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12 signal-cli - A commandline interface for the Signal messenger
16 *signal-cli* [--config CONFIG] [-h | -v | -a ACCOUNT | --dbus | --dbus-system] command [command-options]
20 signal-cli is a commandline interface for libsignal-service-java.
21 It supports registering, verifying, sending and receiving messages.
22 For registering you need a phone number where you can receive SMS or incoming calls.
23 signal-cli was primarily developed to be used on servers to notify admins of important events.
24 For this use-case, it has a dbus and a JSON-RPC interface, that can be used to send messages from other programs.
26 For some functionality the Signal protocol requires that all messages have been received from the server.
27 The `receive` command should be regularly executed.
28 In daemon mode messages are continuously received.
33 Show help message and quit.
36 Print the version and quit.
39 Raise log level and include lib signal logs.
41 *--log-file* LOG_FILE::
42 Write log output to the given file.
43 If `--verbose` is also given, the detailed logs will only be written to the log file.
46 Scrub possibly sensitive information from the log, like phone numbers and UUIDs.
49 Set the path, where to store the config.
50 Make sure you have full read/write access to the given directory.
51 (Default: `$XDG_DATA_HOME/signal-cli` (`$HOME/.local/share/signal-cli`))
53 *-a* ACCOUNT, *--account* ACCOUNT::
54 Specify your phone number, that will be your identifier.
55 The phone number must include the country calling code, i.e. the number must start with a "+" sign.
57 This flag must not be given for the `link` command.
58 It is optional for the `daemon` command.
59 For all other commands it is only optional if there is exactly one local user in the config directory.
61 *--service-environment* ENVIRONMENT::
62 Choose the server environment to use:
68 Make request via user dbus.
71 Make request via system dbus.
73 *-o* OUTPUT-MODE, *--output* OUTPUT-MODE::
74 Specify if you want commands to output in either "plain-text" mode or in "json".
75 Defaults to "plain-text"
77 *--trust-new-identities* TRUST-MODE::
78 Choose when to trust new identities:
79 - `on-first-use` (default): Trust the first seen identity key from new users, changed keys must be verified manually
80 - `always`: Trust any new identity key without verification
81 - `never`: Don't trust any unknown identity key, every key must be verified manually
83 *--disable-send-log*::
84 Disable message send log (for resending messages that recipient couldn't decrypt).
90 Register a phone number with SMS or voice verification.
91 Use the verify command to complete the verification.
93 If the account is just deactivated, the register command will just reactivate account, without requiring an SMS verification.
94 By default the unregister command just deactivates the account, in which case it can be reactivated without sms verification if the local data is still available.
95 If the account was deleted (with --delete-account) it cannot be reactivated.
98 The verification should be done over voice, not SMS.
101 The captcha token, required if registration failed with a captcha required error.
102 To get the token, go to https://signalcaptchas.org/registration/generate.html
103 For the staging environment, use: https://signalcaptchas.org/staging/registration/generate.html
104 Check the developer tools for a redirect starting with signalcaptcha:// Everything after signalcaptcha:// is the captcha token.
108 Verify the number using the code received via SMS or voice.
111 The verification code.
113 *-p* PIN, *--pin* PIN::
114 The registration lock PIN, that was set by the user.
115 Only required if a PIN was set.
119 Disable push support for this device, i.e. this device won't receive any more messages.
120 If this is the primary device, other users can't send messages to this number anymore.
121 Use "updateAccount" to undo this.
122 To remove a linked device, use "removeDevice" from the primary device.
125 Delete account completely from server.
126 Cannot be undone without loss.
127 You will have to be readded to each group.
129 CAUTION: Only delete your account if you won't use this number again!
131 === deleteLocalAccountData
133 Delete all local data for this account.
134 Data should only be deleted if the account is unregistered.
136 CAUTION: This cannot be undone.
138 *--ignore-registered*::
