Samara Debug and Control
Diagnose and manage Samara.app, the message broker that connects iMessage to Claude.
Quick Actions
Check if Running
pgrep -fl Samara ps aux | grep -i [S]amara
View Recent Logs
# Samara's own logs tail -50 ~/.claude-mind/system/logs/samara.log 2>/dev/null # System logs for Samara log show --predicate 'process == "Samara"' --last 5m 2>/dev/null | tail -30
Restart Samara
# Kill if running pkill -f Samara # Wait a moment sleep 2 # Relaunch open /Applications/Samara.app
Tip: This sequence is a good candidate for the Bash subagent (Task tool with subagent_type=Bash) to avoid polluting context with intermediate steps.
Check Full Disk Access
# This will work if FDA is granted ls ~/Library/Messages/chat.db && echo "FDA: OK" || echo "FDA: MISSING" # Check code signature (Team ID must be stable) codesign -d -r- /Applications/Samara.app 2>&1 | head -5
Common Issues
Messages Not Being Detected
- •Check Samara is running
- •Check FDA is intact
- •Check chat.db is readable
- •Look for errors in logs
Samara Crashed
- •Check system logs for crash reason
- •Restart with
open /Applications/Samara.app - •If repeated crashes, may need rebuild
FDA Revoked After Update
This happens if Team ID changed during rebuild:
# Check current signature - MUST show G4XVD3J52J codesign -d -r- /Applications/Samara.app 2>&1 | grep "subject.OU" # If shows 7V9XLQ8YNQ or any other team: WRONG CERTIFICATE USED # Must rebuild properly and re-grant FDA
Rebuild Samara
CRITICAL: ONLY use the update-samara script. NEVER copy from DerivedData.
A Claude instance previously broke FDA by copying a Debug build from
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/. This used automatic signing which picked the WRONG certificate and revoked all permissions.
The ONLY correct way to rebuild:
~/.claude-mind/system/bin/update-samara
FORBIDDEN (will break FDA):
- •
cp -R ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/.../Samara.app /Applications/ - •
xcodebuild -configuration Debugfor deployment - •Any manual copy of Samara.app to /Applications
Verify after rebuild:
codesign -d -r- /Applications/Samara.app 2>&1 | grep "subject.OU" # Must show: G4XVD3J52J # If shows: 7V9XLQ8YNQ - WRONG! FDA will be revoked
Diagnostic Report
When troubleshooting, gather:
- •Is Samara running?
- •FDA status
- •Recent log errors
- •Last successful message detection
- •Code signature validity
Present findings clearly with recommended actions.
Related Skills
For specific issues, use these specialized skills:
- •
/diagnose-leaks— Debug thinking traces or session IDs leaking into messages - •
/debug-session— Debug session management, batching, and task routing - •
/status— Quick system health check