> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.runlayer.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # iMessage > Let people text an agent from Messages: the agent's number, linking yours, setup, and limits People can text one agent from Messages on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The agent answers as a text message in the same chat. The channel runs through [Sendblue](https://sendblue.com), which rents a phone number ("line") that sends and receives iMessage. Your deployment comes with one: Runlayer's line. ## How it works * **One number per deployment.** People text Runlayer's line, for example `+1 555 123 4567` (see [The agent's number](#the-agents-number)). The agent page shows it under **Channels**. * **One agent answers it.** Turn on **iMessage** under **Channels** on an agent's page and that agent answers the number. Turning it on for another agent moves the number to that agent. While an agent of another workspace on the deployment answers it, yours can't take it. * **Each person has one chat.** Every text from the same number continues one conversation with the agent, the way an iMessage thread does. The agent sees the recent turns of that chat (up to the last 40 messages). * **Runs as the person texting.** A text starts an agent run as the linked Runlayer user, with their access and their connector credentials. The run shows **iMessage** as its origin, and the agent's **Monitor** tab can filter by it. ## Turn it on for an agent **1. Find the iMessage row** On the agent's page, open **Channels**. The **iMessage** row shows the number people text. **No line** means the deployment has no number yet (see [Set up the channel](#set-up-the-number-operators)). **2. Turn on iMessage** Flip the **iMessage** switch. You need edit access to the agent and **Manage organization settings**, since the number serves the whole workspace. The Runlayer Assistant can't answer iMessage. If another agent answers the number now, the row names it, and turning the switch on moves the number to this agent. **3. Share the agent** Anyone who texts the number needs **run** access to the agent. Someone without it gets a reply asking them to request access from the agent's owner. ## Link your number Runlayer never trusts a phone number or Apple Account from the text alone. Each person links the number they text from to their Runlayer account once: 1. Text the agent's number from your phone. 2. The agent replies with a link. It expires in 15 minutes, and an unlinked number gets at most one link every 10 minutes. 3. Open the link and sign in to Runlayer. The page shows the number it will link; select **Link** to confirm. 4. Text the agent again. From now on your texts start runs as you. A number linked to one person can't be claimed by someone else. Your linked numbers are listed under **Your numbers** on any agent that answers iMessage; select **Unlink** next to one to remove it. Only open a link the agent texted to your own phone. If someone forwards you one, the page shows their number: don't confirm it. When a person is deactivated in Runlayer or in your directory, their linked numbers are removed. If they're reactivated, they link their number again. A link also ends after 30 days without a text from that number, so a phone number the carrier later gives to someone else doesn't keep acting as you. Texting the agent again gets you a new link. Until then, every text from a linked number acts as you, whoever sends it. If you lose your phone, or move the number to someone else, unlink it under **Your numbers** right away. ## The agent's number The number is Runlayer's line, set up by whoever runs your deployment; nothing in Runlayer picks it. It's an ordinary US phone number, so people can save it as a contact. * **iPhone users** get blue-bubble iMessages, with a typing indicator while the agent works. * **Android and other phones** can text it too: Sendblue falls back to SMS, so replies arrive as green-bubble texts. * **Apple Account emails** work as senders: if someone's iMessage sends from their email address, they link that address instead of a phone number. ## What the agent can do * Use its connectors, skills, and memory as in any other run. Memory saved to the **User** scope follows the person into iMessage. * Pause for [approval](/platform-agents#hitl) when a tool needs one. Approvers handle it the usual way (Inbox or Slack); it can't be approved from Messages. * Reply in plain text. Messages doesn't render markdown, so formatting is flattened, links become `text (url)`, and long answers are split into several bubbles. Not supported yet: * Group chats. Texts in a group are ignored. * Photos, files, and other attachments, in either direction. * Tapbacks and threaded replies. * Starting a new chat. Every text continues the same conversation. * A number of your workspace's own. The deployment has one number, answered by one agent at a time. ## Set up the channel (operators) The iMessage row appears once the deployment turns the channel on. On a self-hosted ECS deployment, set `enable_imessage_channel = true` and the `sendblue_*` inputs (the line's number, its API key pair, and a webhook secret) in the Terraform module, then point the line's Sendblue receive webhook at Runlayer. See [ECS optional features → iMessage channel](/deployment/ecs-features#imessage-channel). For a Runlayer-hosted workspace, ask your Runlayer contact. ## Troubleshooting > **No iMessage row under Channels** > > The deployment doesn't have the iMessage channel on. An operator has to turn it on first; see [Set up the channel](#set-up-the-number-operators). > **The row says No line** > > The deployment has the channel on but no Sendblue line configured. An operator adds it; see [Set up the channel](#set-up-the-number-operators). > **The switch is disabled** > > Turning iMessage on needs edit access to the agent, **Manage organization settings**, a line on the deployment, and no agent of another workspace answering it. The tooltip says which is missing. Once it's on, the same two permissions are enough to turn it off, even if the line has gone away. > **I texted the agent and got no reply** > > Check that iMessage is on for an agent (the row on any agent page names which one answers) and that Agents are enabled for your organization. Group chats are ignored. Operators can check the line's Sendblue receive webhook (URL and secret) and search the backend logs for `imessage_sendblue_send_failed`. > **"This number is already linked to another Runlayer account"** > > Someone else linked that number first. Only the person who linked it can remove it, from **Your numbers** on any agent that answers iMessage. > **The link says it's invalid or expired** > > Links expire after 15 minutes and work once, for the workspace the link came from. Text the agent again for a new one (one link every 10 minutes per number). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.