iMessage Auto-Responder

Automatically respond to iMessages/SMS from specific contacts using AI-generated replies that match your voice and conversation context.

⚠️ Requirements Checklist

Before using this skill, ensure you have:

• ○macOS with Messages.app signed in to iMessage
• ○imsg CLI installed: brew install steipete/tap/imsg
• ○OpenAI API key configured in Clawdbot config
• ○Full Disk Access granted to Terminal/iTerm
• ○Messages automation permission (macOS will prompt on first use)

Features

• 🤖 AI-powered responses using OpenAI GPT-4
• 📱 Contact-based prompts - different AI personality per contact
• ⏱️ Rate limiting - configurable delays between auto-responses
• 💬 Context-aware - AI sees recent conversation history
• 📊 Telegram management - slash commands + natural language
• 🔄 Background monitoring - continuous polling for new messages
• 🔧 Auto-cleanup - clears stale locks on restart (prevents stuck contacts)
• 🧪 Test mode - generate real AI responses without sending
• ⏰ Time windows - only respond during specific hours (e.g., 9 AM - 10 PM)
• 🔑 Keyword triggers - only respond if message contains specific keywords (e.g., "urgent", "help")
• 📊 Statistics tracking - track total responses, daily counts, and averages per contact
• 🚦 Daily cap - limit max replies per day per contact (safety feature)

Quick Start

1. Add contacts to watch list

cd ~/clawd/imsg-autoresponder/scripts
node manage.js add "+15551234567" "Reply with a middle finger emoji" "Best Friend"
node manage.js add "+15559876543" "You are my helpful assistant. Reply warmly and briefly, as if I'm responding myself. Keep it under 160 characters." "Mom"

2. Start the watcher

node watcher.js

The watcher runs in the foreground and logs to ~/clawd/logs/imsg-autoresponder.log.

3. Run in background (recommended)

# Start in background
nohup node ~/clawd/imsg-autoresponder/scripts/watcher.js > /dev/null 2>&1 &

# Or use screen/tmux
screen -S imsg-watcher
node ~/clawd/imsg-autoresponder/scripts/watcher.js
# Ctrl+A, D to detach

Configuration

Config file: ~/clawd/imsg-autoresponder.json

{
  "enabled": true,
  "defaultMinMinutesBetweenReplies": 15,
  "watchList": [
    {
      "identifier": "+15551234567",
      "name": "Best Friend",
      "prompt": "Reply with a middle finger emoji",
      "minMinutesBetweenReplies": 10,
      "enabled": true
    }
  ]
}

Management via Telegram (Recommended)

The auto-responder can be managed directly through Telegram using slash commands or natural language.

Slash Commands

Both space and underscore formats are supported:

/autorespond list              OR  /autorespond_list
/autorespond status            OR  /autorespond_status
/autorespond add               OR  /autorespond_add <number> <name> <prompt>
/autorespond remove            OR  /autorespond_remove <number>
/autorespond edit              OR  /autorespond_edit <number> <prompt>
/autorespond delay             OR  /autorespond_delay <number> <minutes>
/autorespond history           OR  /autorespond_history <number>
/autorespond test              OR  /autorespond_test <number> <message>
/autorespond toggle            OR  /autorespond_toggle
/autorespond restart           OR  /autorespond_restart

Bulk Operations:
/autorespond set-all-delays    OR  /autorespond_set_all_delays <minutes>
/autorespond enable-all        OR  /autorespond_enable_all
/autorespond disable-all       OR  /autorespond_disable_all

Time Windows:
/autorespond set-time-window   OR  /autorespond_set_time_window <number> <start> <end>
/autorespond clear-time-windows OR  /autorespond_clear_time_windows <number>

Keyword Triggers:
/autorespond add-keyword       OR  /autorespond_add_keyword <number> <keyword>
/autorespond remove-keyword    OR  /autorespond_remove_keyword <number> <keyword>
/autorespond clear-keywords    OR  /autorespond_clear_keywords <number>

Statistics & Limits:
/autorespond stats             OR  /autorespond_stats [<number>]
/autorespond set-daily-cap     OR  /autorespond_set_daily_cap <number> <max>

