WeeChat user’s guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
- 1.1. Features
- 1.2. Prerequisites
2. Installation
3. Usage
4. Plugins
5. Support

This manual documents WeeChat chat client, it is part of WeeChat.

Latest version of this document can be found on this page: https://weechat.org/doc

1. Introduction

WeeChat (Wee Enhanced Environment for Chat) is a free chat client, fast and light, designed for many operating systems.

1.1. Features

Main features are:

multi-protocols (mainly IRC)
multi-servers connection (with SSL, IPv6, proxy)
small, fast and light
customizable and extensible with plugins and scripts
compliant with IRC RFCs 1459, 2810, 2811, 2812 and 2813
IRC proxy and relay for remote interfaces
multi-platform (GNU/Linux, *BSD, MacOS X, Windows and other)
100% GPL, free software

WeeChat homepage is here: https://weechat.org/

1.2. Prerequisites

In order to install WeeChat, you need:

a running GNU/Linux system (with compiler tools for source package), or a compatible OS
root privileges (to install WeeChat in a system directory)
some libraries (see dependencies)

2. Installation

2.1. Binary packages

Binary packages are available for many distributions, including:

Arch Linux: pacman -S weechat
Cygwin (Windows): select WeeChat packages in setup.exe
Debian/Ubuntu (or any Debian compatible distribution): apt-get install weechat-curses weechat-plugins
Fedora Core: dnf install weechat
Gentoo: emerge weechat
Mandriva/RedHat (or any RPM compatible distribution): rpm -i /path/to/weechat-x.y.z-1.i386.rpm
openSUSE: zypper in weechat
Sourcemage: cast weechat

Some additional packages may be useful, like weechat-plugins.

For other distributions, please look at your manual for installation instructions.

2.2. Source package

WeeChat can be compiled with cmake or autotools (cmake is recommended way).

Note	On OS X, you can use Homebrew: `brew install weechat --with-python --with-perl` (for help: `brew info weechat`).

2.2.1. Dependencies

Following table shows list of packages that are required or optional to compile WeeChat.

Package ⁽¹⁾	Version	Required	Feature
C compiler (gcc, clang, …)		yes	Build.
C++ compiler			Build and run tests, JavaScript plugin.
cmake		yes	Build (autotools still possible, but cmake is recommended).
pkg-config		yes	Detect installed libraries.
libncursesw5-dev ⁽²⁾		yes	Ncurses interface.
libcurl4-gnutls-dev		yes	URL transfer.
zlib1g-dev		yes	Compression of packets in relay plugin (weechat protocol), script plugin.
libgcrypt20-dev		yes	Secured data, IRC SASL authentication (DH-BLOWFISH/DH-AES), script plugin.
libgnutls28-dev	≥ 2.2.0 ⁽³⁾		SSL connection to IRC server, support of SSL in relay plugin, IRC SASL authentication (ECDSA-NIST256P-CHALLENGE).
gettext			Internationalization (translation of messages; base language is English).
ca-certificates			Certificates for SSL connections.
libaspell-dev ∥ libenchant-dev			Aspell plugin.
python-dev	≥ 2.6 ⁽⁴⁾		Python plugin.
libperl-dev			Perl plugin.
ruby2.5, ruby2.5-dev	≥ 1.8		Ruby plugin.
liblua5.3-dev			Lua plugin.
tcl-dev	≥ 8.5		Tcl plugin.
guile-2.0-dev	≥ 2.0		Guile (scheme) plugin.
libv8-dev	≤ 3.24.3		JavaScript plugin.
php-dev, libphp-embed	≥ 7.0		PHP plugin.
libxml2-dev			PHP plugin.
libargon2-0-dev			PHP plugin (if PHP ≥ 7.2).
libsodium-dev			PHP plugin (if PHP ≥ 7.2).
asciidoctor	≥ 1.5.4		Build man page and documentation.
libcpputest-dev	≥ 3.4		Build and run tests.

Note

⁽¹⁾ Name comes from the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, versions and package names may be different in different distributions and versions.
⁽²⁾ It is recommended to compile with libncursesw5-dev (the w is important). WeeChat can compile with libncurses5-dev, but it is NOT recommended: you may experience display bugs with wide chars.
⁽³⁾ Gnutls ≥ 3.0.21 is required for IRC SASL authentication with mechanism ECDSA-NIST256P-CHALLENGE.
⁽⁴⁾ Recommended Python version is 2.7 (all scripts run fine with version 2.7, but not with versions < 2.7 or ≥ 3.0).