139 Delete the account data even though the account is still registered on the Signal servers.
143 Update the account attributes on the signal server.
144 Can fix problems with receiving messages.
146 *-n* NAME, *--device-name* NAME::
147 Set a new device name for the primary or linked device
149 === updateConfiguration
151 Update signal configs and sync them to linked devices.
152 This command only works on the primary devices.
154 *--read-receipts* {true,false}::
155 Indicates if Signal should send read receipts.
157 *--unidentified-delivery-indicators* {true,false}::
158 Indicates if Signal should show unidentified delivery indicators.
160 *--typing-indicators* {true,false}::
161 Indicates if Signal should send/show typing indicators.
163 *--link-previews* {true,false}::
164 Indicates if Signal should generate link previews.
168 Set a registration lock pin, to prevent others from registering this number.
170 REGISTRATION_LOCK_PIN::
171 The registration lock PIN, that will be required for new registrations (resets after 7 days of inactivity)
175 Remove the registration lock pin.
179 Link to an existing device, instead of registering a new number.
180 This shows a "sgnl://linkdevice?uuid=..." URI.
181 If you want to connect to another signal-cli instance, you can just use this URI.
182 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.
184 *-n* NAME, *--name* NAME::
185 Optionally specify a name to describe this new device.
186 By default "cli" will be used.
190 Link another device to this device.
191 Only works, if this is the primary device.
194 Specify the uri contained in the QR code shown by the new device.
195 You will need the full URI such as "sgnl://linkdevice?uuid=..." (formerly "tsdevice:/?uuid=...") Make sure to enclose it in quotation marks for shells.
199 Show a list of linked devices.
203 Remove a linked device.
204 Only works, if this is the primary device.
206 *-d* DEVICE_ID, *--device-id* DEVICE_ID::
207 Specify the device you want to remove.
208 Use listDevices to see the deviceIds.
212 Uses a list of phone numbers to determine the statuses of those users.
213 Shows if they are registered on the Signal Servers or not.
214 In json mode this is outputted as a list of objects.
216 [NUMBER [NUMBER ...]]::
217 One or more numbers to check.
221 Send a message to another user or group.
224 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
227 Send the message to self without notification.
229 *-g* GROUP, *--group-id* GROUP::
230 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
232 *-m* MESSAGE, *--message* MESSAGE::
235 *--message-from-stdin*::
236 Read the message from standard input.
238 *-a* [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]], *--attachment* [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]]::
239 Add one or more files as attachment.
240 Can be either a file path or a data URI.
241 Data URI encoded attachments must follow the RFC 2397.
242 Additionally a file name can be added:
243 e.g.: `data:<MIME-TYPE>;filename=<FILENAME>;base64,<BASE64 ENCODED DATA>`
245 *--sticker* STICKER::
246 Send a sticker of a locally known sticker pack (syntax: stickerPackId:stickerId).
247 Shouldn't be used together with `-m` as the official clients don't support this.
248 e.g.: `--sticker 00abac3bc18d7f599bff2325dc306d43:2`
251 Mention another group member (syntax: start:length:recipientNumber) In the apps the mention replaces part of the message text, which is specified by the start and length values.
252 e.g.: `-m "Hi X!" --mention "3:1:+123456789"`
254 *--quote-timestamp*::
255 Specify the timestamp of a previous message with the recipient or group to add a quote to the new message.
258 Specify the number of the author of the original message.
261 Specify the message of the original message.
264 Specify the mentions of the original message (same format as `--mention`).
267 Specify the url for the link preview.
268 The same url must also appear in the message body, otherwise the preview won't be displayed by the apps.
271 Specify the title for the link preview (mandatory).
273 *--preview-description*::
274 Specify the description for the link preview (optional).
277 Specify the image file for the link preview (optional).
279 *--story-timestamp*::
280 Specify the timestamp of a story to reply to.
283 Specify the number of the author of the story.
285 *-e*, *--end-session*::