Examples:

/autorespond_list
/autorespond_status
/autorespond_edit +15551234567 Be more sarcastic
/autorespond_delay +15551234567 30
/autorespond_history +15551234567
/autorespond_set_time_window +15551234567 09:00 22:00
/autorespond_clear_time_windows +15551234567
/autorespond_add_keyword +15551234567 urgent
/autorespond_add_keyword +15551234567 help
/autorespond_clear_keywords +15551234567
/autorespond_stats
/autorespond_stats +15551234567
/autorespond_set_daily_cap +15551234567 10
/autorespond_set_all_delays 30
/autorespond_disable_all
/autorespond_restart

Natural Language

You can also just ask naturally:

• "Show me the auto-responder status"
• "Add +15551234567 to the watch list with prompt: be sarcastic"
• "Change Scott's prompt to be nicer"
• "Disable auto-replies for Mom"
• "What has the auto-responder sent to Foxy recently?"
• "Restart the auto-responder"

The agent will understand and execute the command using the telegram-handler.js script.

Command-Line Management (Advanced)

cd ~/clawd/imsg-autoresponder/scripts

# List all contacts
node manage.js list

# Add contact
node manage.js add "+15551234567" "Your custom prompt here" "Optional Name"

# Remove contact
node manage.js remove "+15551234567"

# Enable/disable contact
node manage.js enable "+15551234567"
node manage.js disable "+15551234567"

# Set custom delay for contact (in minutes)
node manage.js set-delay "+15551234567" 30

# Toggle entire system on/off
node manage.js toggle

How It Works

Watcher monitors all incoming messages via imsg watch

Checks watch list to see if sender is configured for auto-response

Rate limiting ensures we don't spam (configurable minutes between replies)

Fetches message history for the conversation (last 20 messages)

Generates AI response using Clawdbot + the contact's configured prompt

Sends reply via imsg send

Logs everything to ~/clawd/logs/imsg-autoresponder.log

State Tracking

Response times are tracked in ~/clawd/data/imsg-autoresponder-state.json:

{
  "lastResponses": {
    "+15551234567": 1706453280000
  }
}

This ensures rate limiting works correctly across restarts.

Prompts

Prompts define how the AI should respond to each contact. Be specific!

Examples:

"Reply with a middle finger emoji"

"You are my helpful assistant. Reply warmly and briefly, as if I'm responding myself. Keep it under 160 characters."

"You are my sarcastic friend. Reply with witty, slightly snarky responses. Keep it short."

"Politely decline any requests and say I'm busy. Be brief but friendly."

The AI will see:

• The contact's custom prompt


• Recent message history (last 5 messages)


• The latest incoming message

Requirements

• macOS with Messages.app signed in
• imsg CLI installed (brew install steipete/tap/imsg)
• Full Disk Access for Terminal
• Clawdbot installed and configured
• Anthropic API key (configured in ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var)
• curl (pre-installed on macOS)

Safety

• Rate limiting prevents spam (default: 15 minutes between replies per contact)
• Manual override via enabled: false in config or node manage.js disable
• System toggle to disable all auto-responses: node manage.js toggle
• Logs track all activity for review

Troubleshooting

Watcher not responding:

• Check ~/clawd/logs/imsg-autoresponder.log for errors


• Verify imsg watch works manually: imsg watch --json


• Ensure contact is in watch list: node manage.js list

Rate limited too aggressively:

• Adjust delay: node manage.js set-delay "+15551234567" 5


• Or edit defaultMinMinutesBetweenReplies in config

AI responses are off:

• Refine the prompt for that contact


• Check message history is being captured correctly (see logs)

Agent Command Handling

When the user uses slash commands or natural language about the auto-responder, use the telegram-handler.js script.

