Add Reactions

SkillSearch

Add WhatsApp emoji reaction support — receive, send, store, and search reactions.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Add Reactions skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by sliamh11/deus in .claude/skills/add-reactions/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

This skill adds emoji reaction support to Deus's WhatsApp channel: receive and store reactions, send reactions from the container agent via MCP tool, and query reaction history from SQLite.

Phase 1: Pre-flight

Check if already applied

Check if src/status-tracker.ts exists:

test -f src/status-tracker.ts && echo "Already applied" || echo "Not applied"

If already applied, skip to Phase 3 (Verify).

Phase 2: Apply Code Changes

Reactions support is part of the WhatsApp MCP package in packages/. Check if the status tracker already exists:

test -f src/status-tracker.ts && echo "Already present" || echo "Not present"

If not present, the WhatsApp MCP package should include reactions support. Ensure the WhatsApp channel is installed and up to date by running /add-whatsapp.

The following files are involved:

  • scripts/migrate-reactions.ts (database migration for reactions table with composite PK and indexes)
  • src/status-tracker.ts (forward-only emoji state machine for message lifecycle signaling, with persistence and retry)
  • src/status-tracker.test.ts (unit tests for StatusTracker)
  • container/skills/reactions/SKILL.md (agent-facing documentation for the react_to_message MCP tool)
  • Reaction support in src/db.ts, src/channels/whatsapp.ts, src/types.ts, src/ipc.ts, src/index.ts, src/group-queue.ts, and container/agent-runner/src/ipc-mcp-stdio.ts

Run database migration

npx tsx scripts/migrate-reactions.ts

Validate code changes

npm test
npm run build

All tests must pass and build must be clean before proceeding.

Phase 3: Verify

Build and restart

npm run build

Linux:

systemctl --user restart deus

macOS:

launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.deus

Test receiving reactions

  1. Send a message from your phone
  2. React to it with an emoji on WhatsApp
  3. Check the database:
sqlite3 store/messages.db "SELECT * FROM reactions ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 5;"

Test sending reactions

Ask the agent to react to a message via the react_to_message MCP tool. Check your phone — the reaction should appear on the message.

Troubleshooting

Reactions not appearing in database

  • Check Deus logs for Failed to process reaction errors
  • Verify the chat is registered
  • Confirm the service is running

Migration fails

  • Ensure store/messages.db exists and is accessible
  • If "table reactions already exists", the migration already ran — skip it

Agent can't send reactions

  • Check IPC logs for Unauthorized IPC reaction attempt blocked — the agent can only react in its own group's chat
  • Verify WhatsApp is connected: check logs for connection status

Signals

GitHub stars
51
Forks
4
Last commit
Sep 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
add-reactions
Source
github.com/sliamh11/deus