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wacli

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title
wacli
type
toolbox
summary
WhatsApp command-line client that syncs history into local SQLite for offline full-text search
tags
golang, cli, messaging
repo
https://github.com/steipete/wacli
language
Go
license
Other
created
2026-04-16
updated
2026-04-16

WhatsApp CLI for syncing messages locally, searching offline, and sending messages. Built on whatsmeow (WhatsApp Web protocol). Local-first: stores everything in SQLite with FTS5 for fast offline search.

What it does

  • Sync message history locally with continuous capture
  • Fast offline full-text search
  • Send text messages and files
  • Contact and group management
  • Best-effort backfill of older messages

Key commands

# Authenticate (shows QR code) and initial sync
wacli auth

# Continuous sync (no QR, requires prior auth)
wacli sync --follow

# Search messages offline
wacli messages search "meeting"

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

# Send a file with caption
wacli send file --to 1234567890 --file ./pic.jpg --caption "hi"

# Backfill older messages for a chat
wacli history backfill --chat 1234567890@s.whatsapp.net --requests 10 --count 50

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

Storage

Default: ~/.wacli (override with --store DIR). SQLite with FTS5 for search.

History backfill

WhatsApp Web sends what it sends opportunistically. To fetch older messages:

  • Request from your primary device (phone must be online)
  • Per-chat, anchored to oldest local message
  • Best-effort: WhatsApp may not return full history
  • Recommended: --count 50 per request

Backfill all known chats:

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

Install

# Homebrew
brew install steipete/tap/wacli

# Or build from source
go build -tags sqlite_fts5 -o ./dist/wacli ./cmd/wacli

Environment

  • WACLI_DEVICE_LABEL — linked device label shown in WhatsApp
  • WACLI_DEVICE_PLATFORM — override platform (defaults to CHROME)

Notes

Third-party tool, not affiliated with WhatsApp. Uses WhatsApp Web protocol via whatsmeow. Output is human-readable by default; --json for machine-readable.

Repo: https://github.com/steipete/wacli (1,554 stars)

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