Command Mapping (Both Formats Supported)

User Input

Normalize To

Handler Call

/autorespond list or /autorespond_list	list	node telegram-handler.js list
/autorespond status or /autorespond_status	status	node telegram-handler.js status
/autorespond add or /autorespond_add	add	node telegram-handler.js add
/autorespond remove or /autorespond_remove	remove	node telegram-handler.js remove
/autorespond edit or /autorespond_edit	edit	node telegram-handler.js edit
/autorespond delay or /autorespond_delay	delay	node telegram-handler.js delay
/autorespond history or /autorespond_history	history	node telegram-handler.js history [limit]
/autorespond test or /autorespond_test	test	node telegram-handler.js test
/autorespond toggle or /autorespond_toggle	toggle	node telegram-handler.js toggle
/autorespond restart or /autorespond_restart	restart	node telegram-handler.js restart
/autorespond set-all-delays or /autorespond_set_all_delays	set-all-delays	node telegram-handler.js set-all-delays
/autorespond enable-all or /autorespond_enable_all	enable-all	node telegram-handler.js enable-all
/autorespond disable-all or /autorespond_disable_all	disable-all	node telegram-handler.js disable-all
/autorespond set-time-window or /autorespond_set_time_window	set-time-window	node telegram-handler.js set-time-window
/autorespond clear-time-windows or /autorespond_clear_time_windows	clear-time-windows	node telegram-handler.js clear-time-windows
/autorespond add-keyword or /autorespond_add_keyword	add-keyword	node telegram-handler.js add-keyword
/autorespond remove-keyword or /autorespond_remove_keyword	remove-keyword	node telegram-handler.js remove-keyword
/autorespond clear-keywords or /autorespond_clear_keywords	clear-keywords	node telegram-handler.js clear-keywords
/autorespond stats or /autorespond_stats []	stats	node telegram-handler.js stats []
/autorespond set-daily-cap or /autorespond_set_daily_cap	set-daily-cap	node telegram-handler.js set-daily-cap

Processing steps:

Detect /autorespond or /autorespond_ prefix

Extract subcommand (normalize underscores to spaces)

Parse remaining arguments

Call telegram-handler.js with appropriate parameters

Natural Language Pattern Matching

• "show/list/view auto-responder" → node telegram-handler.js list
• "add [contact] to auto-responder" → node telegram-handler.js add
• "change/edit/update [contact]'s prompt" → node telegram-handler.js edit
• "set delay for [contact]" → node telegram-handler.js delay
• "disable/remove [contact] from auto-responder" → node telegram-handler.js remove
• "auto-responder status" → node telegram-handler.js status
• "what has auto-responder sent to [contact]" → node telegram-handler.js history
• "restart auto-responder" → node telegram-handler.js restart
• "enable/disable auto-responder" → node telegram-handler.js toggle

Contact resolution:

• When user refers to contact names, look up their phone number from the config
• Always use the full E.164 format (e.g., +15551234567)

After config changes: Always remind the user to restart the watcher if the command output mentions it.

Troubleshooting

Watcher Not Responding

Check status:

/autorespond_status

View logs:

tail -f ~/clawd/logs/imsg-autoresponder.log

Restart:

/autorespond_restart

Common Issues

"OPENAI_API_KEY not found"

• Add API key to ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json:

{
    "skills": {
      "openai-whisper-api": {
        "apiKey": "sk-proj-YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }

• Restart watcher after adding key

Permission errors

• Grant Full Disk Access to Terminal in System Settings


• Restart Terminal after granting access


• Verify imsg chats --json works manually

Messages not detected

• Check Messages.app is signed in


• Verify contact is in watch list: /autorespond_list


• Ensure watcher is running: /autorespond_status

Duplicate responses

• Fixed in current version via processing locks


• Restart watcher to apply fix: /autorespond_restart

Testing

Generate actual AI responses without sending (preview mode):

/autorespond_test +15551234567 Hey what's up?

This will:

• Use the contact's actual prompt


• Generate a real AI response via OpenAI


• Show exactly what would be sent


• NOT actually send the message

Perfect for testing new prompts before going live!

Privacy & Safety

⚠️ Important: This tool sends messages on your behalf automatically.

• Only add contacts who know they're texting an AI or won't mind
• Review responses regularly via /autorespond_history
• Use rate limiting to avoid spam
• Be transparent when appropriate
• Disable instantly if needed: /autorespond_toggle

Future Enhancements

• Smart rate limiting based on conversation patterns
• Group chat support
• Web dashboard
• Voice message transcription