How to add iMessage to Tera Chat (and what Full Disk Access is for)

To add iMessage to Tera Chat, turn on Tera Chat in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, then quit and reopen Tera Chat. It then reads your Messages history directly from your Mac and sends your replies through the Messages app, which macOS asks you to allow once. Full Disk Access is only needed for iMessage: skip it and everything else in Tera Chat keeps working.

Below: what you need first, why the permission exists, the exact steps, what works once you’re connected, how to get names instead of phone numbers, how to turn it off again, and fixes for the usual snags. For everything Tera Chat does with iMessage once it’s connected, see Tera Chat with iMessage.

What do you need before connecting iMessage?

Two things, both on the Mac you’re using:

1. Messages set up and signed in. Open the Messages app at least once and sign in with your Apple Account. Tera Chat can only show what Messages has on this Mac.
2. Your full history in Messages, if you want it. If older conversations are missing from Messages itself, turn on Messages in iCloud: in Messages, choose Messages → Settings, click iMessage and select Enable Messages in iCloud (Apple).

Why does Tera Chat need Full Disk Access for iMessage?

macOS keeps your iMessage history in a protected database on your Mac (a file called chat.db in your Library folder). Apps other than Messages can’t read it unless you give them Full Disk Access. Apple describes the permission as letting apps access “all files on your computer, including data from other apps” (Apple), so it’s broad, and it’s reasonable to think before granting it.

Here’s what Tera Chat does with it:

• Reads your Messages history locally. The messages are stored on your Mac, in Tera Chat’s own database, and are never uploaded to a Tera Chat server. There is no Tera Chat server holding a copy of your inbox.
• Watches for new messages, so new iMessages appear in Tera Chat as they arrive.
• AI sees what it works on. If you turn on AI, the conversations it works on (a draft, a summary, a background summary after every 10 new messages) go to the AI provider you picked. You can pause background processing in Settings → Pipelines.

Other apps that read iMessage on a Mac need the same permission, and Apple said on 2 October 2026 that it plans to add “additional controls” to Full Disk Access, without giving a date (MacRumors). If that changes the steps below, we’ll update this guide. For the bigger picture, read Full Disk Access on Mac, explained.

How to add iMessage to Tera Chat, step by step

1. Open Tera Chat. It checks for Messages access as it opens; there’s nothing else to switch on first.
2. Look for the iMessage notice. Above your chats you’ll see iMessage access paused, explaining that Full Disk Access is only needed for Apple Messages and that everything else keeps working. Click Open System Settings. (You can also get there yourself: Apple menu → System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.)
3. Turn on Tera Chat in the Full Disk Access list. If Tera Chat isn’t listed, click the + button under the list and choose Tera Chat from your Applications folder. macOS asks for Touch ID or your Mac password.
4. Quit and reopen Tera Chat. Press ⌘Q, then open it again. Tera Chat checks for access once per launch, so this step matters.
5. Wait for the import. Your iMessage conversations appear in the inbox, each chat as its own conversation, with group chats under their group name if they have one. Click the iMessage chip at the top of the list to see only iMessage.

The first import of a long history can take a while. Your messages are also added to macOS Spotlight, so you can search your iMessages from anywhere on your Mac.

Sending your first iMessage from Tera Chat

Open a conversation, type in the box that says iMessage, and press Return. The first time, macOS asks whether Tera Chat may control Messages. Click OK (or Allow). That’s the Automation permission, which Apple describes as allowing “apps to access and control other apps on your Mac” (Apple). Tera Chat needs it because it sends through the Messages app rather than around it.

If you clicked Don’t Allow by mistake, sending fails with a message pointing you to the fix: open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation, find Tera Chat and turn on Messages.

To send a photo or file, drop it onto the reply box. On iMessage it’s sent as a real attachment, with any caption following as a separate message.

What works with iMessage in Tera Chat

Feature	Works?	Notes
Read your history	Yes	Text and attachments, from Messages on this Mac
New messages as they arrive	Yes	Picked up live from Messages
Send text	Yes	Through the Messages app, using the iMessage service
Send photos and files	Yes	iMessage is the only network where Tera Chat sends attachments
Reactions and quoted replies	Shown in Tera Chat only	They aren’t sent to the other person
AI drafts, summaries and Ask about this chat	Yes	Once AI is set up
Autopilot	No	Autopilot isn’t available for iMessage
A notification for every new message	No	Messages keeps doing that; Tera Chat’s notifications are for things like fading chats and life events
RCS	No	Not supported

For the other ways to summarize an iMessage thread, see how to summarize iMessage threads on a Mac.

How do you get names instead of phone numbers?

If your iMessage chats show phone numbers or email addresses instead of names, Tera Chat can’t see your Contacts yet. It doesn’t ask for Contacts access when you first open it.

1. Open Tera Chat Settings (⌘,) → Pipelines.
2. Click Scan for duplicates… under Merge duplicate contacts. A Merge duplicate contacts window opens.
3. Click Scan for duplicates at the bottom of that window. macOS asks whether Tera Chat can access your contacts.
4. Click Allow (or OK).

The scan only lists contacts that look like the same person on different apps; nothing is merged unless you click Merge on a row, so you can simply click Done. If you said no to that request before, turn Tera Chat on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts instead.

How to turn iMessage off again

You can take the permission back at any time:

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.
2. Turn off Tera Chat.
3. Quit and reopen Tera Chat.

Tera Chat then stops importing new iMessages, the iMessage access paused notice comes back, and WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Tinder keep working. Conversations it already imported aren’t deleted: they stay in Tera Chat’s database on your Mac. To stop Tera Chat sending through Messages as well, turn it off under Privacy & Security → Automation.

If something goes wrong

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Checking Messages access never goes away	Tera Chat is paused: an orange banner at the top says so (before 1.1.6 it said Safe preview, and new installs started that way)	Click Resume… in the banner and confirm
iMessage access paused after you granted access	Tera Chat hasn’t restarted since	Quit with ⌘Q and reopen. Check the switch is still on
chat.db not found	Messages has never been set up on this Mac	Open Messages, sign in with your Apple Account, then reopen Tera Chat
Sending fails with a note about Automation	Messages control was denied	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation → turn on Messages under Tera Chat
Old conversations are missing	They aren’t in Messages on this Mac either	Turn on Messages in iCloud in the Messages app (Apple) and let it sync
Names show as numbers	No Contacts access	See the Contacts steps above
You closed the notice and want it back	Closing it hides it for a day	Grant access in System Settings directly, or wait a day

If iMessage itself isn’t syncing between your iPhone and Mac, that’s a Messages problem rather than a Tera Chat one: Messages on Mac not syncing with your iPhone has the fixes.

What to do next

With iMessage in, connect WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Tinder so every conversation sits in one list. If you skipped ahead, the getting started guide covers sign-in, the inbox and AI. And if you want the full answer on storage, permissions and AI before you go further, read Is Tera Chat safe?.