CI coverage for copied Messages databases.
• build: add Linux release archive packaging for imsg-linux-x86_64.tar.gz.
• docs: document Linux as read-only support for existing copied Messages
  databases.

Message Decoding

• fix: strip printable typedstream length bytes from recovered attributedBody
  text for 32-126 byte messages (#107, thanks @SagarSDagdu).

v0.7.3

Private API Bridge

• fix: restore macOS 26 bridge sends, replies, tapbacks, typing/read RPC, and
  chat/group lifecycle RPC methods after the BlueBubbles-inspired bridge port
  regressed on Tahoe (#101, thanks @omarshahine).
• fix: stage bridge attachments with the target chat GUID and fall back to the
  modern IMDPersistence save API when the legacy persistent-path API returns
  nil (#102, #103, thanks @omarshahine).

Security

• fix: harden bridge IPC queue directories and attachment paths against
  symlink traversal while preserving trusted macOS system aliases like /tmp
  (#105, thanks @omarshahine).

v0.7.2

Release Packaging

• fix: publish a fresh signed and notarized macOS patch archive with matching
  Homebrew metadata.

v0.7.1

Release Packaging

• fix: ship a signed and notarized macOS release archive and refresh the
  Homebrew checksum for the patch release.

v0.7.0

Private API Bridge

• feat: port the BlueBubbles-inspired private-API bridge surface for rich sends,
  message mutation, chat management, account/nickname introspection, and live
  bridge events; add local DB search and v2 concurrent bridge IPC (#100, thanks
  @omarshahine).
• fix: route default bridge calls over v2 IPC when available and reject
  unsupported chat-create --service SMS requests instead of reporting a
  service that was not applied.
• fix: decode typedstream attributed bodies with 0x81/0x82 length prefixes
  so long fallback message text is preserved in history and watch output (#99,
  thanks @SagarSDagdu).

Docs And CI

• docs: publish the per-feature docs site at imsg.sh and add
  syntax-highlighted code examples.
• ci: update GitHub Actions for the Node 24 runtime and quote workflow
  architecture lookup.

v0.6.0

More Reliable Live Streams And History

• fix: keep imsg watch streams alive with a lightweight polling fallback when macOS misses filesystem events (#78).
• fix: dedupe URL preview balloon messages in watch without dropping similar messages from other chats or older database schemas (#64, thanks @lesaai).
• fix: decode UTF-16LE BOM attributed bodies so plain-text history output recovers messages whose text column is empty (#91, thanks @clawbunny).
• fix: speed up JSON history output by batching attachment and reaction metadata lookups (#81, thanks @kacy).
• fix: speed up chat listing by using chat_message_join.message_date when Messages provides it (#76, thanks @tmad4000).
• docs: clarify stale Full Disk Access grants, Terminal.app permissions, and watch fallback polling requirements (#28, #32, #33, #46, #83, thanks @wangran870414).

Better Chat, Group, And Account Diagnostics

• feat: add imsg group --chat-id <id> to inspect a chat's identifier, GUID, service, participants, account metadata, and group/direct status (#88, thanks @mryanb).
• feat: resolve Contacts names in chats, history, watch, and direct sends while preserving raw handles for automation (#75, #77, thanks @regaw-leinad and @jsindy).
• feat: expose read-only account routing hints (account_id, account_login, last_addressed_handle) for multi-number diagnostics (#18).
• fix: include group metadata in CLI JSON history/watch output, not just RPC payloads (#57, thanks @clawbunny).

Sending, RPC, And Automation Fixes

• fix: return best-effort sent message id and guid from RPC send responses when the row can be observed after Messages accepts the send (#85).
• fix: expose RPC watch debounce and default it to 500ms to reduce outbound echo races (#72, #80).
• fix: gate RPC watch reaction metadata on include_reactions, not attachments (#82).
• fix: confirm standard tapback reaction selection in Messages automation before reporting success (#53, thanks @PeterRosdahl).
• fix: reject unsupported custom emoji reaction sends instead of taking a no-op AppleScript path (#55).
• fix: detect Tahoe group-send ghost rows and fail instead of reporting false success (#90, thanks @loop).
• docs: document standard tapback sending and watch reaction events (#66, thanks @safaaleigh).

Attachments, Completions, And Install Polish

• feat: optionally report model-compatible converted receive-side attachment files for CAF audio and GIF images (#73, thanks @mfzeidan).
• feat: add shell completions and an LLM-oriented command reference generator (imsg completions bash|zsh|fish|llm) (#21, thanks @bdmorin).
• fix: publish universal macOS release binaries for Homebrew installs (#68, #79).
• docs: document the Homebrew install path in the README (#61, thanks @joshuayoes).
• docs: clarify that send --file supports regular file and audio attachments through Messages.app (#35, thanks @rock19).
• docs: add a local release helper for dispatching Homebrew tap updates (#97, thanks @dinakars777).

Advanced IMCore / Tahoe Notes

• feat: add advanced IMCore controls for status, launch, read, and typing diagnostics.
• fix: normalize IMCore typing chat lookup across iMessage, SMS, and any prefixes (#51, #54, #56, #58).
• fix: report macOS 26/Tahoe IMCore typing entitlement failures as advanced-feature setup errors instead of misleading chat lookup failures (#60).
• docs: document macOS 26 advanced IMCore injection, library-validation, and private-entitlement limits (#60).

Internal Safety

• refactor: centralize Messages schema detection, row decoding, query assembly, typed row IDs, and attachment/reaction query paths behind smaller MessageStore extensions.
• test: expand release packaging, CLI metadata, schema-compatibility, JSON newline, stdout capture, and live-read coverage.

v0.5.0

• feat: add typing indicator command + RPC methods with stricter validation (#41, thanks @kohoj)
• feat: --reactions flag for watch command to include tapback events in stream (#26)
• feat: imsg react command to send tapback reactions via UI automation (#24)
• feat: reaction events include is_reaction, reaction_type, reaction_emoji, is_reaction_add, reacted_to_guid fields
• feat: add include_reactions toggle to watch.subscribe RPC and extend RPC reaction metadata fields
• feat: include thread_originator_guid in message output (#39, thanks @ruthmade)
• feat: expose destination_caller_id in message output (#29, thanks @commander-alexander)
• fix: apply history filters before limit (#20, thanks @tommybananas)
• fix: flush watch output immediately when stdout is buffered (#43, thanks @ccaum)
• fix: prefer handle sends when chat identifier is a direct handle
• fix: detect groups from ;+; prefix in guid/identifier for RPC payloads (#42, thanks @shivshil)
• fix: harden react AppleScript execution and tighten group-handle detection paths
• refactor: consolidate schema detection, stdout writing, and message/RPC payload mapping paths
• test: split command test suites by domain and align group-handle expectations
• docs: update changelog entries as typing/reaction work landed
• chore: bump version marker to 0.5.0