2 vim:set ts=4 sw=4 tw=82 noet:
10 signal-cli - A commandline and dbus interface for the Signal messenger
14 *signal-cli* [--config CONFIG] [-h | -v | -u USERNAME | --dbus | --dbus-system] command [command-options]
18 signal-cli is a commandline interface for libsignal-service-java.
19 It supports registering, verifying, sending and receiving messages.
20 For registering you need a phone number where you can receive SMS or incoming calls.
21 signal-cli was primarily developed to be used on servers to notify admins of important events.
22 For this use-case, it has a dbus interface, that can be used to send messages from any programming language that has dbus bindings.
24 For some functionality the Signal protocol requires that all messages have been received from the server.
25 The `receive` command should be regularly executed. In daemon mode messages are continuously received.
30 Show help message and quit.
33 Print the version and quit.
36 Raise log level and include lib signal logs.
39 Set the path, where to store the config.
40 Make sure you have full read/write access to the given directory.
41 (Default: `$XDG_DATA_HOME/signal-cli` (`$HOME/.local/share/signal-cli`))
43 *-u* USERNAME, *--username* USERNAME::
44 Specify your phone number, that will be your identifier.
45 The phone number must include the country calling code, i.e. the number must start with a "+" sign.
47 This flag must not be given for the `link` command.
48 It is optional for the `daemon` command.
49 For all other commands it is only optional if there is exactly one local user in the
53 Make request via user dbus.
56 Make request via system dbus.
58 *-o* OUTPUT-MODE, *--output* OUTPUT-MODE::
59 Specify if you want commands to output in either "plain-text" mode or in "json". Defaults to "plain-text"
65 Register a phone number with SMS or voice verification.
66 Use the verify command to complete the verification.
69 The verification should be done over voice, not SMS.
72 The captcha token, required if registration failed with a captcha required error.
73 To get the token, go to https://signalcaptchas.org/registration/generate.html
74 Check the developer tools for a redirect starting with signalcaptcha://
75 Everything after signalcaptcha:// is the captcha token.
79 Verify the number using the code received via SMS or voice.
82 The verification code.
84 *-p* PIN, *--pin* PIN::
85 The registration lock PIN, that was set by the user.
86 Only required if a PIN was set.
90 Disable push support for this device, i.e. this device won't receive any more messages.
91 If this is the master device, other users can't send messages to this number anymore.
92 Use "updateAccount" to undo this.
93 To remove a linked device, use "removeDevice" from the master device.
97 Update the account attributes on the signal server.
98 Can fix problems with receiving messages.
102 Set a registration lock pin, to prevent others from registering this number.
104 REGISTRATION_LOCK_PIN::
105 The registration lock PIN, that will be required for new registrations (resets after 7 days of inactivity)
109 Remove the registration lock pin.
113 Link to an existing device, instead of registering a new number.
114 This shows a "tsdevice:/…" URI. If you want to connect to another signal-cli instance, you can just use this URI.
115 If you want to link to an Android/iOS device, create a QR code with the URI (e.g. with qrencode) and scan that in the Signal app.
117 *-n* NAME, *--name* NAME::
118 Optionally specify a name to describe this new device.
119 By default "cli" will be used.
123 Link another device to this device.
124 Only works, if this is the master device.
127 Specify the uri contained in the QR code shown by the new device.
128 You will need the full uri enclosed in quotation marks, such as "tsdevice:/?uuid=....."
132 Show a list of connected devices.
136 Remove a connected device.
137 Only works, if this is the master device.
139 *-d* DEVICEID, *--deviceId* DEVICEID::
140 Specify the device you want to remove.
141 Use listDevices to see the deviceIds.
145 Uses a list of phone numbers to determine the statuses of those users.
146 Shows if they are registered on the Signal Servers or not.
147 In json mode this is outputted as a list of objects.
149 [NUMBER [NUMBER ...]]::
150 One or more numbers to check.
154 Send a message to another user or group.
157 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
159 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
160 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
162 *-m* MESSAGE, *--message* MESSAGE::
163 Specify the message, if missing, standard input is used.
165 *-a* [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]], *--attachment* [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]]::
166 Add one or more files as attachment.
169 Send the message to self without notification.
171 *-e*, *--endsession*::
172 Clear session state and send end session message.
176 Send reaction to a previously received or sent message.
179 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
181 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
182 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
184 *-e* EMOJI, *--emoji* EMOJI::
185 Specify the emoji, should be a single unicode grapheme cluster.
187 *-a* NUMBER, *--target-author* NUMBER::
188 Specify the number of the author of the message to which to react.
190 *-t* TIMESTAMP, *--target-timestamp* TIMESTAMP::
191 Specify the timestamp of the message to which to react.
198 Query the server for new messages.
199 New messages are printed on standard output and attachments are downloaded to the config directory.
200 In json mode this is outputted as one json object per line.
202 *-t* TIMEOUT, *--timeout* TIMEOUT::
203 Number of seconds to wait for new messages (negative values disable timeout).
204 Default is 5 seconds.
205 *--ignore-attachments*::
206 Don’t download attachments of received messages.
210 Join a group via an invitation link.
211 To be able to join a v2 group the account needs to have a profile (can be created
212 with the `updateProfile` command)