If you are using a Debian/Ubuntu based distribution, and if you have some "deb-src" source entries in your file /etc/apt/sources.list, you can install all dependencies with the command:

# apt-get build-dep weechat

2.2.2. Compile with cmake

Installation in system directories (requires root privileges):

$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make
$ sudo make install

Installation in custom directory (for example your home):

$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/to/directory
$ make
$ make install

Options can be used for cmake, with format: "-DOPTION=VALUE".

List of commonly used options:

Option	Values	Default value	Description
`CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE`	`Debug`, `Release`, `RelWithDebInfo`, `MinSizeRel`		The type of build: `Debug` (or `RelWithDebInfo`) is recommended if you are running development version of WeeChat.
`CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`	directory	`/usr/local`	The directory where WeeChat will be installed.
`WEECHAT_HOME`	directory	`~/.weechat`	The default home directory when running WeeChat.
`CA_FILE`	file	`/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt`	File containing the certificate authorities. This is the default value of option weechat.network.gnutls_ca_file.
`ENABLE_ALIAS`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Alias plugin.
`ENABLE_ASPELL`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Aspell plugin.
`ENABLE_BUFLIST`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Buflist plugin.
`ENABLE_CHARSET`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Charset plugin.
`ENABLE_MAN`	`ON`, `OFF`	`OFF`	Compile man page.
`ENABLE_DOC`	`ON`, `OFF`	`OFF`	Compile documentation (it takes a long time, recommended only if you build a binary package embedding documentation or if you can’t browse documentation online).
`ENABLE_ENCHANT`	`ON`, `OFF`	`OFF`	Compile Aspell plugin with Enchant.
`ENABLE_EXEC`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Exec plugin.
`ENABLE_FIFO`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Fifo plugin.
`ENABLE_FSET`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Fset plugin.
`ENABLE_GNUTLS`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Enable Gnutls (for SSL).
`ENABLE_GUILE`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Guile plugin (Scheme).
`ENABLE_IRC`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile IRC plugin.
`ENABLE_JAVASCRIPT`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile JavaScript plugin.
`ENABLE_LARGEFILE`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Support of large files.
`ENABLE_LOGGER`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Logger plugin.
`ENABLE_LUA`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Lua plugin.
`ENABLE_NCURSES`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Ncurses interface.
`ENABLE_NLS`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Enable NLS (translations).
`ENABLE_PERL`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Perl plugin.
`ENABLE_PHP`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile PHP plugin.
`ENABLE_PYTHON`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Python plugin.
`ENABLE_PYTHON3`	`ON`, `OFF`	`OFF`	Compile Python plugin using Python 3 (NOT recommended because many scripts are not compatible with Python 3).
`ENABLE_RELAY`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Relay plugin.
`ENABLE_RUBY`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Ruby plugin.
`ENABLE_SCRIPT`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Script plugin.
`ENABLE_SCRIPTS`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile script plugins (Python, Perl, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, Guile, JavaScript, PHP).
`ENABLE_TCL`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Tcl plugin.
`ENABLE_TRIGGER`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Trigger plugin.
`ENABLE_XFER`	`ON`, `OFF`	`ON`	Compile Xfer plugin.
`ENABLE_TESTS`	`ON`, `OFF`	`OFF`	Compile tests.

The other options can be displayed with this command:

$ cmake -LA

Or with Curses interface:

$ ccmake ..

2.2.3. Compile with autotools

Warning

Only cmake is officially supported to build WeeChat. You should use autotools only if you are not able to use cmake.
Build with autotools requires more dependencies and is slower than with cmake.

Installation in system directories (requires root privileges):

$ ./autogen.sh
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure
$ make
$ sudo make install

Installation in custom directory (for example your home):

$ ./autogen.sh
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --prefix=/path/to/directory
$ make
$ make install

Options can be used for configure script, they can be displayed with this command:

$ ./configure --help

2.2.4. Run tests

Following packages are required to compile tests:

libcpputest-dev
C++ compiler

Tests must be enabled when compiling WeeChat (with cmake):

$ cmake .. -DENABLE_TESTS=ON

They can be launched after compilation from the build directory (with cmake):

$ ctest -V

2.3. Git sources

Warning: git sources are for advanced users: it may not compile or not be stable. You’re warned!

