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Wacli – WhatsApp CLI

WhatsApp CLI built on top of whatsmeow, focused on:

  • Best-effort local sync of message history + continuous capture
  • Fast offline search
  • Sending messages
  • Contact + group management

This is a third-party tool that uses the WhatsApp Web protocol via whatsmeow and is not affiliated with WhatsApp.

Core implementation is in place. See docs/spec.md for the full design notes.

  • Messages: search/list includes display text for reactions, replies, and media types.
  • Send: wacli send file --filename to override the display name.
  • Auth: optional WACLI_DEVICE_LABEL / WACLI_DEVICE_PLATFORM env overrides.

Choose one of the following options.

Option A: Install via Homebrew (tap)

  • brew install steipete/tap/wacli
  • go build -tags sqlite_fts5 -o ./dist/wacli ./cmd/wacli

Run (local build only):

  • ./dist/wacli --help

Default store directory is ~/.wacli (override with --store DIR).

# 1) Authenticate (shows QR), then bootstrap sync
pnpm wacli auth
# or: ./dist/wacli auth (after pnpm build)

# 2) Keep syncing (never shows QR; requires prior auth)
pnpm wacli sync --follow

# Diagnostics
pnpm wacli doctor

# Search messages
pnpm wacli messages search "meeting"

# Backfill older messages for a chat (best-effort; requires your primary device online)
pnpm wacli history backfill --chat 1234567890@s.whatsapp.net --requests 10 --count 50

# Download media for a message (after syncing)
./wacli media download --chat 1234567890@s.whatsapp.net --id <message-id>

# Send a message
pnpm wacli send text --to 1234567890 --message "hello"

# Send a file
./wacli send file --to 1234567890 --file ./pic.jpg --caption "hi"
# Or override display name
./wacli send file --to 1234567890 --file /tmp/abc123 --filename report.pdf

# List groups and manage participants
pnpm wacli groups list
pnpm wacli groups rename --jid 123456789@g.us --name "New name"

This project is heavily inspired by (and learns from) the excellent whatsapp-cli by Vicente Reig:

  • wacli auth: interactive login (shows QR code), then immediately performs initial data sync.
  • wacli sync: non-interactive sync loop (never shows QR; errors if not authenticated).
  • Output is human-readable by default; pass --json for machine-readable output.

Defaults to ~/.wacli (override with --store DIR).

  • WACLI_DEVICE_LABEL: set the linked device label (shown in WhatsApp).
  • WACLI_DEVICE_PLATFORM: override the linked device platform (defaults to CHROME if unset or invalid).

Backfilling older history

wacli sync stores whatever WhatsApp Web sends opportunistically. To try to fetch older messages, use on-demand history sync requests to your primary device (your phone).

Important notes:

  • This is best-effort: WhatsApp may not return full history.
  • Your primary device must be online.
  • Requests are per chat (DM or group). wacli uses the oldest locally stored message in that chat as the anchor.
  • Recommended --count is 50 per request.
pnpm wacli history backfill --chat 1234567890@s.whatsapp.net --requests 10 --count 50

Backfill all chats (script)

This loops through chats already known in your local DB:

pnpm -s wacli -- --json chats list --limit 100000 \
  | jq -r '.[].JID' \
  | while read -r jid; do
      pnpm -s wacli -- history backfill --chat "$jid" --requests 3 --count 50
    done

See LICENSE.