286 Clear session state and send end session message.
288 === sendPaymentNotification
290 Send a payment notification.
293 Specify the recipient’s phone number.
295 *--receipt* RECEIPT::
296 The base64 encoded receipt blob.
299 Specify a note for the payment notification.
303 Send reaction to a previously received or sent message.
306 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
308 *-g* GROUP, *--group-id* GROUP::
309 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
311 *-e* EMOJI, *--emoji* EMOJI::
312 Specify the emoji, should be a single unicode grapheme cluster.
314 *-a* NUMBER, *--target-author* NUMBER::
315 Specify the number of the author of the message to which to react.
317 *-t* TIMESTAMP, *--target-timestamp* TIMESTAMP::
318 Specify the timestamp of the message to which to react.
324 React to a story instead of a normal message
328 Send a read or viewed receipt to a previously received message.
331 Specify the sender’s phone number.
333 *-t* TIMESTAMP, *--target-timestamp* TIMESTAMP::
334 Specify the timestamp of the message to which to react.
337 Specify the receipt type, either `read` (the default) or `viewed`.
341 Send typing message to trigger a typing indicator for the recipient.
342 Indicator will be shown for 15seconds unless a typing STOP message is sent first.
345 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
347 *-g* GROUP, *--group-id* GROUP::
348 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
351 Send a typing STOP message.
355 Remotely delete a previously sent message.
358 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
360 *-g* GROUP, *--group-id* GROUP::
361 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
363 *-t* TIMESTAMP, *--target-timestamp* TIMESTAMP::
364 Specify the timestamp of the message to delete.
368 Query the server for new messages.
369 New messages are printed on standard output and attachments are downloaded to the config directory.
370 In json mode this is outputted as one json object per line.
372 *-t* TIMEOUT, *--timeout* TIMEOUT::
373 Number of seconds to wait for new messages (negative values disable timeout).
374 Default is 5 seconds.
377 Maximum number of messages to receive, before returning.
379 *--ignore-attachments*::
380 Don’t download attachments of received messages.
383 Don’t receive story messages from the server.
386 *--send-read-receipts*::
387 Send read receipts for all incoming data messages (in addition to the default delivery receipts)
391 Join a group via an invitation link.
394 The invitation link URI (starts with `https://signal.group/#`)
398 Create or update a group.
399 If the user is a pending member, this command will accept the group invitation.
401 *-g* GROUP, *--group-id* GROUP::
402 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
403 If not specified, a new group with a new random ID is generated.
405 *-n* NAME, *--name* NAME::
406 Specify the new group name.
408 *-d* DESCRIPTION, *--description* DESCRIPTION::
409 Specify the new group description.
411 *-a* AVATAR, *--avatar* AVATAR::
412 Specify a new group avatar image file.
414 *-m* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]], *--member* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
415 Specify one or more members to add to the group.
417 *-r* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]], *--remove-member* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
418 Specify one or more members to remove from the group
420 *--admin* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
421 Specify one or more members to make a group admin
423 *--remove-admin* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
424 Specify one or more members to remove group admin privileges
426 *--ban* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
427 Specify one or more members to ban from joining the group.
428 Banned members cannot join or request to join via a group link.
430 *--unban* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
431 Specify one or more members to remove from the ban list
434 Reset group link and create new link password
436 *--link* LINK_STATE::
437 Set group link state: `enabled`, `enabled-with-approval`, `disabled`
439 *--set-permission-add-member* PERMISSION::
440 Set permission to add new group members: `every-member`, `only-admins`
442 *--set-permission-edit-details* PERMISSION::
443 Set permission to edit group details: `every-member`, `only-admins`
445 *--set-permission-send-messages* PERMISSION::
446 Set permission to send messages in group: `every-member`, `only-admins`
447 Groups where only admins can send messages are also called announcement groups
449 *-e* EXPIRATION_SECONDS, *--expiration* EXPIRATION_SECONDS::