To get git sources, issue this command:

$ git clone https://github.com/weechat/weechat.git

Then follow instructions for source package (see source package).

2.4. Report crashes

If you experienced crashes, or if you want to report any future WeeChat crash, you have to:

Compile it with debug info (or install binary package with debug info).
Enable core files on your system.
Install gdb.

2.4.1. Debug info

If you’re compiling with cmake:

$ cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug

If you’re compiling with autotools, debug is default (--with-debug=1).

If you installed a binary package, then install package weechat-dbg.

2.4.2. Core files

To enable core files, you can use option weechat.startup.sys_rlimit:

/set weechat.startup.sys_rlimit "core:-1"

For WeeChat ≤ 0.3.8 or if you want to enable core files even before WeeChat starts, you can use ulimit command.

For example under Linux with bash shell, add this line to your ~/.bashrc:

ulimit -c unlimited

Or max size:

ulimit -c 200000

2.4.3. Get backtrace with gdb

When WeeChat crashes, your system will create a file core or core.12345 (12345 is process id) if the option is enabled. This file is created in directory where you have run WeeChat (this is not directory where WeeChat is installed!).

For example if weechat is installed in /usr/bin/ and core file is in /home/xxx/, then run gdb with this command:

gdb /usr/bin/weechat /home/xxx/core

Then under gdb, use command bt full to display backtrace. You will see something like that:

(gdb) set logging file /tmp/crash.txt
(gdb) set logging on
Copying output to /tmp/crash.txt.
(gdb) bt full
#0  0x00007f9dfb04a465 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1  0x00007f9dfb04b8e6 in abort () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x0000000000437f66 in weechat_shutdown (return_code=1, crash=1)
    at /some_path/src/core/weechat.c:351
#3  <signal handler called>
#4  0x000000000044cb24 in hook_process_timer_cb (arg_hook_process=0x254eb90,
    remaining_calls=<value optimized out>) at /some_path/src/core/wee-hook.c:1364
        hook_process = 0x254eb90
        status = <value optimized out>
#5  0x000000000044cc7d in hook_timer_exec ()
    at /some_path/src/core/wee-hook.c:1025
        tv_time = {tv_sec = 1272693881, tv_usec = 212665}
        ptr_hook = 0x2811f40
        next_hook = 0x0
#6  0x000000000041b5b0 in gui_main_loop ()
    at /some_path/src/gui/curses/gui-curses-main.c:319
        hook_fd_keyboard = 0x173b600
        tv_timeout = {tv_sec = 0, tv_usec = 0}
        read_fds = {fds_bits = {0 <repeats 16 times>}}
        write_fds = {fds_bits = {0 <repeats 16 times>}}
        except_fds = {fds_bits = {0 <repeats 16 times>}}
        max_fd = <value optimized out>

You must report this trace to developers, and tell them what action caused this crash.

Thank you for your help!

2.4.4. Debug a running WeeChat

To debug a running WeeChat (for example if WeeChat seems blocked), you can use gdb with process id (replace 12345 with PID of weechat process):

gdb /usr/bin/weechat 12345

Then like for a crash, use command bt full:

(gdb) bt full

3. Usage

3.1. Running WeeChat

To start WeeChat, issue this command:

$ weechat

Command line arguments:

cmdline_options.en.adoc

When you run WeeChat for the first time, the default configuration files are created in ~/.weechat with default options and values (see Files and directories).

3.2. Environment variables

Some environment variables are used by WeeChat if they are defined:

Name	Description
`WEECHAT_HOME`	The WeeChat home (with configuration files, logs, scripts, …).
`WEECHAT_PASSPHRASE`	The passphrase used to decrypt secured data.
`WEECHAT_EXTRA_LIBDIR`	An extra directory to load plugins (from the "plugins" directory in this path).

3.3. Files and directories

WeeChat writes configuration files and other data in directory ~/.weechat by default.

