DOKK / manpages / debian 10 / yowsup-cli / yowsup-cli.1.en
yowsup-cli(1) command line tool that acts as WhatsApp client yowsup-cli(1)

yowsup-cli - command line tool that acts as WhatsApp client 

yowsup-cli [COMMANDS] [OPTIONS]
yowsup-cli registration [-h] [-v] [-d] [--help-config] [-c CONFIG] [-m MCC] [-n MNC] [-p PHONE] [-C CC] [-r (sms|voice) | -R code]
yowsup-cli demos [-h] [-v] [-d] [--help-config] [-l phone:b64password | -c CONFIG] [-E {android,s40}], [-M] [-y] [-e] [-s phone message] [-S contacts]
yowsup-cli version

yowsup-cli is a command line program, based in python-yowsup library, that allows one to login and use the WhatsApp service, providing all capabilities of an official WhatsApp client, as encryption of messages.

Available commands are registration, demos and version.

’registration' is used to register a mobile number to WhatsApp network.

’demos' is the proper command to regular use as a WhatsApp client.

’version' shows the yowsup-cli version.

Optional arguments

Show this help message and exit.
Print version info and exit.
Show debug messages.
Print a config file sample.

Configuration options

Path to config file. If this is not set then you must set at least --phone and --cc arguments. The config file is optional. Other configuration arguments have higher priority if given, and will override those specified in the config file.
MCC (Mobile Country Code). Check your MCC at a specific list (see below).
MNC (Mobile Network Code). Check your MNC at a specific list (see below).
The full phone number including the country code defined in 'cc', without preceding '+' or '00'.
CC (Country Code).

Modes to register

Request the digit registration code from WhatsApp.
Register account on WhatsApp using a code previously received.

Specific lists for MCC and MNC

  • http://mcclist.com
  • http://www.mcc-mnc.com
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_country_code

Specific lists for country codes

  • https://countrycode.org
  • http://mcclist.com/country-calling-codes.asp
  • http://www.ipipi.com/help/telephone-country-codes.htm

Optional arguments

Show this help message and exit.
Print version info and exit.
Show debug messages.
Print a config file sample.

Configuration options

WhatsApp login credentials, in the format phonenumber:password, where password is base64 encoded.
Path to config file containing authentication info. For more info about the config format, use --help-config.
Set the environment that yowsup must simulate. Default: android.
Disable support for WhatsApp E2E encryption.

Text interface demo

Start the Yowsup text interface client (interactive mode). Note that in this mode two clients or a group can talk in chat mode, send images, etc.

Echo client demo

Start the Yowsup Echo client.

Send client demo

Send a message to specified phone number, wait for server receipt and exit.

Sync contacts

Sync (check valid) WhatsApp contacts.

A configuration file, known as login credentials, can be used to gather some basic information that useful to register or login. This configuration file will be called by '-c' option.

WhatsApp protocol is basically a modified version of XMPP. It uses JID and password for login. The JID is the phone number registered with, which is a combination of the country code and the phone number. To login will be needed a password. These info can be saved in a text file, in the following format:



    cc=55


    phone=556101234567


    password=NDkxNTIyNTI1NjAyMkBzLndoYXRzYXBwLm5ldA==
The line 'cc=' must be filled with the country code.

The 'phone=' field will be composed by 'country code' + 'area code' + 'phone number'. In the current example was used 55 (country = Brazil) + 61 (area code = Brasilia) + 01234567 (phone number). The country code must be provided without '+' or '00' leading.

Finally, the 'password=' field has the login password. This password will be gotten when you register the phone number using yowsup-cli. See the REGISTERING A NUMBER section. If you are registering a number, you can leave this field blank.

For security reasons, is recommended set a permission '600' to configuration file and make it hidden. More details about the configuration file can be viewed using this command:



    $ yowsup-cli registration --help-config

WhatsApp registration involves 2 steps. First you need to request a registration code. After this, you resume the registration with code that you got. In both cases, you can or not use a configuration file (see the above section in this manual page).

An example not using a configuration file:



    yowsup-cli registration --requestcode sms --phone 556101234567 --cc 55 --mcc 123 --mnc 456


    yowsup-cli registration --register 123-456 --phone 556101234567 --cc 55
Now, using a configuration file: 



    yowsup-cli registration --requestcode sms --mcc 123 --mnc 456 -c /home/user/.yowsuprc


    yowsup-cli registration --register 123-456 -c /home/user/.yowsuprc
The first command (the '--requestcode' action) will show something similar to: 



    status: sent


    retry_after: 10805


    length: 6


    method: sms
After this, the code will then be delivered to your mobile phone number via your preferred method (SMS/voice). Once you have obtained the code, you proceed with the second step, which is to send that code using the '--register' argument. This example will consider the received code as being 123-456: 



    yowsup-cli registration --register 123-456 -c /home/user/.yowsuprc
After the last command, you will see something similar to: 



    status: ok


    kind: free


    pw: 1coGO6bwjT8Uukw9qa8v3ql2KXM=


    price: US$0.99


    price_expiration: 1407002374


    currency: USD


    cost: 0.99


    expiration: 1435773701


    login: 556101234567


    type: new
If you successfully register, WhatsApp will generate a password for your which will be displayed in the command output (see the 'pw:' line). If you want to use a config file, you MUST MANUALLY store this password in this config file. See an example: 



    cc=55


    phone=556101234567


    password=1coGO6bwjT8Uukw9qa8v3ql2KXM=

$ yowsup-cli demos -c /path/.config_file -s 5511190102030 "Testing WhatsApp..."
$ yowsup-cli demos -l 556101234567:1coGO6bwjT8Uukw9qa8v3ql2KXM= -s 5511190102030 "Testing WhatsApp..."
$ yowsup-cli demos -c /path/.config_file -y

Start a chat with 5511190102030, after connected in interactive mode (see the last command):



    /L


    /message send 5511190102030 "Testing WhatsApp..."
Send a picture to 5511190102030, after connected in interactive mode: 



    /L


    /image send 5511190102030 /home/user/picture.jpg
To see all commands available in interactive mode: 



    /help

yowsup-cli was developed by Tarek Galal <tare2.galal@gmail.com>.

This manual page was written by Joao Eriberto Mota Filho <eriberto@debian.org> for the Debian project (but may be used by others).

Apr 2016 YOWSUP-CLI 2.0.15 (from yowsup 2.4.102)