450 Set expiration time of messages (seconds).
451 To disable expiration set expiration time to 0.
455 Send a quit group message to all group members and remove self from member list.
456 If the user is a pending member, this command will decline the group invitation.
458 *-g* GROUP, *--group-id* GROUP::
459 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
462 Delete local group data completely after quitting group.
466 Show a list of known groups and related information.
467 In json mode this is outputted as an list of objects and is always in detailed mode.
470 Include the list of members of each group and the group invite link.
473 Filter the group list by one or more group IDs.
477 Show a list of known contacts with names and profiles.
478 When a specific recipient is given, its profile will be refreshed.
481 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
483 *-a*, *--all-recipients*::
484 Include all known recipients, not only contacts.
487 Specify if only blocked or unblocked contacts should be shown (default: all contacts)
490 Find contacts with the given contact or profile name.
494 List all known identity keys and their trust status, fingerprint and safety number.
496 *-n* NUMBER, *--number* NUMBER::
497 Only show identity keys for the given phone number.
501 Set the trust level of a given number.
502 The first time a key for a number is seen, it is trusted by default (TOFU).
503 If the key changes, the new key must be trusted manually.
506 Specify the phone number, for which to set the trust.
508 *-a*, *--trust-all-known-keys*::
509 Trust all known keys of this user, only use this for testing.
511 *-v* VERIFIED_SAFETY_NUMBER, *--verified-safety-number* VERIFIED_SAFETY_NUMBER::
512 Specify the safety number of the key, only use this option if you have verified the safety number.
513 Can be either the plain text numbers shown in the app or the bytes from the QR-code, encoded as base64.
517 Update the profile information shown to message recipients.
518 The profile is stored encrypted on the Signal servers.
519 The decryption key is sent with every outgoing messages to contacts and included in every group.
521 *--given-name* NAME, *--name* NAME::
524 *--family-name* FAMILY_NAME::
527 *--about* ABOUT_TEXT::
528 New profile status text.
530 *--about-emoji* EMOJI::
531 New profile status emoji.
533 *--avatar* AVATAR_FILE::
534 Path to the new avatar image file.
539 *--mobile-coin-address*::
540 New MobileCoin address (Base64 encoded public address)
544 Update the info associated to a number on our contact list.
545 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
546 If the contact doesn't exist yet, it will be added.
549 Specify the contact phone number.
551 *--given-name* NAME, *--name* NAME::
554 *--family-name* FAMILY_NAME::
557 *-e*, *--expiration* EXPIRATION_SECONDS::
558 Set expiration time of messages (seconds).
559 To disable expiration set expiration time to 0.
563 Remove the info of a given contact
566 Specify the contact phone number.
569 Delete all data associated with this contact, including identity keys and sessions.
573 Block the given contacts or groups (no messages will be received).
574 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
576 [CONTACT [CONTACT ...]]::
577 Specify the phone numbers of contacts that should be blocked.
579 *-g* [GROUP [GROUP ...]], *--group-id* [GROUP [GROUP ...]]::
580 Specify the group IDs that should be blocked in base64 encoding.
584 Unblock the given contacts or groups (messages will be received again).
585 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
587 [CONTACT [CONTACT ...]]::
588 Specify the phone numbers of contacts that should be unblocked.
590 *-g* [GROUP [GROUP ...]], *--group-id* [GROUP [GROUP ...]]::
591 Specify the group IDs that should be unblocked in base64 encoding.
595 Send a synchronization message with the local contacts list to all linked devices.
596 This command should only be used if this is the primary device.
600 Send a synchronization request message to the primary device (for group, contacts, ...).
601 The primary device will respond with synchronization messages with full contact and group lists.
603 === uploadStickerPack
605 Upload a new sticker pack, consisting of a manifest file and the sticker images. +
606 Images must conform to the following specification: (see https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360031836512-Stickers#sticker_reqs )
608 - Static stickers in PNG or WebP format
609 - Animated stickers in APNG format,
610 - Maximum file size for a sticker file is 300KiB
611 - Image resolution of 512 x 512 px
613 The required manifest.json has the following format:
618 "title": "<STICKER_PACK_TITLE>",
619 "author": "<STICKER_PACK_AUTHOR>",
620 "cover": { // Optional cover, by default the first sticker is used as cover
621 "file": "<name of image file, mandatory>",
622 "contentType": "<optional>",
623 "emoji": "<optional>"
627 "file": "<name of image file, mandatory>",
628 "contentType": "<optional>",
629 "emoji": "<optional>"