The directories are:

Path/file	Description
`~/.weechat/`	WeeChat home directory (can be changed, see Running WeeChat).
`logs/`	Log files (one file per buffer).
`python/`	Python scripts.
`autoload/`	Python scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`perl/`	Perl scripts.
`autoload/`	Perl scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`ruby/`	Ruby scripts.
`autoload/`	Ruby scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`lua/`	Lua scripts.
`autoload/`	Lua scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`tcl/`	Tcl scripts.
`autoload/`	Tcl scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`guile/`	Guile scripts.
`autoload/`	Guile scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`javascript/`	JavaScript scripts.
`autoload/`	JavaScript scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.
`php/`	PHP scripts.
`autoload/`	PHP scripts auto-loaded on startup ⁽¹⁾.

Note	⁽¹⁾ This directory often contains only symbolic links to scripts in parent directory.

The files in the WeeChat home directory are:

File	Description	Sensitive data
`weechat.conf`	Main WeeChat configuration file	Possible (example: list of channels in a saved buffers layout).
`sec.conf`	Configuration file with secured data	Yes, highly sensitive: this file must never be shared with anyone.
`plugins.conf`	Plugins configuration file	Possible, depends on plugins/scripts.
`alias.conf`	Configuration file for alias plugin	Possible, depends on aliases.
`aspell.conf`	Configuration file for aspell plugin	No.
`buflist.conf`	Configuration file for buflist plugin	No.
`charset.conf`	Configuration file for charset plugin	No.
`exec.conf`	Configuration file for exec plugin	No.
`fifo.conf`	Configuration file for fifo plugin	No.
`fset.conf`	Configuration file for fset plugin	No.
`guile.conf`	Configuration file for guile plugin	No.
`irc.conf`	Configuration file for irc plugin	Yes: it can contain passwords for servers, nickserv and channels (if not stored in `sec.conf`).
`javascript.conf`	Configuration file for javascript plugin	No.
`logger.conf`	Configuration file for logger plugin	No.
`lua.conf`	Configuration file for lua plugin	No.
`perl.conf`	Configuration file for perl plugin	No.
`php.conf`	Configuration file for php plugin	No.
`python.conf`	Configuration file for python plugin	No.
`relay.conf`	Configuration file for relay plugin	No.
`ruby.conf`	Configuration file for ruby plugin	No.
`script.conf`	Configuration file for script plugin	No.
`tcl.conf`	Configuration file for tcl plugin	No.
`trigger.conf`	Configuration file for trigger plugin	Possible, depends on triggers.
`xfer.conf`	Configuration file for xfer plugin	No.
`weechat.log`	WeeChat log file	No.

Important

It is not recommended to edit configuration files by hand because WeeChat may write them at any time (for example on /quit) and after any change you must run the command /reload (with the risk of losing other changes that were not yet saved with /save).
You can use the command /set, which checks the value and applies immediately the changes.

3.4. Screen layout

Example of terminal with WeeChat:

 ▼ bar "buflist"   ▼ bar "title"
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│1.freenode│Welcome to #test, this is a test channel                                   │
│  weechat │12:52:27   --> | Flashy (flashcode@weechat.org) has joined #test   │@Flashy│
│2.  #test │12:52:27    -- | Nicks #test: [@Flashy @joe +weebot peter]         │@joe   │
│3.  #abc  │12:52:27    -- | Channel #test: 4 nicks (2 ops, 1 voice, 1 normal) │+weebot│
│4.  #def  │12:52:27    -- | Channel created on Tue Jan 27 06:30:17 2009       │peter  │
│5.  #ghi  │12:54:15 peter | hey!                                              │       │
│          │12:55:01  @joe | hello                                             │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 2:#test(+n){4}* [Act: 3:#abc(2,5), 5]           │
│          │[@Flashy(i)] hi peter!█                                                    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
            ▲ bars "status" and "input"                               bar "nicklist" ▲

Screen is composed by following areas:

chat area (middle of screen) with chat lines, and for each line:
- time
- prefix (before "|")
- message (after "|")
bars around chat area, default bars are:
- buflist bar, on the left
- title bar, above chat area
- status bar, below chat area
- input bar, below status bar
- nicklist bar, on the right

Bar buflist has following default items:

Item	Example	Description
buflist	`1.weechat`	List of buffers.

