Messages Skill
Retrieve chat message history, send messages, manage reactions, and search for chats/groups via the lark CLI.
🤖 Capabilities and Use Cases
- •Send markdown-lite messages with links and mentions
- •Send images with
--imageand{{image}}placement - •Message recall/delete for cleanup
- •Add/list/remove emoji reactions
- •Browse emoji catalog reference
- •Read chat history (chat or thread)
- •Download message resources (images/files/audio/video)
- •Find chats by name or member
- •Use clear, flag-based CLI with consistent JSON output
🚀 Quick Reference
Send message:
lark msg send --to user@example.com --text "Hello!"
Read messages:
lark msg history --chat-id oc_12345 --limit 10
Find chats:
lark chat search "project team"
React / list / remove reaction:
lark msg react --message-id om_123456789abcdef --reaction SMILE lark msg react list --message-id om_123456789abcdef lark msg react remove --message-id om_123456789abcdef --reaction-id ZCaCIjUBVVWSrm5L-3ZTw...
Download resource:
lark msg resource --message-id om_xxx --file-key img_v3_xxx --type image --output ./image.png
Running Commands
Ensure lark is in your PATH, or use the full path to the binary. Set the config directory if not using the default:
lark msg <command> lark chat <command> # Or with explicit config: LARK_CONFIG_DIR=/path/to/.lark lark msg <command>
Commands Reference
Search for Chats/Groups
lark chat search "project" --limit 10
Available flags:
- •
--limit: Maximum number of chats to retrieve (0 = no limit)
Output fields include:
- •
chats[]withchat_id,name,description,owner_id,external,chat_status - •
count,query
Send Messages
Send messages to users or group chats as the bot.
lark msg send --to ou_xxxx --text "Hello!"
Available flags:
- •
--to(required): Recipient identifier (user ID, open_id, email, or chat_id) - •
--to-type: Explicitly specify ID type (open_id,user_id,email,chat_id) - auto-detected if omitted - •
--text: Message text content (markdown-lite). Use{{image}}to place images. - •
--image: Image file path (repeatable)
Output:
{
"success": true,
"message_id": "om_dc13264520392913993dd051dba21dcf",
"chat_id": "oc_xxxxx",
"create_time": "2026-01-14T10:30:00+08:00"
}
Get Chat History
lark msg history --chat-id oc_xxxxx --limit 50 --sort desc
Available flags:
- •
--chat-id(required): Chat ID or thread ID - •
--type: Container type -chat(default) orthread - •
--start: Start time (Unix timestamp or ISO 8601) - •
--end: End time (Unix timestamp or ISO 8601) - •
--sort: Sort order -asc(default) ordesc - •
--limit: Maximum number of messages (0 = no limit)
Output fields include:
- •
messages[]withmessage_id,msg_type,content,sender,create_time,mentions,is_reply,thread_id,deleted - •
count,chat_id
React to Message
Add a reaction to a message as the bot.
lark msg react --message-id om_dc13264520392913993dd051dba21dcf --reaction SMILE
Available flags:
- •
--message-id(required): Message ID to react to - •
--reaction(required): Reaction ID or emoji name - •
--type: Reaction type (default:emoji)
Output:
{
"success": true,
"message_id": "om_dc13264520392913993dd051dba21dcf",
"reaction_type": "emoji",
"reaction_id": "ZCaCIjUBVVWSrm5L-3ZTw...",
"emoji_type": "SMILE"
}
Notes:
- •Reactions are added as the bot/app. The bot must be in the chat to react.
- •Emoji types must match the Lark emoji catalog (e.g.,
SMILE,LAUGH).
Emoji Catalog Reference
lark msg react emojis
Use this command to list the supported emoji types for reactions.
Custom Emojis: Organization-specific custom emojis can be configured in .lark/config.yaml:
custom_emojis: "7405453485858095136": "ez-pepe"
Custom emoji IDs will appear in the custom_emojis field of the output.
