What causes "iMessage channel requires the `channel-imessage` feature" in zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw?

Rebuild with cargo build --release --features channel-imessage

zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw · error · anyhow::Error

iMessage channel requires the `channel-imessage` feature

Error message

iMessage channel requires the `channel-imessage` feature

What it means

Raised by build_channel_by_id when channel_id = "imessage" is requested and the binary was compiled without the `channel-imessage` feature. The feature-on arm (which would check for the "default" config entry and build IMessageChannel) is cfg'd out; only the bail remains. iMessage is a cfg-gate-only feature (no optional deps), so enabling it is cheap.

Source

Thrown at crates/zeroclaw-channels/src/orchestrator/mod.rs:9619

        "mochat" => {
            anyhow::bail!("Mochat channel requires the `channel-mochat` feature");
        }
        #[cfg(feature = "channel-imessage")]
        "imessage" => {
            if !config.channels.imessage.contains_key("default") {
                anyhow::bail!("iMessage channel is not configured");
            }
            let alias = "default".to_string();
            let peer_resolver: Arc<dyn Fn() -> Vec<String> + Send + Sync> = {
                let cfg_arc = config_arc.clone();
                let alias = alias.clone();
                Arc::new(move || cfg_arc.read().channel_external_peers("imessage", &alias))
            };
            Ok(Arc::new(IMessageChannel::new(alias, peer_resolver)))
        }
        #[cfg(not(feature = "channel-imessage"))]
        "imessage" => {
            anyhow::bail!("iMessage channel requires the `channel-imessage` feature");
        }
        "line" => {
            #[cfg(feature = "channel-line")]
            {
                let ln = config
                    .channels
                    .line
                    .get("default")
                    .context("LINE channel is not configured")?;
                let alias = "default".to_string();
                let peer_resolver: Arc<dyn Fn() -> Vec<String> + Send + Sync> = {
                    let cfg_arc = config_arc.clone();
                    let alias = alias.clone();
                    Arc::new(move || cfg_arc.read().channel_external_peers("line", &alias))
                };
                let sender_name_resolver: Arc<dyn Fn() -> Option<String> + Send + Sync> = {
                    let cfg_arc = config_arc.clone();
                    let alias = alias.clone();

View on GitHub (pinned to 88bb9c8533)

Solutions

Rebuild with cargo build --release --features channel-imessage
Or use --features channels-full
Or remove the "imessage" binding / channel config
After rebuilding, ensure [channels.imessage.default] exists or you will next hit "iMessage channel is not configured"

Example fix

# before
 cargo build --release

 # after
 cargo build --release --features channel-imessage

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

use zeroclaw_channels::listing::is_channel_type_compiled;

if !is_channel_type_compiled("imessage") {
    eprintln!("rebuild with --features channel-imessage or remove the imessage binding");
}

Type guard

fn imessage_available() -> bool {
    zeroclaw_channels::listing::is_channel_type_compiled("imessage")
}

Try / catch

match build_channel_by_id(&config_arc, "imessage") {
    Ok(ch) => { /* use */ }
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("requires the `channel-imessage` feature") => {
        // rebuild needed; config changes will not help
    }
    Err(e) if e.to_string() == "iMessage channel is not configured" => {
        // different error: compiled in, add [channels.imessage.default]
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

Prevention

Two distinct imessage failures share this arm: feature missing vs default config missing — check the message before acting
channel-imessage is dependency-free, so including it in standard build profiles costs nothing

When it happens

Trigger: start_channels / build_channel_by_id selecting "imessage" from an agent binding or channels config in a build without --features channel-imessage.

Common situations: Default-feature builds (imessage is in channels-full only); macOS hosts where the operator assumed iMessage ships by default; slim binaries built for Linux servers that later get an imessage binding in shared config.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw@88bb9c8533 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3d9a533e7e352d65. Report an issue: GitHub.