/add [jid [nickname]]
Add the "jid" Jabber user to our roster (default group), and send a notification request to this
buddy. If no nickname is specified, the jid is used. If no jid (or an empty string "") is provided or
if jid is ".", the current buddy is used.
[jid [nickname]]
Add to our roster "jid" as "nickname"
Example: "/add somebody@jabber.server.com Somebody"
/alias [name [= command line]]
This command let you to add aliases which can simplify sophisticated commands.
You can manage your aliases by:
(without arguments)
Print list of currently defined aliases
name
Print the value of alias called "name"
name=
Unset alias called "name"
name = command line
Set alias called "name" with value "command line"
Example: "/alias away = status away"
/authorization allow|cancel|request|request_unsubscribe [jid]
This command manages presence subscriptions: it allows you to request presence subscriptions from
others on your roster, and allows you to control who receives your presence notifications.
If no JID is provided, the currently-selected buddy is used.
allow
Allow the buddy to receive your presence updates
cancel
Cancel the buddy’s subscription to your presence updates
request
Request a subscription to the buddy’s presence updates
request_unsubscribe
Request unsubscription from the buddy’s presence updates
/bind [keycode [= command line]]
Bind the command to the key given as "keycode". To examine which keys are currently not used look at
mcabber log window and press examined key. For example: "Unknown key=265" means that you can bind
some command to key #265.
(without arguments)
Display list of current bindings
keycode
Display the command line bound to this key
keycode=
Unbind key with code "keycode"
keycode = command line
Bind "command line" to the key with code "keycode"
Example: "/bind 265 = status away" (265 is F1). +
Note: keycodes can be different depending on your ncurses configuration. +
Tip: aliases also can be used instead of commands.
/buffer clear|close|close_all|purge|list, /buffer top|bottom|date|%|search_backward|search_forward,
/buffer scroll_lock|scroll_unlock|scroll_toggle, /buffer save filename
Buddy’s buffer manipulation command. E.g. you can search through buffer for "text", clear chat window
etc.
clear
Clear the current buddy chat window
close [jid]
Empty all contents of the buffer and close the current buddy chat window
close_all
Empty all contents of the chat buffers and close the chat windows
purge [jid]
Clear the current buddy chat window and empty all contents of the chat buffer
list
Display the list of existing buffers, with their length (lines/blocks)
top
Jump to the top of the current buddy chat buffer
bottom
Jump to the bottom of the current buddy chat buffer
up [n]
Scroll the buffer up [n] lines (default: half a screen)
down [n]
Scroll the buffer down [n] lines (default: half a screen)
date [date]
Jump to the first line after the specified [date] in the chat buffer (date format: "YYYY-mm-dd")
% n
Jump to position %n of the buddy chat buffer
search_backward text
Search for [text] in the current buddy chat buffer
search_forward text
Search for [text] in the current buddy chat buffer
scroll_lock
Lock buffer scrolling
scroll_unlock
Unlock buffer scrolling
scroll_toggle
Toggle buffer scrolling (lock/unlock)
save filename
Save the contents of the current buffer to the file "filename"
/chat_disable [--show-roster]
Disable chat mode.
With --show-roster, the fullscreen mode will be disabled.
/clear
This command is actually an alias for "/buffer clear". It clears the current buddy chat window.
/color roster (status wildcard (color|-)|clear), /color mucnick nick (color|-), /color muc (jid|.|*)
[on|preset|off|-]
The color command allows setting dynamic color properties of the screen.
roster clear
Remove all color rules for the roster. All roster items will get its default color.
roster status wildcard color
Set a color rule (or overwrite, if it already exists). The status is string containing all
statuses the roster item can have for the rule to match, or * if any status is OK. Wildcard is
the file-matching wildcard that will be applied to JID. Color is the wanted color. If color is -,
the rule is removed. If more than one rule matches, the color from the last created (not
overwritten) is used.
mucnick nick (color|-)
Marks the nick to be colored by given color. If a MUC has colored nicks, this one will be used.
If color is -, the color is marked as chosen automatically, which means it will not be used in
preset coloring mode, but will stay the same in on coloring mode.
muc (jid|.|*) [on|preset|off|-]
Sets a MUC nick coloring mode. If a jid (. means currently selected jid) is provided, the mode
will apply to this specific MUC. If * is used, it will be applied to all MUCs, except the ones
set by their jid. Mode on colors all nicks, preset only the ones manually set by /color mucnick
command and off colors none. If not specified, defaults to on. Mode - removes the mode from given
JID, which means the global one will apply. You can not remove the global mode. Default global
coloring mode is off.
/connect
Establish connection to the Jabber server.
/del
Delete the current buddy from our roster, unsubscribe from its presence notification and unsubscribe
it from ours.
/disconnect
Terminate the connection to the Jabber server.
