Peter Steinberger – WhatsApp CLI: sync, search, send

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.

Installation

Choose one of the following options.

If you install via Homebrew, you can skip the local build step.

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).

Usage Examples

# 1) Authenticate (shows QR), then bootstrap sync
pnpm wacli auth
# 2) Keep syncing (requires prior auth)
pnpm wacli sync --follow
# Search messages
pnpm wacli messages search "meeting"
# Backfill older messages for a chat
pnpm wacli history backfill --chat [email protected] --requests 10 --count 50
# Send a message
pnpm wacli send text --to 1234567890 --message "hello"

History Sync

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).
• Recommended --count is 50 per request.