BlueBubbles Server Cannot Access MacOS Contacts

The following guide will show you how you can manually modify the TCC database to allow BlueBubbles to access your macOS Contacts.

Why does this happen?

This will sometimes occur after disabling SIP (System Integrity Protection) on your Mac during the setup for the Private API. We are unsure exactly why this happens, but we know how to fix it.

How can this be fixed?

MacOS maintains a database of the allowed permissions. All we need to do is modify this database and manually add the BlueBubbles Server to the "allow" list for the Contacts permission.

Technical Level of Effort: Medium

Steps to fix the issue

1. Open up the Terminal app on your Mac

   • Use the CMD + Space hotkey combo to open Spotlight Search and type Terminal

2. Run the following command to make a backup of the TCC.db file in case of corruption

   • cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db.bak

3. Open the TCC.db database file using the following command:

   • sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db

   • Do not omit the ~ character from the file path

   • This will open the database for editing

4. Paste the following commands, hitting ENTER after each one. If you receive an error when running any of the following commands, do not worry, you can ignore them.

   • INSERT INTO access VALUES('kTCCServiceAddressBook','com.BlueBubbles.BlueBubbles-Server',0,2,4,1,X'fade0c00000000b000000001000000060000000200000022636f6d2e426c7565427562626c65732e426c7565427562626c65732d5365727665720000000000060000000f000000060000000e000000010000000a2a864886f76364060206000000000000000000060000000e000000000000000a2a864886f7636406010d0000000000000000000b000000000000000a7375626a6563742e4f550000000000010000000a575056323735483857370000',NULL,0,'UNUSED',NULL,0,1675472593);

   • INSERT INTO access VALUES('kTCCServiceContactsFull','com.BlueBubbles.BlueBubbles-Server',0,2,4,1,X'fade0c00000000b000000001000000060000000200000022636f6d2e426c7565427562626c65732e426c7565427562626c65732d5365727665720000000000060000000f000000060000000e000000010000000a2a864886f76364060206000000000000000000060000000e000000000000000a2a864886f7636406010d0000000000000000000b000000000000000a7375626a6563742e4f550000000000010000000a575056323735483857370000',NULL,0,'UNUSED',NULL,0,1675472593);

   • INSERT INTO access VALUES('kTCCServiceContactsLimited','com.BlueBubbles.BlueBubbles-Server',0,2,4,1,X'fade0c00000000b000000001000000060000000200000022636f6d2e426c7565427562626c65732e426c7565427562626c65732d5365727665720000000000060000000f000000060000000e000000010000000a2a864886f76364060206000000000000000000060000000e000000000000000a2a864886f7636406010d0000000000000000000b000000000000000a7375626a6563742e4f550000000000010000000a575056323735483857370000',NULL,0,'UNUSED',NULL,0,1675472593);

5. Once complete, type .exit and hit ENTER to leave the sqlite3 CLI

6. Open the BlueBubbles Server (if not already open), and navigate to the Contacts tab

7. Use the Permissions -> Refresh Permission Status button in BlueBubbles see if the Contacts permission is authorized

   • If it is still not authorized, use the Permissions -> Request Permission button to try and force request the permission.

   • If it is still not authorized, you may need to manually enable the permission within the Security & Privacy settings within System Preferences

If at any point, you mess up or feel like something went wrong, simply run the following command to replace the TCC.db file with the one you backed up at the start:

mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db.bak ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db

Now, you can restart the process from step 2

BlueBubbles should now be able to access your macOS Contacts!

References

• https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/384310/how-do-i-configure-camera-and-microphone-permission-on-macos-mojave
• https://www.rainforestqa.com/blog/macos-tcc-db-deep-dive