Bar title has following default items:

Item	Example	Description
buffer_title	`Welcome to #test`	Buffer title.

Bar status has following default items:

Item	Example	Description
time	`[12:55]`	Time.
buffer_last_number	`[5]`	Number of last buffer in list.
buffer_plugin	`[irc/freenode]`	Plugin of current buffer (irc plugin can add IRC server name used by buffer).
buffer_number	`2`	Current buffer number.
buffer_name	`#test`	Current buffer name.
buffer_modes	`+n`	IRC channel modes.
buffer_nicklist_count	`{4}`	Number of nicks in nicklist.
buffer_zoom	!	`!` means the merged buffer is zoomed (only this one is displayed), empty value means all merged buffers are displayed.
buffer_filter	`*`	Filtering indicator: `*` means some lines are filtered (hidden), empty value means all lines are displayed.
scroll	`-MORE(50)-`	Scroll indicator, with number of lines below last line displayed.
lag	`[Lag: 2.5]`	Lag indicator, in seconds (hidden if lag is low).
hotlist	`[Act: 3:#abc(2,5), 5]`	List of buffers with activity (unread messages) (in example, 2 highlights and 5 unread messages on #abc, one unread message on buffer #5).
completion	`abc(2) def(5)`	List of words for completion, with number of possible completions for each word.

Bar input has following default items:

Item	Example	Description
input_prompt	`[@Flashy(i)]`	Input prompt, for irc: nick and modes (mode "+i" means invisible on freenode).
away	`(away)`	Away indicator.
input_search	`[Search (~ str,msg)]`	Search indicator (“~”: case insensitive, “==”: case sensitive, “str”: search string, “regex”: search regular expression, “msg”: search in messages, “pre”: search in prefixes, “pre\|msg”: search in prefixes and messages).
input_paste	`[Paste 7 lines ? [ctrl-Y] Yes [ctrl-N] No]`	Question to user for pasting lines.
input_text	`hi peter!`	Input text.

Bar nicklist has following default items:

Item	Example	Description
buffer_nicklist	`@Flashy`	List of nicks on current buffer.

Other items available (not used in bars by default):

Item	Example	Description
aspell_dict	`fr,en`	Spelling dictionaries used on current buffer.
aspell_suggest	`print,prone,prune`	Spelling suggestions for word under cursor (if misspelled).
buffer_count	`10`	Total number of buffers opened.
buffer_short_name	`#test`	Current buffer short name.
irc_channel	`#test`	Current IRC channel name.
irc_nick_modes	`@`	IRC modes for self nick.
mouse_status	`M`	Mouse status (empty if mouse is disabled).
window_number	`2`	Current window number.

3.5. Command line

WeeChat command line (at the bottom of window) lets you execute commands or send text to buffer.

3.5.1. Syntax

Commands begin with "/" char, followed by name of command. For example, to see list of all options:

/set

Text sent to a buffer is any text that does not begin with "/" char. For example, to send text hello on current buffer:

hello

However, it is possible to start with "/" char, by adding another. For example, to send text /set on current buffer:

//set

3.5.2. Color codes

For some plugins like IRC, you can use color codes and attributes, as follow (press kbd:[Ctrl+c] then following letter, with optional value):

Key	Description
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[b]	Bold text.
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[c], kbd:[xx]	Text color `xx` (see list of colors below).
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[c], kbd:[xx], kbd:[,], kbd:[yy]	Text color `xx` and background `yy` (see list of colors below).
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[i]	Italic text.
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[o]	Disable color and attributes.
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[v]	Reverse video (revert text color with background).
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[_]	Underlined text.

Note	The same code (without number for kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[c]) can be used to stop the attribute.

Color codes for kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[c] are:

autogen/user/irc_colors.adoc

Note	To show all available colors in your terminal, you can do `/color` then kbd:[Alt+c] in WeeChat or run this command in terminal: `weechat --colors`.

Example: display of "hello everybody!" with "hello" in light blue bold and "everybody" in light red underlined:

^Cc12^Cbhello ^Cb^Cc04^C_everybody^C_^Cc!

Note	In irc plugin, you can remap these colors using option irc.color.mirc_remap.

3.6. Colors

WeeChat can use up to 256 color pairs to display text in bars and chat area (your terminal must support 256 colors to use them in WeeChat).

