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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.
96 Delete account completely from server. Cannot be undone without loss. You will
97 have to be readded to each group.
99 CAUTION: Only delete your account if you won't use this number again!
103 Update the account attributes on the signal server.
104 Can fix problems with receiving messages.
108 Set a registration lock pin, to prevent others from registering this number.
110 REGISTRATION_LOCK_PIN::
111 The registration lock PIN, that will be required for new registrations (resets after 7 days of inactivity)
115 Remove the registration lock pin.
119 Link to an existing device, instead of registering a new number.
120 This shows a "tsdevice:/…" URI. If you want to connect to another signal-cli instance, you can just use this URI.
121 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.
123 *-n* NAME, *--name* NAME::
124 Optionally specify a name to describe this new device.
125 By default "cli" will be used.
129 Link another device to this device.
130 Only works, if this is the master device.
133 Specify the uri contained in the QR code shown by the new device.
134 You will need the full uri enclosed in quotation marks, such as "tsdevice:/?uuid=....."
138 Show a list of linked devices.
142 Remove a linked device.
143 Only works, if this is the master device.
145 *-d* DEVICE_ID, *--device-id* DEVICE_ID::
146 Specify the device you want to remove.
147 Use listDevices to see the deviceIds.
151 Uses a list of phone numbers to determine the statuses of those users.
152 Shows if they are registered on the Signal Servers or not.
153 In json mode this is outputted as a list of objects.
155 [NUMBER [NUMBER ...]]::
156 One or more numbers to check.
160 Send a message to another user or group.
163 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
165 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
166 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
168 *-m* MESSAGE, *--message* MESSAGE::
169 Specify the message, if missing, standard input is used.
171 *-a* [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]], *--attachment* [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]]::
172 Add one or more files as attachment.
175 Send the message to self without notification.
177 *-e*, *--endsession*::
178 Clear session state and send end session message.
182 Send reaction to a previously received or sent message.
185 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
187 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
188 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
190 *-e* EMOJI, *--emoji* EMOJI::
191 Specify the emoji, should be a single unicode grapheme cluster.
193 *-a* NUMBER, *--target-author* NUMBER::
194 Specify the number of the author of the message to which to react.
196 *-t* TIMESTAMP, *--target-timestamp* TIMESTAMP::
197 Specify the timestamp of the message to which to react.
204 Send typing message to trigger a typing indicator for the recipient.
205 Indicator will be shown for 15seconds unless a typing STOP message is sent first.
208 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
210 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
211 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
214 Send a typing STOP message.
218 Remotely delete a previously sent message.
221 Specify the recipients’ phone number.
223 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
224 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
226 *-t* TIMESTAMP, *--target-timestamp* TIMESTAMP::
227 Specify the timestamp of the message to delete.
231 Query the server for new messages.
232 New messages are printed on standard output and attachments are downloaded to the config directory.
233 In json mode this is outputted as one json object per line.
235 *-t* TIMEOUT, *--timeout* TIMEOUT::
236 Number of seconds to wait for new messages (negative values disable timeout).
237 Default is 5 seconds.
238 *--ignore-attachments*::
239 Don’t download attachments of received messages.
243 Join a group via an invitation link.
246 The invitation link URI (starts with `https://signal.group/#`)
250 Create or update a group.
251 If the user is a pending member, this command will accept the group invitation.
253 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
254 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
255 If not specified, a new group with a new random ID is generated.
257 *-n* NAME, *--name* NAME::
258 Specify the new group name.
260 *-d* DESCRIPTION, *--description* DESCRIPTION::
261 Specify the new group description.
263 *-a* AVATAR, *--avatar* AVATAR::
264 Specify a new group avatar image file.
266 *-m* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]], *--member* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
267 Specify one or more members to add to the group.
269 *-r* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]], *--remove-member* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
270 Specify one or more members to remove from the group
272 *--admin* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
273 Specify one or more members to make a group admin
275 *--remove-admin* [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]::
276 Specify one or more members to remove group admin privileges
279 Reset group link and create new link password
281 *--link* LINK_STATE::
282 Set group link state: `enabled`, `enabled-with-approval`, `disabled`
284 *--set-permission-add-member* PERMISSION::
285 Set permission to add new group members: `every-member`, `only-admins`
287 *--set-permission-edit-details* PERMISSION::
288 Set permission to edit group details: `every-member`, `only-admins`
290 *-e* EXPIRATION_SECONDS, *--expiration* EXPIRATION_SECONDS::
291 Set expiration time of messages (seconds).
292 To disable expiration set expiration time to 0.
296 Send a quit group message to all group members and remove self from member list.
297 If the user is a pending member, this command will decline the group invitation.
299 *-g* GROUP, *--group* GROUP::
300 Specify the recipient group ID in base64 encoding.
303 Delete local group data completely after quitting group.
307 Show a list of known groups and related information.
308 In json mode this is outputted as an list of objects and is always in detailed mode.
311 Include the list of members of each group and the group invite link.
315 Show a list of known contacts with names.
319 List all known identity keys and their trust status, fingerprint and safety number.
321 *-n* NUMBER, *--number* NUMBER::
