Can't see message history

[ognistik]

For some reason I can't get the whole message history or thread with previous messages. I press SHIFT and an empty page pops up like this. Same when I tried to save as pdf or as html, there's nothing there.

[stephancasas]

If you try to open the exported HTML in Safari, what do you see?

[ognistik]

oh man sorry, I thought I could export the HTML but it seems I was wrong. I am only able to 'preview' that screen with the html I posted which leads nowhere when clicked, and when pressing Option + Enter to save as html nothing is saved. I can save the PDF with CMD + Enter but this one is just a blank page.

[stephancasas]

Jumping back into this, were you able to solve the issue, or does this need further attention?

[ognistik]

I just could never figure out a way to solve it. Can't see any message history until now. I've updated to the latest version 2.0.1 and still nothing. The workflow itself still works and I can reply messages.

[carlos-kelley]

I have this same exact issue. M1 Max 13.4.

[stephancasas]

When you activate the workflow with msg, do you see the names of the conversations and the last message preview in the subtitle, or that not populating at all/partially?

Is it just the conversation QuickLook preview that isn't rendering properly?

---

Also, please share the following details about your setup:

• macOS Version
• Default browser
• Using iCloud Messages?
• Any special characters in conversation history or contact names?
• Recently un-sent a message or had a received message un-sent?
• Recently sent or received a message effect (confetti, spotlight, etc.)?

Thanks!

[stephancasas]

As I typed-out that message, I zeroed-in on your remark that you're using an M1 Mac.

The issue you're experiencing may be a problem with Apple Silicon.

---

My desktop is a 2019 Mac Pro and is where I do most of my work but, a few days ago, I was on the road and pulled out my MacBook Pro to knock-out some work. One of the things I noticed is that the Objective-C bridge in JXA on Apple Silicon has trouble handling id types.

For example, this will work on Intel-based Macs, but will fail on Apple Silicon:

$.NSLog('%@', 'Hello, world!);

It should work on both but, for whatever reason, doesn't. The issue is likely with these lines:

alfred-mouseless-messenger/src/main.jxa.js

Lines 104 to 111 in ce28463

	$(
	typeof data !== 'string' ? JSON.stringify(data) : data,
	).writeToFileAtomicallyEncodingError(
	pathOrCacheKey,
	$(false),
	$.NSUTF8StringEncoding,
	$(),
	);

---

I'll see about using a different method to write chat previews to the disk. It's worth noting that I'm also working on a Swift-based version of this, though, so that will be on the way, too.

[carlos-kelley]

When you activate the workflow with msg, do you see the names of the conversations and the last message preview in the subtitle, or that not populating at all/partially? Actually yes, that works.

Is it just the conversation QuickLook preview that isn't rendering properly? That's correct, it looks exactly the same, with the same crashing and blank PDF export as described above.

Also, please share the following details about your setup:

• macOS Version Ventura - 13.4 beta (22F5027f). M1 Max
• Default browser - Safari
• Using iCloud Messages? Yes
• Any special characters in conversation history or contact names? No
• Recently un-sent a message or had a received message un-sent? No
• Recently sent or received a message effect (confetti, spotlight, etc.)? No

Thanks!

[carlos-kelley]

Just saw your other message too. I think I can test this on an Intel-based Mac, and also an M1 Mac on a stable OS release, later today. Thanks for the quick responses and I'll be in touch! If there's any other debugging I can do, let me know.

[stephancasas]

Thank you! Please let me know what you find. I appreciate it!

[carlos-kelley]

I also noticed that sometimes typing msg does not work and brings me back into normal Alfred. I actually have to type ms and then hit enter to enter the Mouseless Messenger workflow, which then shows me the conversations correctly. It seems like once I do this, msg works properly for a while, but eventually I have to redo this process. I can make a separate Issue, but it might be linked to this. Anyway, I'll report back when I test it on an Intel Mac.

[bowernite]

Commenting here as I have the same issue, but it looks slightly differently:

Also, hitting Shift seems to trigger that annoying macOS "error" boop sound.

[gaufde]

I am seeing the same behavior as @babramczyk where pressing shift just shows me a preview of an HTML file.

• macOS Version Ventura - 13.4 beta (22F5027f). M1 Max
• Default browser - Safari
• Using iCloud Messages? Yes
• Any special characters in conversation history or contact names? No
• Recently un-sent a message or had a received message un-sent? No
• Recently sent or received a message effect (confetti, spotlight, etc.)? No

[stephancasas]

I think this may be a text-encoding issue, but it will be determine without seeing an example.

Would anyone in this thread be willing to:

• Send me a redacted copy of the conversation data?
• Join me on a screen sharing session to troubleshoot?

On my MacBook Pro (M1 Pro), I don't experience the issue so, while there is definitely still a weird idiosyncrasy with id types (in this case NSString) on Apple Silicon, I'm not certain that's the trouble here.

If neither of the suggestions suit anyone, I may be able to write a script that provides troubleshooting output but, since I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for here, some sample data would be ideal.

---

On the upside, the native version is progressing nicely:

• Typing Indicators in the Dock
• Read Receipt Hints
• Mouseless Native Emoji Input and Enumeration

[gaufde]

I'm willing to help! How should I export conversation data?

[stephancasas]

@gaufde I appreciate your help!

Conversation HTML output should be stored in the user caches directory at:

~/Library/Caches/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred/Workflow Data/com.stephancasas.AlfredMouselessMessenger/

If you can send me a ZIP archive of that folder, that would be a superb starting point.

My e-mail address is [email protected].

[gaufde]

@stephancasas zip file is on its way! Hopefully this helps.