List Message Reactions
lark msg react list --message-id om_dc13264520392913993dd051dba21dcf --reaction SMILE --limit 50
Available flags:
- •
--message-id(required): Message ID to list reactions for - •
--reaction: Emoji type filter (e.g.,SMILE) - •
--limit: Maximum number of reactions to retrieve (0 = no limit)
Output fields include:
- •
message_id,reactions[],count
Remove Message Reaction
lark msg react remove --message-id om_dc13264520392913993dd051dba21dcf --reaction-id ZCaCIjUBVVWSrm5L-3ZTw...
Available flags:
- •
--message-id(required): Message ID to remove reaction from - •
--reaction-id(required): Reaction ID to remove
Output fields include:
- •
success,message_id,reaction_type,reaction_id,emoji_type
Recall Messages
Recall/delete previously sent messages from chats.
lark msg recall om_dc13264520392913993dd051dba21dcf
Output fields include:
- •
success,message_id
Downloading Resource Files
Download images, files, audio, and video from messages using msg resource:
lark msg resource --message-id om_xxx --file-key img_v3_xxx --type image --output ./image.png lark msg resource --message-id om_xxx --file-key file_v2_xxx --type file --output ./document.pdf
Available flags:
- •
--message-id(required): Message ID containing the resource - •
--file-key(required): Resource key from message content (image_keyorfile_key) - •
--type(required):imagefor images,filefor files/audio/video - •
--output(required): Output file path
Output fields include:
- •
success,message_id,file_key,output_path,content_type,bytes_written
Limitations:
- •Maximum file size: 100MB
- •Emoji resources cannot be downloaded
- •Resources from card, merged, or forwarded messages are not supported
- •The
message_idandfile_keymust match
Tips
- •Use
\nfor line breaks and\tfor indentation in--text - •Use
@{ou_xxx}to mention users in group chats - •Use
{{image}}in text to place images in order - •Chat IDs start with
oc_; thread IDs start withthread_oromt_ - •Use
lark msg react listto discoverreaction_idfor removal - •The CLI auto-detects recipient type; override with
--to-typeif needed
Message Types
- •
text- Plain text message - •
post- Rich text post - •
image- Image - •
file- File attachment - •
audio- Audio message - •
media- Video/media - •
sticker- Sticker/emoji - •
interactive- Interactive card - •
share_chat- Shared chat - •
share_user- Shared user contact
Reading Thread Replies
If a message has a thread_id, it is part of a thread (or is the root). To fetch replies:
lark msg history --chat-id oc_xxxxx --limit 10 --sort desc lark msg history --chat-id omt_1a3b99f9d2cfd982 --type thread
Thread messages will have is_reply: true for replies (root message has is_reply: false).
Output Format
All commands output JSON.
Error Handling
Errors return JSON:
{
"error": true,
"code": "ERROR_CODE",
"message": "Description"
}
Common error codes:
- •
AUTH_ERROR- Need to runlark auth login - •
SCOPE_ERROR- Missing messages permissions - •
VALIDATION_ERROR- Missing required fields (e.g., chat-id) - •
API_ERROR- Lark API issue (e.g., bot not in group, missing permissions)
Required Permissions
This skill requires the messages scope group. If you see a SCOPE_ERROR, add permissions:
lark auth login --add --scopes messages
To check current permissions:
lark auth status
Additional requirements:
For reading messages:
- •The bot must be in the group chat
- •Group chat reads require the "Read all messages in associated group chat" permission
- •Private chat reads require
im:message:readonly
For sending messages:
- •Requires
im:messageorim:message:send_as_bot - •The bot must be added to group chats before it can send messages to them
For reactions:
- •List reactions requires
im:message.reactions:read - •Add/remove reactions requires
im:message.reactions:write_only
Notes
- •Messages are sent as the bot/app
- •Messages are sorted by creation time ascending by default
- •Time filters do not work for thread container type
- •Message IDs typically start with
om_