According to value of TERM environment variable, you may have following limits for colors in WeeChat:

$TERM	Colors	Pairs
"rxvt-unicode", "xterm", …	88	256
"rxvt-256color", "xterm-256color", …	256	256
"screen"	8	64
"screen-256color"	256	256
"tmux"	8	64
"tmux-256color"	256	256

You can run weechat --colors or use command /color in WeeChat to display limits for your environment.

Some recommended values for TERM if you want 256 colors:

under screen: screen-256color
under tmux: screen-256color or tmux-256color
outside screen/tmux: xterm-256color, rxvt-256color, putty-256color, …

Note	You may have to install package "ncurses-term" to use these values in TERM variable.

If you are using screen, you can add this line to your ~/.screenrc:

term screen-256color

If your TERM variable has wrong value and that WeeChat is already running, you can change it with these two commands:

/set env TERM screen-256color
/upgrade

3.6.1. Basic colors

Basic colors in WeeChat are:

Name	Color
`default`	Default terminal color (transparent for background)
`black`	Black
`darkgray`	Dark gray
`red`	Dark red
`lightred`	Light red
`green`	Dark green
`lightgreen`	Light green
`brown`	Brown
`yellow`	Yellow
`blue`	Dark blue
`lightblue`	Light blue
`magenta`	Dark magenta
`lightmagenta`	Light magenta
`cyan`	Dark cyan
`lightcyan`	Light cyan
`gray`	Gray
`white`	White

3.6.2. Extended colors

WeeChat dynamically allocates color pairs when colors are used on screen (to display buffers and bars).

In addition to basic colors, you can use a color number between 1 and the limit of your terminal.

Use command /color to see current colors and limits. With kbd:[Alt+c] you can temporarily switch to terminal colors to choose a color.

For example if you want to display time in orange in buffer, do:

/set weechat.color.chat_time 214

Or if you want a very dark green background for status bar:

/set weechat.bar.status.color_bg 22

3.6.3. Aliases

You can add color aliases with command /color alias and then use this alias in any color option.

For example:

/color alias 214 orange
/set weechat.color.chat_delimiters orange

3.6.4. Attributes

It is possible to use some attributes for colors. One or more attributes can be added before color name or number:

* : bold text
! : reverse video
/ : italic
_ : underlined text
| : keep attributes: do not reset bold/reverse/italic/underlined when changing color

For example if you want self nick as white underlined, do:

/set weechat.color.chat_nick_self _white

Or if you want time in status bar as orange underlined with bold:

/set weechat.color.status_time *_214

To use an attribute with default terminal color (-1), you must use a number greater than last terminal color, for example max color in WeeChat: 99999.

Example of bold with terminal foreground color:

/set weechat.color.status_time *99999

3.7. Buffers and windows

A buffer is composed by a number, a name, lines displayed (and some other data).

Examples of buffers:

core buffer (created by WeeChat on startup, can not be closed)
irc server (displays messages from server)
irc channel
irc private messages

A window is a screen area which displays a buffer. It is possible to split your screen into many windows.

Each window displays one buffer. A buffer can be hidden (not displayed by a window) or displayed by one or more windows.

Example of horizontal split (/window splith):

                               ▼ window #2 (buffer #4)
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│1.freenode│Welcome to #def                                                            │
│  weechat │12:55:12     Max | hi                                              │@Flashy│
│2.  #test │12:55:20 @Flashy | hi Max!                                         │Max    │
│3.  #abc  │                                                                   │       │
│4.  #def  │                                                                   │       │
│5.  #ghi  │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 4:#def(+n){2}                                   │
│          │[@Flashy]                                                                  │
│          │───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│          │Welcome to #abc                                                            │
│          │12:54:15 peter | hey!                                              │@Flashy│
│          │12:55:01  @joe | hello                                             │@joe   │
│          │                                                                   │+weebot│
│          │                                                                   │peter  │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 3:#abc(+n){4}                                   │
│          │[@Flashy] hi peter!█                                                       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                               ▲ window #1 (buffer #3)

Example of vertical split (/window splitv):

