import-messages

Imports iMessage and WhatsApp contact metadata into local candidate people files.

1|1|Updated Apr 28, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/powerset-co/powerpacks --skill import-messages-powerset-co
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: import-messages
Source: https://github.com/powerset-co/powerpacks/tree/main/packs/ingestion/skills/import-messages
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/powerset-co/powerpacks --skill import-messages-powerset-co

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Getting your messaging contacts into a searchable local network index normally requires manual exports and fragile scripts. This Skill automates the local extraction of iMessage and WhatsApp contact metadata — names, phone numbers, emails, channels, message counts, and timestamps — and stages them as candidate people for downstream enrichment, without uploading anything or calling paid APIs. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Multi-source discovery: Extracts and merges contacts from iMessage (local chat.db plus Contacts.app) and WhatsApp (via a pinned wacli fork with QR pairing), including unnamed contacts and contacts with no messages. - Incremental, resumable sync: Automatically chooses full or incremental WhatsApp history sync, caches successful chat identities, and resumes interrupted targeted chats on rerun. - Privacy-first staging: Writes only contact metadata to fixed local paths (contacts.csv, people.csv); identity matching, enrichment, and indexing are delegated to the separate Deep Context flow. - Use Case: You want your WhatsApp and iMessage contacts to become searchable alongside your LinkedIn network. Run the skill, scan the WhatsApp QR code, grant Full Disk Access, and the contacts are staged locally ready for enrichment. ## Quick Start Ask your agent to run $import-messages to import my iMessage and WhatsApp contacts into my local network search.

Frequently Asked Questions about import-messages

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I import WhatsApp contacts into a local search index?▼

Run the import-messages skill and choose WhatsApp as a source. It downloads a pinned wacli binary, shows a QR code to pair your account, syncs message history, and writes contact metadata to a local people.csv file without uploading anything.

How to extract iMessage contacts from a Mac?▼

The skill reads the local iMessage chat.db database plus every Contacts.app row with a phone number. You must grant Full Disk Access to your terminal in macOS privacy settings, then rerun the discovery command to complete extraction.

Does importing WhatsApp messages upload my data to a server?▼

No. The skill reads only contact metadata — phone numbers, names, channels, message counts, and timestamps — and stores everything in local files under .powerpacks. It never calls external APIs, LLM providers, or uploads to any Powerset set.

Why does WhatsApp import ask me to re-link and scan a new QR code?▼

If your original WhatsApp link predates full history sync, only recent messages were pulled. The skill detects this pairing state and offers an optional re-link that logs out and issues a fresh QR code to fetch years of additional history.

What happens if the WhatsApp sync is interrupted mid-run?▼

Unfinished targeted chats stay resumable in a local history-depth directory. Rerunning the same import command resumes where it stopped, using cached chat identities and a privacy-safe digest to trigger catch-up scans.

Does the import-messages skill enrich or deduplicate contacts?▼

No. It only stages candidate people with source metadata. Identity matching, person merging across sources, enrichment, and index rebuilding are handled separately by the Deep Context flow, which the skill suggests at the end.