using Automator/AppleScript for iMessage

> Of course! Apologies this absurd thought process. Why would a computer think like a human... or even mimic one naturally.

It's common when starting out to try to use AppleScript the 'human way'. Conceptually it's easy - "just do what I do", and doing it the 'right' way takes more effort and, let's me honest, isn't always obvious.

> I ran this script and it works great but only if the messages app is open previous to compiling script and running it

Hmm, that doesn't make much sense. The script should be self-contained enough to do what you describe. The OS should automatically open the app if it's not already open.

Is the same true for other apps? I'm trying to understand if this is something amiss with AppleScript or with Messages.app. Try something simple like:

tell application "Preview"

open (choose file)

end tell

Umm, what are you trying to do here? send a message to a specific recipient?

Throw away all that key code mess. It's a nightmare to deal with. AppleScript works best when you tell it what you want to do, not when you try to make it replicate human actions such as keystrokes and mouse clicks.

Try this instead:

tell application "Messages"

set targetService to first service whose service type = iMessage

set targetBuddy to first buddy of targetService whose name is "nick"

send "test" to targetBuddy

end tell

It's a little wordier than it might be because

a) Messages supports different messaging platforms, so you need to first identify which one you're using.

b) Buddies can be identified by various different methods - name, phone number, nickname, etc.

but once you have this sorted out, it's far easier (and more reliable) to send this way rather than trying to have Messages.app actually type out your words.