kmsg

name	kmsg
description	Use KMSG to read, watch, and send KakaoTalk messages safely from a coding agent. Use whenever the user mentions KakaoTalk or kmsg and wants chat discovery, recent messages, monitoring, text or image delivery, setup checks, or CLI troubleshooting. Do not use for other messaging platforms or private KakaoTalk protocol work.
compatibility	Requires macOS 13+, KakaoTalk for macOS, and kmsg available on PATH.

KMSG

Operate the local KakaoTalk app through kmsg while keeping recipients, message contents, and external side effects explicit.

Claude Code users can invoke this skill with /kmsg; Codex users can invoke it with $kmsg. Both agents may also select it automatically when the request matches the description.

Safety boundary

• Treat chat names and message contents as private. Return only the information needed for the user's request.
• send and send-image change external state. Run them only when the user explicitly asked or authorized you to send that exact content to that exact destination.
• A request to draft, rewrite, preview, or prepare a message is not permission to send it. Return the draft or stop after the dry run.
• Preserve the user's message verbatim unless they asked you to edit it.
• If the intended chat or recipient is ambiguous, stop and ask the user to choose. Never guess from a partial name.
• Never retry an actual send after an uncertain result. Read the target chat to verify delivery first so the message is not sent twice or duplicated.

1. Run one preflight

Confirm that the binary exists, then check KakaoTalk, Accessibility, and authentication readiness:

command -v kmsg
kmsg status

Do this once per task rather than before every command. If kmsg is missing, recommend:

brew install channprj/tap/kmsg

If status is not ready, report the failed requirement and the remediation printed by kmsg. Do not change stored credentials with kmsg auth login unless the user asked for setup or authorized a login.

2. Resolve chats before acting

Prefer structured output and stable chat_id values:

kmsg chats --json

Match an exact chat title when possible. If there is one clear match, reuse its chat_id for reading and text sending. If multiple entries could match, show the minimal identifying choices and wait for the user to select one.

3. Read only what was requested

Use a stable ID and JSON for agent parsing:

kmsg read --chat-id "<chat_id>" --limit 20 --json

Adjust --limit to the request. Summarize by default; include raw message content only when the user asks for it.

When the user explicitly wants zero focus changes, add --background-safe. This mode only reads an already exposed matching window and can fail instead of opening or moving KakaoTalk:

kmsg read --chat-id "<chat_id>" --limit 20 --json --background-safe

4. Watch for new messages

watch currently accepts a chat name rather than chat_id:

kmsg watch "<chat>" --json

Use an exact title. Keep the process bounded by the requested condition or duration, and stop or terminate the watch process when the task ends. Do not leave an orphaned watcher running. Add --include-system only when the user needs date separators or other system events.

5. Send text with a dry run first

Resolve the chat, preserve the message as one literal argument, and preview the exact action:

kmsg send --chat-id "<chat_id>" "<message>" --dry-run

Inspect the dry-run output for the intended ID and exact text. Then:

• If the user explicitly asked, requested, or authorized the actual send, execute it once:

  kmsg send --chat-id "<chat_id>" "<message>"
  

• If the user asked for a draft or preview, report the dry run and stop.

• If recipient or content changed after the dry run, run a new dry run.

When the message contains quotes, dollar signs, backticks, or newlines, use the execution tool's argument-array form when available. Do not build an interpolated shell command that could alter the message or execute its content.

6. Send an image only with explicit intent

Verify that the file exists, is the intended image, and has an absolute path. Then use:

kmsg send-image "<recipient>" "/absolute/path/to/image.png"

send-image has no dry-run or preview mode. Because it sends immediately, do not run it for draft or preview requests. It also accepts a recipient name rather than chat_id; do not send when duplicate or ambiguous names exist.

7. Diagnose without widening the action

Use the narrowest recovery step:

1. Re-run the failed command with --trace-ax.
2. Add --deep-recovery only when normal window detection failed.
3. Use kmsg inspect --depth 5 for UI hierarchy diagnosis.
4. Use kmsg cache commands only when trace output identifies a stale AX path.

Do not convert a failed read or dry run into an actual send. Report the command, exit status, and actionable error without exposing unrelated chat content.

Completion report

State:

• which chat was targeted (title and shortened chat_id when available);
• whether the operation was read, watch, dry-run, or actual send;
• the number of messages read or events observed; and
• any readiness or ambiguity that prevented the requested action.

Never claim a message or image was delivered unless the actual command succeeded. A successful dry run proves only the preview.