wu-whatsapp

wu

WhatsApp CLI tool — like gh is to GitHub, wu is to WhatsApp.

Built on @whiskeysockets/baileys.

Install

npm install -g @ibrahimwithi/wu-cli

Requires Node.js 20+.

Quick Start

# Authenticate (scan QR code)
wu login

# Or use pairing code instead
wu login --code 15551234567

# Start collecting messages
wu listen

# Search messages
wu messages search "meeting tomorrow"

# Send a message
wu messages send [email protected] "Hello!"

# List your groups
wu groups list --live

By default, wu operates in opt-in mode — no messages are collected until you allow specific chats:

# Allow all group messages (read-only)
wu config allow '*@g.us' --mode read

# Allow full access to a specific chat
wu config allow [email protected]

# Start collecting
wu listen

Commands

Authentication

Command	Description
wu login	Authenticate with WhatsApp via QR code
wu login --code <phone>	Authenticate via pairing code
wu logout	Clear session
wu status	Show connection status and account info

Messages

Command	Description
wu messages list <jid>	List messages in a chat
wu messages search <query>	Full-text search messages (FTS5 ranked)
wu messages send <jid> [text]	Send text, media, or poll
wu messages react <jid> <id> <emoji>	React to a message
wu messages delete <jid> <id>	Delete a message for everyone
wu messages export <jid>	Export messages to a file (jsonl/json/markdown/csv)

# Send with media
wu messages send [email protected] --media photo.jpg --caption "Check this out"

# Create a poll
wu messages send [email protected] --poll "Lunch?" --options "Pizza,Sushi,Tacos"

# Reply to a message
wu messages send [email protected] "Agreed" --reply-to BAE5ABC123

# Search within a specific chat
wu messages search "budget" --chat [email protected] --limit 20

# Download all undownloaded media in a chat
wu media download-batch [email protected] --limit 50 --concurrency 4

# Export all messages since a timestamp to a file
wu messages export [email protected] --after 1772548621 --format jsonl --output data/export.jsonl

# Export as readable markdown
wu messages export [email protected] --format markdown --output data/chat.md

Chats & Contacts

Command	Description
wu chats list	List all chats
wu chats search <query>	Search chats by name
wu contacts list	List all contacts
wu contacts search <query>	Search contacts by name or phone
wu contacts info <jid>	Show contact details

Groups

Command	Description
wu groups list	List groups (cached)
wu groups list --live	Fetch groups from WhatsApp
wu groups info <jid>	Show group details and participants
wu groups create <name> [jids...]	Create a new group
wu groups invite <jid>	Get invite link
wu groups leave <jid>	Leave a group
wu groups rename <jid> <name>	Rename a group
wu groups join <code-or-url>	Join a group by invite code or URL
wu groups participants <jid>	List group participants

Media

Command	Description
wu media download <msg-id>	Download media from a message
wu media download-batch <jid>	Download undownloaded media in parallel
wu media send <jid> <path>	Send a media file

History

Command	Description
wu history backfill <jid>	Request older messages from WhatsApp

# Backfill 50 older messages for a group
wu history backfill [email protected] --count 50

# With JSON output
wu history backfill [email protected] --count 20 --json

Daemon

# Run as a foreground daemon — collects messages continuously
wu daemon

# Install as a systemd service (Linux)
wu daemon install

# Remove systemd service
wu daemon uninstall

# View daemon logs
wu daemon logs

The daemon auto-reconnects on connection drops, logs health every 5 minutes, and stores all messages to SQLite.

Remote Sync

Run the daemon on a VPS collecting messages 24/7, query from your local machine. All communication over SSH — no exposed ports, no extra auth.

# --- On the VPS ---
npm i -g @ibrahimwithi/wu-cli
wu login
wu daemon install

# --- On your local machine ---
# Add the remote
wu remote add vps user@your-vps-ip

# Push your constraints to the server
wu remote setup vps --push

# Pull the database
wu sync pull

# Continuous sync every 30s
wu sync pull --watch --interval 30

# Install as a systemd timer (Linux)
wu sync install --interval 60