contacts_update fails with NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=134092 — missing com.apple.developer.contacts.notes entitlement

[khwerhahn]

Bug Description

contacts_update consistently fails with a CoreData merge conflict error when updating any existing contact:

Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=134092 "(null)"
UserInfo={NSUnderlyingException=Unhandled error (NSCocoaErrorDomain, 134092)
occurred during faulting and was thrown}

This affects every contacts_update call, regardless of which fields are being updated (even updating just organizationName fails). contacts_create works fine for new contacts.

Root Cause

Error code 134092 is triggered when Apple's Contacts framework attempts to access a contact's notes field without the required entitlement. Since macOS Ventura, Apple requires apps to have:

com.apple.developer.contacts.notes

in their entitlements to read or write contacts that have a notes field (even a blank/nil one).

Looking at iMCP's entitlements files (App/App.entitlements and App/App.Debug.entitlements), this entitlement is not included.

When contacts_update fetches an existing contact to modify it, the framework faults in the notes property, triggering the error. New contacts created via contacts_create don't have notes, so they succeed.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have an existing contact in Apple Contacts (one that has ever had a notes field, or one synced via iCloud — most contacts qualify)
2. Use contacts_search to find the contact — works fine
3. Use contacts_update with the contact's identifier and any field change (e.g., organizationName)
4. Error 134092 is thrown

Expected Behavior

contacts_update should successfully update the contact's fields.

Additional Issue: No Serialization for Rapid Operations

ContactsService executes each CNSaveRequest immediately with no queue serialization. When multiple contacts_create or contacts_update calls arrive in quick succession, concurrent CNContactStore.execute() calls also trigger error 134092.

Adding a serial dispatch queue or similar throttling mechanism would prevent this.

Environment

• macOS 15 (Sequoia)
• iMCP latest version (installed via App Store)
• Used via Claude Code MCP integration

References

• Apple Developer Forums — NSCocoaErrorDomain 134092
• Apple Docs — com.apple.developer.contacts.notes entitlement
• PR Add tool for updating a contact #72 (contacts_create) and PR Add tool for creating a new contact #73 (contacts_update) — original implementations

[mattt]

Hi @khwerhahn. Thanks for tracking it to the entitlement. Reading or writing the notes field needs com.apple.developer.contacts.notes, which Apple grants per app on request, so it's not something I can add in a build on my own. What I can do for 1.5.1 is have contacts_update leave notes alone instead of failing the whole update when the entitlement isn't there, and say so in the tool description. 1.5.0 went out without that.

[mattt]

Hi @khwerhahn. 1.5.1 changes how contacts_update works (#231): it fetches the contact as an editable object instead of copying it, which keeps the metadata about which fields were fetched, and it runs contact reads and writes one at a time. I couldn't reproduce the 134092 error on my machine, so I can't promise this fixes it. Could you try 1.5.1 and let me know? Notes still aren't supported, since that needs the entitlement from Apple.