637 The path of the manifest.json or a zip file containing the sticker pack you wish to upload.
641 Gets the raw data for a specified attachment.
642 This is done using the ID of the attachment the recipient or group ID.
643 The attachment data is returned as a Base64 String.
646 The ID of the attachment as given in the attachment list of the message.
648 *--recipient* [RECIPIENT]::
649 Specify the number which sent the attachment.
650 Referred to generally as recipient.
652 *-g* [GROUP], *--group-id* [GROUP]::
653 Alternatively, specify the group IDs for which to get the attachment.
657 signal-cli can run in daemon mode and provides an experimental dbus or JSON-RPC interface.
658 If no `-a` account is given, all local accounts will be exported as separate dbus objects under the same bus name.
661 Export DBus interface on user bus. +
662 See **signal-cli-dbus**(5) for info on the dbus interface.
665 Export DBus interface on system bus. +
666 See **signal-cli-dbus**(5) for info on the dbus interface.
668 *--socket [SOCKET]*::
669 Export a JSON-RPC interface on a UNIX socket (default $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/signal-cli/socket). +
670 See **signal-cli-jsonrpc**(5) for info on the JSON-RPC interface.
672 *--tcp [HOST:PORT]*::
673 Export a JSON-RPC interface on a TCP socket (default localhost:7583). +
674 See **signal-cli-jsonrpc**(5) for info on the JSON-RPC interface.
676 *--http [HOST:PORT]*::
677 Expose a JSON-RPC interface as http endpoint (default localhost:8080).
678 The JSON-RPC endpoint is `/api/v1/rpc`. +
679 See **signal-cli-jsonrpc**(5) for info on the JSON-RPC interface.
681 *--ignore-attachments*::
682 Don’t download attachments of received messages.
685 Don’t receive story messages from the server.
687 *--send-read-receipts*::
688 Send read receipts for all incoming data messages (in addition to the default delivery receipts)
690 *--no-receive-stdout*::
691 Don’t print received messages to stdout.
694 Specify when to start receiving messages (on-start, on-connection, manual)
698 Register a number (with SMS verification)::
699 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT register
701 Verify the number using the code received via SMS or voice::
702 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT verify CODE
704 Send a message to one or more recipients::
705 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT send -m "This is a message" [RECIPIENT [RECIPIENT ...]] [-a [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]]]
707 Pipe the message content from another process::
708 uname -a | signal-cli -a ACCOUNT send --message-from-stdin [RECIPIENT [RECIPIENT ...]]
711 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT updateGroup -n "Group name" -m [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]
713 Add member to a group::
714 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT updateGroup -g GROUP_ID -m "NEW_MEMBER"
716 Accept a group invitation::
717 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT updateGroup -g GROUP_ID
720 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT quitGroup -g GROUP_ID
722 Send a message to a group::
723 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT send -m "This is a message" -g GROUP_ID
725 Trust new key, after having verified it::
726 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT trust -v SAFETY_NUMBER NUMBER
728 Trust new key, without having verified it. Only use this if you don't care about security::
729 signal-cli -a ACCOUNT trust -a NUMBER
733 * *1*: Error is probably caused and fixable by the user
734 * *2*: Some unexpected error
735 * *3*: Server or IO error
736 * *4*: Sending failed due to untrusted key
740 The password and cryptographic keys are created when registering and stored in the current users home directory, the directory can be changed with *--config*:
742 `$XDG_DATA_HOME/signal-cli/` (`$HOME/.local/share/signal-cli/`)
746 Maintained by AsamK <asamk@gmx.de>, who is assisted by other open source contributors.
747 For more information about signal-cli development, see
748 <https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli>.