Note: the roster is only available when the connection to the server is active, so the buddylist is
empty when disconnected.
/echo message
Display "message" in the log window.
/event #n|* accept|ignore|reject [event-specific arguments], /event list
Tell mcabber what to do about pending events.
If the first parameter is *, the command will apply to all queued events.
Event-specific arguments will be interpreted on event-to event basis. The only built-in case, when
argument is used is MUC invitation reject - argument, if present, will be interpreted as reject
reason.
#N|* accept [event-specific arguments]
Event number #N/All events will be accepted
#N|* ignore [event-specific arguments]
Event number #N/All events will be ignored
#N|* reject [event-specific arguments]
Event number #N/All events will be rejected
list
List all pending events
/group fold|unfold|toggle [groupname]
This command changes the current group display.
fold [groupname]
Fold (shrink) the current/specified group tree in the roster
unfold [groupname]
Unfold (expand) the current/specified group tree in the roster
toggle [groupname]
Toggle the state (fold/unfold) of the current/specified tree
/help [command|+topic]
Display help for command "command" or topic "topic".
Example: "/help buffer"
/iline fchar|bchar|char_fdel|char_bdel|char_swap, /iline fword|bword|word_bdel|word_fdel, /iline
word_upcase|word_downcase|word_capit, /iline hist_beginning_search_bwd|hist_beginning_search_fwd, /iline
hist_prev|hist_next, /iline iline_start|iline_end|iline_fdel|iline_bdel, /iline
iline_accept|iline_accept_down_hist, /iline compl_do|compl_cancel, /iline send_multiline
Input line commands
fchar
Move to the next letter
bchar
Move to the previous letter
char_fdel
Delete the letter at cursor position
char_bdel
Delete the letter before cursor position
char_swap
Transpose chars
fword
Move the cursor forward to the end of the current or next word
bword
Move the cursor back to the start of the current or previous word
word_bdel
Delete the word from cursor position to its start
word_fdel
Delete the word from cursor position to its end
word_upcase
Convert the word from cursor position to its end to upper case
word_downcase
Convert the word from cursor position to its end to down case
word_capit
Capitalize the word from cursor position to its end
hist_beginning_search_bwd
Search backward in the history for a line beginning with the current line up to the cursor (this
leaves the cursor in its original position)
hist_beginning_search_fwd
Search forward in the history for a line beginning with the current line up to the cursor (this
leaves the cursor in its original position)
hist_prev
Previous line of input line history
hist_next
Next line of input line history
iline_start
Go to the beginning of the input line
iline_end
Go to the end of the input line
iline_fdel
Delete from the cursor to the end of line
iline_bdel
Delete from beginning of the line to the cursor
iline_accept
Accept line
iline_accept_down_hist
Accept line and put the next history line in the input line
compl_do
Complete current word, in the input line
compl_cancel
Cancel completion
send_multiline
Send/terminate a multi-line message
/info
Display info on the selected entry (user, agent, group...).
For users, resources are displayed with the status, priority and status message (if available) of
each resource.
/module load|unload [-f] module, /module info module, /module [list]
Load, unload or show info on module.
load [-f] module
Loads specified module. If -f flag is specified, most of module loading errors will be ignored.
unload [-f] module
Unloads specified module. Note: The force flag will not remove any dependency on this module!
info module
Shows available information about this module.
[list]
Lists modules in a format: [modulename] [reference count] ([Manually/Automatically loaded]) [any
extra info, like version or dependencies]
/move [groupname]
Move the current buddy to the requested group. If no group is specified, then the buddy is moved to
the default group. If the group "groupname" doesn’t exist, it is created.
Tip: if the chatmode is enabled, you can use "/roster alternate" to jump to the moved buddy.
/msay begin|verbatim|send|send_to|toggle|toggle_verbatim|abort
Send a multi-line message. To write a single message with several lines, the multi-linemode should
be used.
In multi-line mode, each line (except command lines) typed in the input line will be added to the
multi-line message. Once the message is finished, it can be sent to the current selected buddy with
the "/msay send" command.
The begin subcommand enables multi-line mode. Note that it allows a message subject to be specified.
The verbatim multi-line mode disables commands, so that it is possible to enter lines starting with a
slash. Only the "/msay" command (with send or abort parameters) can be used to exit verbatim mode.
The toggle subcommand can be bound to a key to use the multi-line mode quickly (for example, "bind
M13 = msay toggle" to switch using the Meta-Enter combination).
begin [subject]
Enter multi-line mode
verbatim
Enter verbatim multi-line mode
send [-n|-h]
Send the current multi-line message to the currently selected buddy
send_to [-n|-h] jid
Send the current multi-line message to "jid"
toggle|toggle_verbatim
Switch to/from multi-line mode (begin/send)
abort
Leave multi-line mode without sending the message
The -n or -h flags turn the message to "normal" or "headline" accordingly, as opposed to default "chat" message.
