Skip to main content
iMessage group chats are first-class on Messages.dev. They show up in GET /v1/chats with is_group: true and a populated participants array, and you address them by their cht_... ID.
Apple does not let third-party software create new group chats. Messages.dev syncs group chats that already exist on your line — typically because someone added your line to a group, or your line was on the original addParticipants call from another iMessage client.

​
Discover group chats

import { createClient } from "@messages-dev/sdk";

const client = createClient();

const { data: chats } = await client.listChats({ from: "+15551234567" });

const groups = chats.filter((c) => c.isGroup);
for (const g of groups) {
  console.log(g.id, g.name ?? "(unnamed)", g.participants);
}

​
Send into a group chat

Pass the chat’s cht_... ID as to: 
await client.sendMessage({
  from: "+15551234567",
  to: "cht_abc123",
  text: "Hey team!",
});
Reactions, typing indicators, attachments, audio messages, and replies all work the same way — anywhere a 1-on-1 endpoint accepts a phone number, it also accepts a cht_... chat ID.

​
Contact-first applies to groups too

A group chat must have at least one inbound message before you can send into it. If you call POST /v1/messages against a chat that has only outbound history (or none at all), you get: 
{
  "error": {
    "type": "invalid_request_error",
    "code": "contact_has_not_messaged",
    "message": "Cannot send to a chat that has not received an inbound message first.",
    "param": "to"
  }
}
In practice this means the chat needs to be a real, two-way conversation — either a group you were added to, or one you started elsewhere where another participant has since replied.

​
Receive group messages

Inbound group messages flow through the standard message.received webhook. The payload’s chat_id points to the group, and sender identifies the specific participant who sent it: 
{
  "event": "message.received",
  "data": {
    "id": "msg_abc123",
    "chat_id": "cht_abc123",
    "sender": "+15559876543",
    "text": "Coffee?",
    "is_from_me": false,
    "is_audio_message": false,
    "attachments": [],
    "sent_at": 1710000000000
  },
  "timestamp": 1710000000123
}
To list a group’s history or look up participants, use GET /v1/messages?to=cht_... and GET /v1/chats.