215 The invitation link URI (starts with `https://signal.group/#`)
219 Create or update a group.
220 If the user is a pending member, this command will accept the group invitation.
221 To be able to join or create a v2 group the account needs to have a profile (can
222 be created with the `updateProfile` command)
224 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
225 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
226 If not specified, a new group with a new random ID is generated.
228 *-n* NAME, *--name* NAME::
229 Specify the new group name.
231 *-a* AVATAR, *--avatar* AVATAR::
232 Specify a new group avatar image file.
234 *-m* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]], *--member* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
235 Specify one or more members to add to the group.
239 Send a quit group message to all group members and remove self from member list.
240 If the user is a pending member, this command will decline the group invitation.
242 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
243 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
247 Show a list of known groups and related information.
248 In json mode this is outputted as an list of objects and is always in detailed mode.
251 Include the list of members of each group and the group invite link.
255 List all known identity keys and their trust status, fingerprint and safety number.
257 *-n* NUMBER, *--number* NUMBER::
258 Only show identity keys for the given phone number.
262 Set the trust level of a given number.
263 The first time a key for a number is seen, it is trusted by default (TOFU).
264 If the key changes, the new key must be trusted manually.
267 Specify the phone number, for which to set the trust.
269 *-a*, *--trust-all-known-keys*::
270 Trust all known keys of this user, only use this for testing.
272 *-v* VERIFIED_SAFETY_NUMBER, *--verified-safety-number* VERIFIED_SAFETY_NUMBER::
273 Specify the safety number of the key, only use this option if you have verified the safety number.
277 Update the name and avatar image visible by message recipients for the current users.
278 The profile is stored encrypted on the Signal servers.
279 The decryption key is sent with every outgoing messages to contacts.
282 New name visible by message recipients.
285 Path to the new avatar visible by message recipients.
288 Remove the avatar visible by message recipients.
292 Update the info associated to a number on our contact list.
293 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
294 If the contact doesn't exist yet, it will be added.
297 Specify the contact phone number.
300 Specify the new name for this contact.
302 *-e*, *--expiration*::
303 Set expiration time of messages (seconds).
304 To disable expiration set expiration time to 0.
308 Block the given contacts or groups (no messages will be received).
309 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
311 [CONTACT [CONTACT ...]]::
312 Specify the phone numbers of contacts that should be blocked.
314 *-g* [GROUP [GROUP ...]], *--group* [GROUP [GROUP ...]]::
315 Specify the group IDs that should be blocked in base64 encoding.
319 Unblock the given contacts or groups (messages will be received again).
320 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
322 [CONTACT [CONTACT ...]]::
323 Specify the phone numbers of contacts that should be unblocked.
325 *-g* [GROUP [GROUP ...]], *--group* [GROUP [GROUP ...]]::
326 Specify the group IDs that should be unblocked in base64 encoding.
330 Send a synchronization message with the local contacts list to all linked devices.
331 This command should only be used if this is the master device.
333 === uploadStickerPack
335 Upload a new sticker pack, consisting of a manifest file and the stickers in WebP format (maximum size for a sticker file is 100KiB).
336 The required manifest.json has the following format:
341 "title": "<STICKER_PACK_TITLE>",
342 "author": "<STICKER_PACK_AUTHOR>",
343 "cover": { // Optional cover, by default the first sticker is used as cover
344 "file": "<name of webp file, mandatory>",
345 "emoji": "<optional>"
349 "file": "<name of webp file, mandatory>",
350 "emoji": "<optional>"
358 The path of the manifest.json or a zip file containing the sticker pack you wish to upload.
362 signal-cli can run in daemon mode and provides an experimental dbus interface.
363 If no `-u` username is given, all local users will be exported as separate dbus
364 objects under the same bus name.
367 Use DBus system bus instead of user bus.
368 *--ignore-attachments*::
369 Don’t download attachments of received messages.
373 Register a number (with SMS verification)::
374 signal-cli -u USERNAME register
376 Verify the number using the code received via SMS or voice::
377 signal-cli -u USERNAME verify CODE
379 Send a message to one or more recipients::
380 signal-cli -u USERNAME send -m "This is a message" [RECIPIENT [RECIPIENT ...]] [-a [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]]]
382 Pipe the message content from another process::
383 uname -a | signal-cli -u USERNAME send [RECIPIENT [RECIPIENT ...]]
386 signal-cli -u USERNAME updateGroup -n "Group name" -m [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]
388 Add member to a group::
389 signal-cli -u USERNAME updateGroup -g GROUP_ID -m "NEW_MEMBER"
392 signal-cli -u USERNAME quitGroup -g GROUP_ID
394 Send a message to a group::
395 signal-cli -u USERNAME send -m "This is a message" -g GROUP_ID
397 Trust new key, after having verified it::
398 signal-cli -u USERNAME trust -v SAFETY_NUMBER NUMBER
400 Trust new key, without having verified it. Only use this if you don't care about security::
401 signal-cli -u USERNAME trust -a NUMBER
404 * *1*: Error is probably caused and fixable by the user
405 * *2*: Some unexpected error
406 * *3*: Server or IO error
407 * *4*: Sending failed due to untrusted key
411 The password and cryptographic keys are created when registering and stored in the current users home directory, the directory can be changed with *--config*:
413 `$XDG_DATA_HOME/signal-cli/` (`$HOME/.local/share/signal-cli/`)
415 For legacy users, the old config directories are used as a fallback:
417 $HOME/.config/signal/
419 $HOME/.config/textsecure/
423 Maintained by AsamK <asamk@gmx.de>, who is assisted by other open source contributors.
424 For more information about signal-cli development, see
425 <https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli>.