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│1.freenode│Welcome to #abc                      │Welcome to #def                      │
│  weechat │12:54:15 peter | hey!        │@Flashy│12:55:12     Max | hi        │@Flashy│
│2.  #test │12:55:01  @joe | hello       │@joe   │12:55:20 @Flashy | hi Max!   │Max    │
│3.  #abc  │                             │+weebot│                             │       │
│4.  #def  │                             │peter  │                             │       │
│5.  #ghi  │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 3:#abc(+n)│[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 4:#def(+n)│
│          │[@Flashy] hi peter!█                 │[@Flashy]                            │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 ▲ window #1 (buffer #3)               ▲ window #2 (buffer #4)

Example of vertical + horizontal splits:

                                                       ▼ window #3 (buffer #5)
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│1.freenode│Welcome to #abc                      │Welcome to #ghi                      │
│  weechat │12:54:15 peter | hey!        │@Flashy│12:55:42 @Flashy | hi        │@Flashy│
│2.  #test │12:55:01  @joe | hello       │@joe   │12:55:56    alex | hi Flashy │alex   │
│3.  #abc  │                             │+weebot│                             │       │
│4.  #def  │                             │peter  │                             │       │
│5.  #ghi  │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 5:#ghi(+n)│
│          │                             │       │[@Flashy]                            │
│          │                             │       │─────────────────────────────────────│
│          │                             │       │Welcome to #def                      │
│          │                             │       │12:55:12     Max | hi        │@Flashy│
│          │                             │       │12:55:20 @Flashy | hi Max!   │Max    │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │                             │       │                             │       │
│          │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 3:#abc(+n)│[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 4:#def(+n)│
│          │[@Flashy] hi peter!█                 │[@Flashy]                            │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 ▲ window #1 (buffer #3)               ▲ window #2 (buffer #4)

3.8. Buffers lines

3.8.1. Format of lines

Lines displayed in formatted buffers have following fields:

Field	Displayed	Description
date/time (message)	Yes	Date/time of message (may be past).
date/time (print)	No	Date/time when WeeChat prints the message.
prefix	Yes	Prefix of message, commonly a nick.
message	Yes	The message itself.
displayed	No	Boolean: true if line is displayed, false if line is filtered with command /filter.
highlight	No	Boolean: true if line has a highlight, false otherwise.
tags	With `/debug tags`	Tags associated with the line (see lines tags).

The display of lines can be customized with many look options (weechat.look.*) and color options (weechat.color.chat_*).

3.8.2. Lines tags

WeeChat uses tags in lines for different purposes:

highlight
notify level
logging
use of command /filter

Tags can be displayed with the command /debug tags (same command to hide them).

Tags commonly used (non-exhaustive list):

Tag	Description
`no_filter`	Line can not be filtered.
`no_highlight`	No highlight is possible on line.
`no_log`	Line is not written in log file.
`log0 … log9`	Level of log for line (see `/help logger`).
`notify_none`	Buffer with line is not added to hotlist.
`notify_message`	Buffer with line is added to hotlist with level "message".
`notify_private`	Buffer with line is added to hotlist with level "private".
`notify_highlight`	Buffer with line is added to hotlist with level "highlight".
`self_msg`	Self message.
`nick_xxx`	Message is from nick "xxx".
`prefix_nick_ccc`	Prefix is a nick with color "ccc".
`host_xxx`	Username and host in message.
`irc_xxx`	IRC message "xxx" (can be a command or a 3-digits number).
`irc_numeric`	IRC numeric message.
`irc_error`	Error from IRC server.
`irc_action`	Action from a nick (command `/me`).
`irc_ctcp`	CTCP message.
`irc_ctcp_reply`	Reply to CTCP message.
`irc_smart_filter`	IRC message that can be filtered with the "smart filter".
`away_info`	Message with away info.

3.9. Bars

A bar is an area beside the chat that can contain any type of text.

The bar options can be set with options weechat.bar.name.option where name is the name of the bar and option the option for this bar.