322 Only show identity keys for the given phone number.
326 Set the trust level of a given number.
327 The first time a key for a number is seen, it is trusted by default (TOFU).
328 If the key changes, the new key must be trusted manually.
331 Specify the phone number, for which to set the trust.
333 *-a*, *--trust-all-known-keys*::
334 Trust all known keys of this user, only use this for testing.
336 *-v* VERIFIED_SAFETY_NUMBER, *--verified-safety-number* VERIFIED_SAFETY_NUMBER::
337 Specify the safety number of the key, only use this option if you have verified the safety number.
341 Update the profile information shown to message recipients.
342 The profile is stored encrypted on the Signal servers.
343 The decryption key is sent with every outgoing messages to contacts and included
346 *--given-name* NAME, *--name* NAME::
349 *--family-name* FAMILY_NAME::
352 *--about* ABOUT_TEXT::
353 New profile status text.
355 *--about-emoji* EMOJI::
356 New profile status emoji.
358 *--avatar* AVATAR_FILE::
359 Path to the new avatar image file.
366 Update the info associated to a number on our contact list.
367 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
368 If the contact doesn't exist yet, it will be added.
371 Specify the contact phone number.
374 Specify the new name for this contact.
376 *-e*, *--expiration* EXPIRATION_SECONDS::
377 Set expiration time of messages (seconds).
378 To disable expiration set expiration time to 0.
382 Block the given contacts or groups (no messages will be received).
383 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
385 [CONTACT [CONTACT ...]]::
386 Specify the phone numbers of contacts that should be blocked.
388 *-g* [GROUP [GROUP ...]], *--group* [GROUP [GROUP ...]]::
389 Specify the group IDs that should be blocked in base64 encoding.
393 Unblock the given contacts or groups (messages will be received again).
394 This change is only local but can be synchronized to other devices by using `sendContacts` (see below).
396 [CONTACT [CONTACT ...]]::
397 Specify the phone numbers of contacts that should be unblocked.
399 *-g* [GROUP [GROUP ...]], *--group* [GROUP [GROUP ...]]::
400 Specify the group IDs that should be unblocked in base64 encoding.
404 Send a synchronization message with the local contacts list to all linked devices.
405 This command should only be used if this is the master device.
409 Send a synchronization request message to the master device (for group, contacts, ...).
410 The master device will respond with synchronization messages with full contact and
413 === uploadStickerPack
415 Upload a new sticker pack, consisting of a manifest file and the sticker images.
416 Images must conform to the following specification: (see https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360031836512-Stickers#sticker_reqs )
417 - Static stickers in PNG or WebP format
418 - Animated stickers in APNG format,
419 - Maximum file size for a sticker file is 300KiB
420 - Image resolution of 512 x 512 px
422 The required manifest.json has the following format:
427 "title": "<STICKER_PACK_TITLE>",
428 "author": "<STICKER_PACK_AUTHOR>",
429 "cover": { // Optional cover, by default the first sticker is used as cover
430 "file": "<name of image file, mandatory>",
431 "contentType": "<optional>",
432 "emoji": "<optional>"
436 "file": "<name of image file, mandatory>",
437 "contentType": "<optional>",
438 "emoji": "<optional>"
446 The path of the manifest.json or a zip file containing the sticker pack you wish to upload.
450 signal-cli can run in daemon mode and provides an experimental dbus interface.
451 If no `-u` username is given, all local users will be exported as separate dbus
452 objects under the same bus name.
455 Use DBus system bus instead of user bus.
456 *--ignore-attachments*::
457 Don’t download attachments of received messages.
461 Register a number (with SMS verification)::
462 signal-cli -u USERNAME register
464 Verify the number using the code received via SMS or voice::
465 signal-cli -u USERNAME verify CODE
467 Send a message to one or more recipients::
468 signal-cli -u USERNAME send -m "This is a message" [RECIPIENT [RECIPIENT ...]] [-a [ATTACHMENT [ATTACHMENT ...]]]
470 Pipe the message content from another process::
471 uname -a | signal-cli -u USERNAME send [RECIPIENT [RECIPIENT ...]]
474 signal-cli -u USERNAME updateGroup -n "Group name" -m [MEMBER [MEMBER ...]]
476 Add member to a group::
477 signal-cli -u USERNAME updateGroup -g GROUP_ID -m "NEW_MEMBER"
479 Accept a group invitation::
480 signal-cli -u USERNAME updateGroup -g GROUP_ID
483 signal-cli -u USERNAME quitGroup -g GROUP_ID
485 Send a message to a group::
486 signal-cli -u USERNAME send -m "This is a message" -g GROUP_ID
488 Trust new key, after having verified it::
489 signal-cli -u USERNAME trust -v SAFETY_NUMBER NUMBER
491 Trust new key, without having verified it. Only use this if you don't care about security::
492 signal-cli -u USERNAME trust -a NUMBER
495 * *1*: Error is probably caused and fixable by the user
496 * *2*: Some unexpected error
497 * *3*: Server or IO error
498 * *4*: Sending failed due to untrusted key
502 The password and cryptographic keys are created when registering and stored in the current users home directory, the directory can be changed with *--config*:
504 `$XDG_DATA_HOME/signal-cli/` (`$HOME/.local/share/signal-cli/`)
506 For legacy users, the old config directories are used as a fallback:
508 $HOME/.config/signal/
510 $HOME/.config/textsecure/
514 Maintained by AsamK <asamk@gmx.de>, who is assisted by other open source contributors.
515 For more information about signal-cli development, see
516 <https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli>.