/otr key, /otr start|stop|info [jid], /otr fingerprint [jid [fpr]], /otr smpq|smpr [jid] secret, /otr
smpa [jid]
You can use the shortcut-jid "." for the currently selected contact.
key
Print the fingerprint of your private key to the Status Buffer
start [jid]
Open an OTR channel to the specified jid (or the currently selected contact)
stop [jid]
Close the OTR channel to the specified jid (or the currently selected contact)
info [jid]
Show current OTR status for the specified jid (or the currently selected contact)
fingerprint [jid [fpr]]
Show the active fingerprint of an OTR channel. If the fingerprint is provided instead of "fpr",
the fingerprint will become trusted. If you replace "fpr" by some bogus string the fingerprint
will loose the trusted status.
smpq [jid] secret
Initiate the Socialist Millionaires Protocol with the secret and the buddy
smpr [jid] secret
Respond to the Initiation of the jid with the secret
smpa [jid]
Abort the running Socialist Millionaires Protocol
/otrpolicy, /otrpolicy (default|jid) (plain|manual|opportunistic|always)
You can use the shortcut-jid "." for the currently selected contact.
(without arguments)
Prints all OTR policies to the status buffer
(default|jid) (plain|manual|opportunistic|always)
Sets either the default policy or the policy for the given jid The plain policy should never be
used, because you won’t be able to receive or send any OTR encrypted messages. If you set the
policy to manual, you or your chat partner have to start the OTR encryption by hand (e.g. with
/otr start). The policy "opportunistic" does that itself by sending a special whitespace-sequence
at the end of unencrypted messages. So the other OTR-enabled chat client knows, that you want to
use OTR. Note that the first message will always be unencryted, if you use this policy. With the
policy "always" no message will be sent in plain text. If you try to sent the first message
unencrypted, mcabber will try to establish an OTR channel. Please resend your message, when you
get the information that the channel was established. If someone sends you plaintext messages
while the policy is set to "always", you’ll be able to read the message but it won’t be saved to
the history.
/pgp disable|enable|force|info [jid], /pgp setkey [jid [key]]
This command manipulates PGP settings for the specified jid (by default the currently selected
contact).
Please note that PGP encryption won’t be used if no remote PGP support is detected, even if PGP is
enabled with this command. You can force PGP encryption with the "force" subcommand.
disable [jid]
Disable PGP encryption for jid (or the currently selected contact)
enable [jid]
Enable PGP encryption for jid (or the currently selected contact)
force [jid]
Enforce PGP encryption, even for offline messages, and always assume the recipient has PGP
support. If a message can’t be encrypted (missing key or key id), the messages won’t be sent at
all. This option is ignored when PGP is disabled.
info [jid]
Show current PGP settings for the contact
setkey [jid [key]]
Set the PGP key to be used to encrypt message for this contact. If no key is provided, the
current key is erased. You can use the shortcut-jid "." for the currently selected contact.
/quit
This command closes all connections and quit mcabber.
/rawxml send string
Send "string" (raw XML format) to the Jabber server.
No check is done on the string provided.
BEWARE! Use this only if you know what you are doing, or you could terminate the connection.
Example: "/rawxml send <presence><show>away</show></presence>"
/rename name
Rename the current buddy or group to the given "name". If "name" is -, the name is removed from the
roster (and mcabber will display the JID or username).
/request last|ping|time|vcard|version [jid]
Send a "IQ" query to the current buddy, or to the specified Jabber user. If the resource is not
provided with the jid, mcabber will send the query to all known resources for this user.
last
Request "last" information (usually idle time)
ping
Send an XMPP Ping request. Note that you should use the full JID since a ping sent to a bare JID
will be handled by the server.
time
Request time from the buddy
vcard
Request VCard from the buddy
version
Request version from the buddy
/room join|leave|names|nick|remove|topic|unlock|destroy, /room
privmsg|invite|whois|kick|ban|unban|role|affil, /room setopt print_status|auto_whois [value], /room
bookmark [add|del] [-autojoin|+autojoin] [-|nick]
The room command handles Multi-User Chat room actions.
join [room [nick [pass]]]
Join "room", using "nick" as nickname. If no nickname is provided (or if it is an empty string),
the "nickname" option value is used (see sample configuration file). If the currently selected
entry is correctly recognized as a room by mcabber, the shortcut "." can be used instead of the
full room id. A password can be provided to enter protected rooms. If your nickname contains
space characters, use quotes.
leave [message]
Leave the current room
names [--detail|--short|--quiet|--compact]
Display members of the current room
nick newnick
Change your nickname in the current room
privmsg nick msg
Send private message "msg" to "nick"
remove
Remove the current room from the roster (you must have left this room before)
topic -|newtopic
Set topic for current room
unlock
Unlock current room (if you are the owner)
destroy [reason]
Destroy the current room (use with care!)
