WhatsApp Chat Processor

An automation script that monitors for WhatsApp chat exports received via AirDrop and processes them into a structured format.

Features

• Automatically detects WhatsApp chat exports in your Downloads folder
• Processes raw chat text files into structured JSON format
• Organizes chats by contact name
• Archives original files to prevent duplicate processing
• Provides clear instructions for exporting chats from iPhone

Prerequisites

• macOS
• iPhone with WhatsApp installed
• Python 3.6+
• Required Python packages (see requirements.txt)

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/whatsapp-processor.git
   cd whatsapp-processor
   

2. Create a virtual environment and install required Python packages:

   python3 -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Usage

1. Start the monitoring script:

   python whatsapp_exporter.py
   

2. Follow the on-screen instructions to export chats from your iPhone:

   • Open WhatsApp on your iPhone
   • Go to Settings > Chats > Export Chat
   • Select the chat(s) you want to export
   • Choose "Without Media" for faster exports
   • Select "AirDrop" from the share sheet
   • Select your Mac from the AirDrop options
   • Accept the incoming file on your Mac

3. The script will automatically detect the exported chat files in your Downloads folder and process them into JSON format.

Custom Configuration

You can customize the behavior by editing the config.json file or using command-line arguments:

python whatsapp_exporter.py --watch-dir ~/Documents --output-dir ~/WhatsApp/Processed

Output Format

The processed chats are saved as JSON files with the following structure:

{
  "chat_name": "Contact Name",
  "export_date": "2025-04-05T15:30:00",
  "message_count": 123,
  "messages": [
    {
      "date": "4/5/25",
      "time": "15:30:00",
      "sender": "Contact Name",
      "content": "Hello!",
      "media": null
    },
    ...
  ]
}

License

See the LICENSE file for details.