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Overview

Send tapback reactions to messages, just like in the native iMessage app. Available reactions include love, like, dislike, laugh, emphasize, and question.

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Basic Reactions

Send a reaction to an existing message: 
import { createSDK, handleError } from "./utils";

const CHAT_GUID = process.env.CHAT_GUID || "any;-;+1234567890";
const MESSAGE_GUID = process.env.MESSAGE_GUID;

async function main() {
    const sdk = createSDK();

    sdk.on("ready", async () => {
        try {
            let messageGuid = MESSAGE_GUID;

            // Send a test message if we don't have a GUID
            if (!messageGuid) {
                const testMessage = await sdk.messages.sendMessage({
                    chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                    message: "Test message for reactions!",
                });

                messageGuid = testMessage.guid;
                console.log(`sent: ${messageGuid}`);
            }

            // Send a heart reaction
            await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
                chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                messageGuid,
                reaction: "love",
            });

            console.log("Sent ❤️ reaction");
        } catch (error) {
            handleError(error, "Failed to send reaction");
        }

        await sdk.close();
        process.exit(0);
    });

    await sdk.connect();
}

main().catch(console.error);

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Available Reactions

Love

reaction: "love"
Sends ❤️

Like

reaction: "like"
Sends 👍

Dislike

reaction: "dislike"
Sends 👎

Laugh

reaction: "laugh"
Sends 😂

Emphasize

reaction: "emphasize"
Sends ‼️

Question

reaction: "question"
Sends ❓

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Multiple Reactions Example

Send multiple reactions to the same message: 
import { createSDK, handleError } from "./utils";

const CHAT_GUID = process.env.CHAT_GUID || "any;-;+1234567890";
const MESSAGE_GUID = process.env.MESSAGE_GUID;

async function main() {
    const sdk = createSDK();

    sdk.on("ready", async () => {
        try {
            let messageGuid = MESSAGE_GUID;

            if (!messageGuid) {
                const testMessage = await sdk.messages.sendMessage({
                    chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                    message: "Test message for reactions!",
                });

                messageGuid = testMessage.guid;
                console.log(`sent: ${messageGuid}`);
            }

            // ❤️ = love
            await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
                chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                messageGuid,
                reaction: "love",
            });

            await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));

            // 😂 = laugh
            await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
                chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                messageGuid,
                reaction: "laugh",
            });

            await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));

            // 👎 = dislike
            await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
                chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                messageGuid,
                reaction: "dislike",
            });

            await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));

            // 👍 = like
            await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
                chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
                messageGuid,
                reaction: "like",
            });
        } catch (error) {
            handleError(error, "Failed to send reaction");
        }

        await sdk.close();
        process.exit(0);
    });

    await sdk.connect();
}

main().catch(console.error);

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Parameters

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chatGuid
string
required
The GUID of the chat containing the message
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messageGuid
string
required
The GUID of the message to react to
​
reaction
string
required
The reaction type: "love", "like", "dislike", "laugh", "emphasize", or "question"

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Auto-React Bot

Automatically react to incoming messages: 
sdk.on("new-message", async (message) => {
    // Don't react to own messages
    if (message.isFromMe) return;
    
    const chat = message.chats?.[0];
    if (!chat) return;

    const text = message.text?.toLowerCase() || "";
    let reaction: string | null = null;

    // Choose reaction based on message content
    if (text.includes("love") || text.includes("❤️")) {
        reaction = "love";
    } else if (text.includes("funny") || text.includes("😂")) {
        reaction = "laugh";
    } else if (text.includes("great") || text.includes("awesome")) {
        reaction = "like";
    } else if (text.includes("?")) {
        reaction = "question";
    } else if (text.includes("!")) {
        reaction = "emphasize";
    }

    if (reaction) {
        try {
            await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
                chatGuid: chat.guid,
                messageGuid: message.guid,
                reaction,
            });
            console.log(`Reacted with ${reaction} to: ${message.text}`);
        } catch (error) {
            console.error("Failed to react:", error);
        }
    }
});

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Removing Reactions

To remove a reaction, send the same reaction type again. iMessage will toggle it off: 
// Send love reaction
await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
    chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
    messageGuid: messageGuid,
    reaction: "love",
});

// Remove love reaction (send it again)
await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
    chatGuid: CHAT_GUID,
    messageGuid: messageGuid,
    reaction: "love",
});

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Advanced Examples

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Sentiment Analysis Reactions

import { analyzeSentiment } from "./sentiment"; // Your sentiment analysis

sdk.on("new-message", async (message) => {
    if (message.isFromMe || !message.text) return;
    
    const chat = message.chats?.[0];
    if (!chat) return;

    const sentiment = await analyzeSentiment(message.text);
    
    let reaction: string;
    if (sentiment > 0.5) {
        reaction = "love";
    } else if (sentiment > 0) {
        reaction = "like";
    } else if (sentiment < -0.5) {
        reaction = "dislike";
    } else {
        reaction = "question";
    }

    await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
        chatGuid: chat.guid,
        messageGuid: message.guid,
        reaction,
    });
});

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Random Reaction Generator

const reactions = ["love", "like", "laugh", "emphasize"] as const;

sdk.on("new-message", async (message) => {
    if (message.isFromMe) return;
    
    const chat = message.chats?.[0];
    if (!chat) return;

    // 20% chance to react
    if (Math.random() < 0.2) {
        const reaction = reactions[Math.floor(Math.random() * reactions.length)];
        
        await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
            chatGuid: chat.guid,
            messageGuid: message.guid,
            reaction,
        });
    }
});

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Reaction Counter

const reactionCounts = new Map<string, number>();

sdk.on("new-message", async (message) => {
    if (message.isFromMe) return;
    
    const sender = message.handle?.address;
    if (!sender) return;

    // Count reactions per sender
    const count = reactionCounts.get(sender) || 0;
    reactionCounts.set(sender, count + 1);

    const chat = message.chats?.[0];
    if (!chat) return;

    // Different reaction based on how many messages they've sent
    let reaction: string;
    if (count < 5) {
        reaction = "like";
    } else if (count < 10) {
        reaction = "love";
    } else {
        reaction = "emphasize";
    }

    await sdk.messages.sendReaction({
        chatGuid: chat.guid,
        messageGuid: message.guid,
        reaction,
    });
});

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Best Practices

Add delays between reactions to avoid overwhelming the recipient:
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
Filter messages before reacting:
if (message.isFromMe) return; // Skip own messages
if (!message.text) return; // Skip media-only messages
Reactions can fail if the message doesn’t exist:
try {
    await sdk.messages.sendReaction({...});
} catch (error) {
    console.error("Reaction failed:", error);
}
You can only react to messages that exist in your message database. You cannot react to messages you haven’t received.

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Listening for Reactions

To detect when someone reacts to your messages, listen for message updates: 
sdk.on("updated-message", (message) => {
    // Check for reaction-related updates
    if (message.associatedMessageType) {
        console.log(`Someone reacted to message ${message.associatedMessageGuid}`);
    }
});

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Next Steps

Edit Messages

Modify sent messages

Message Effects

Add visual effects

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