whois nick
Display MUC information about "nick"
ban jid [reason]
Ban jid from the current room
unban jid
Unban jid from the current room
invite jid [reason]
Invite jid to the current room
kick nick [reason]
Kick "nick" from the current room
role nick role [reason]
Change nick’s role (role can be "none", "visitor", "participant", "moderator")
affil jid affil [reason]
Change jid’s affiliation (affil can be "none", "member", "admin", "owner")
setopt print_status|auto_whois [value]
Change settings for the current room For print_status, the possible values are "default", "none",
"in_and_out", "all". For auto_whois, the possible values are "default", "off", "on". When the
value is "default", the options muc_print_status / muc_auto_whois is used.
bookmark [add|del] [-autojoin|+autojoin] [-|nick]
Add, remove or update a bookmark (default is add). If autojoin is set, mcabber will automatically
join the MUC room when it connects to the server. To see the list of bookmarks, use /room
bookmark in the status buffer.
/roster bottom|top|up|down|group_prev|group_next, /roster alternate|unread_first|unread_next, /roster
search bud, /roster display|hide_offline|show_offline|toggle_offline, /roster
item_lock|item_unlock|item_toggle_lock, /roster hide|show|toggle, /roster note [-|text]
The roster command manipulates the roster/buddylist.
Here are the available parameters:
bottom
Jump to the bottom of the roster
top
Jump to the top of the roster
up [n]
Move up [n lines] in the roster
down [n]
Move down [n lines] in the roster
group_prev
Jump to the previous group in the roster
group_next
Jump to the next group in the roster
alternate
Jump to alternate buddy. The "alternate" buddy is the last buddy left while being in chat mode.
This command is thus especially useful after commands like "/roster unread_next" (Ctrl-q).
unread_first
Jump to the first unread message
unread_next
Jump to the next unread message
search bud
Search for a buddy with a name or jid containing "bud" (only in the displayed buddylist)
display [mask]
See or update the roster filter. The mask should contain the shortcut letters of the status you
want to see ([o]nline, [f]ree_for_chat, [d]o_not_disturb, [n]ot_available, [a]way, [_]offline).
For example "ofdna" to display only connected buddies.
hide_offline
Hide offline buddies (same as /roster display ofdna)
show_offline
Show offline buddies (same as /roster display ofdna_)
toggle_offline
Toggle display of offline buddies
item_lock [jid]
Lock the roster item so it remains visible regardless of its status
item_unlock [jid]
Undo the effects of item_lock
item_toggle_lock [jid]
Invert the current lock flag
hide
Hide roster (full-width chat window)
show
Show roster
toggle
Toggle roster visibility
note [-|text]
Set/update/delete an annotation. If there is no text, the current item’s annotation is displayed
— if you are in the status buffer, all notes are displayed. If text is "-", the note is erased.
/say [-n|-h|--] text
Send the "text" message to the currently selected buddy. It can be useful if you want to send a
message beginning with a slash, for example.
The "-n" flag turns the message to "normal" type, "-h" to "headline". "--" can be used to send chat
message beginning with -n or -h.
/say_to [-n|-h] [-q] [-f file] jid text
Send the "text" message to the specified jid.
Please note that this command doesn’t set the default resource for a contact, so if you want to send
several messages to a specific resource you will have to use "/say_to" for each message.
You can send a message to a specific resource of the currently selected contact by using /say_to
./resourcename message.
The "-n" flag turns the message to "normal" type, "-h" to "headline". "--" can be used to send chat
messages beginning with -n or -h.
When "-q" is used, the message will be sent in the background and will not change the current active
window.
A text file can be provided with the "-f" switch (in which case there’s no need to pass a text
argument after the jid, of course).
/screen_refresh
Refresh the mcabber screen.
/set [option [= value]]
Display or set an option value.
Without arguments prints a list of all set options with their values
/source pattern
Read configuration files, that match glob pattern (sorted in alphabetical order).
/status [online|avail|free|dnd|notavail|away [-|statusmessage]], /status message -|statusmessage
Show or set the current status.
If no status is specified, display the current status.
If a status message is specified, it will override the message* variables (these variables can be set
in the configuration file).
If no relevant message* variable is set and no status message provided, the current status message is
kept.
If StatusMessage is "-", the current status message is cleared.
With the "/status message" command, mcabber will update the message while preserving the status.
/status_to jid online|avail|free|dnd|notavail|away [statusmessage], /status_to jid message statusmessage
Send the requested status to the specified Jabber user.
If the specified jid is ".", the current buddy is used.
Note: this status will be overridden by subsequent "/status" commands. If you are using the auto-away
feature, the status will overridden too.
Note: The jid can include a resource (i.e. user@server/resource).
/version
Display current version of mcabber.
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