List of bar options:

Option	Values	Description
`type`	`root`, `window`	A bar with type `root` is displayed exactly one time on screen, outside all windows. The default bar buflist has type `root`. A bar with type `window` is displayed in each window, for example if you split one time the screen (with `/window splith` or `/window splitv`), you will have one bar in each window. The default bars title, status, input and nicklist have type `window`.
`position`	`top`, `bottom`, `left`, `right`	Position of the bar: above/below chat, on the left/right.
`priority`	integer ≥ 0	Priority for display of bar: this is used for ordering the bars on screen when many bars have same type and position. The bars are displayed from the edge of the screen to the center. A higher priority will display bar at the beginning, so closer to the edge. Example: input bar has priority 1000, so it is displayed before the status bar, which has priority 500.
`size`	integer ≥ 0	The size of the bar: number of columns for position left/right, number of lines for position top/bottom. A size of `0` means automatic, so the size will be computed according to content displayed in bar.
`size_max`	integer ≥ 0	The maximum size for a bar, `0` = no limit (this option is used only if `size` = `0`).
`color_bg`	color	The default background color for the bar.
`color_fg`	color	The default text color for the bar.
`color_delim`	color	The color for delimiters in bar.
`hidden`	`on`, `off`	When option is `on`, the bar is hidden. Note: instead of changing this option, the command `/bar` is preferred, for example: `/bar toggle nicklist` (see command /bar).
`separator`	`on`, `off`	When option is `on`, a separator (line) is displayed between this bar and other bars (or chat).
`items`	string	A list of items (see items for more info).
`filling_left_right`	`horizontal`, `vertical`, `columns_horizontal`, `columns_vertical`	Type of filling for a bar which has position `left` or `right` (see filling for more info).
`filling_top_bottom`	`horizontal`, `vertical`, `columns_horizontal`, `columns_vertical`	Type of filling for a bar which has position `top` or `bottom` (see filling for more info).
`conditions`	string	The conditions to display the bar (see conditions for more info).

3.9.1. Items

The option items is a string with a list of bar items, separated by a comma (space between items on screen) or "+" (glued items).

The list of bar items is displayed with command /bar listitems.

Before or after item name, you can use chars (that are not alphanumeric, "-" or ""). They will be displayed before/after item with the delimiters color defined in bar (option _color_delim).

Example of bar with items "[time],buffer_number+:+buffer_plugin+.+buffer_name":

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│[12:55] 3:irc/freenode.#weechat                                            │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

A special syntax can be used to force the buffer used when displaying the bar item: "@buffer:item" (where "buffer" is the full name of buffer and "item" is the name of a bar item).

This is useful in root bars, to display item for a specific buffer which is not displayed in the current window (or even not displayed at all).

Example: nicklist of bitlbee in a root bar (if the bar is called bitlist and if bitlbee server is called bitlbee):

/set weechat.bar.bitlist.items "@irc.bitlbee.&bitlbee:buffer_nicklist"

3.9.2. Filling

There are four types of filling:

horizontal: the items are displayed horizontally, from left to right. If there are new lines in items, a space is used to separate lines.
vertical: the items are displayed from top to bottom. If there are new lines in items, a new line is used to separate lines.
columns_horizontal: items are displayed using columns, where text is aligned on the left. The first item is on top left, the second is on same line, on the right.
columns_vertical: items are displayed using columns, where text is aligned on the left. The first item is on top left, the second is one line below.

Default bars title, status and input have horizontal filling, and default bar nicklist has vertical filling.

Some examples of filling for bar nicklist:

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Welcome to #test, this is a test channel                               │
│12:54:15 peter | hey!                                         │@carl   │
│12:55:01  +Max | hello                                        │@jessika│
│                                                              │@maddy  │
│                                                              │%Diego  │
│                                                              │%Melody │
│                                                              │+Max    │
│                                                              │ celia  │
│                                                              │ Eva    │
│                                                              │ freddy │
│                                                              │ Harold^│
│                                                              │ henry4 │
│                                                              │ jimmy17│
│                                                              │ jodie ▼│
│[12:55] [6] [irc/freenode] 3:#test(+n){24}                             │
│[@carl] █                                                              │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                     filling_left_right = vertical ▲

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Welcome to #test, this is a test channel                               │
│12:54:15 peter | hey!                                │@carl     lee    │
│12:55:01  +Max | hello                               │@jessika  louise │
│                                                     │@maddy    mario  │
│                                                     │%Diego    mark   │
│                                                     │%Melody   peter  │
│                                                     │+Max      Rachel │
│                                                     │ celia    richard│
│                                                     │ Eva      sheryl │
│                                                     │ freddy   Vince  │
│                                                     │ Harold^  warren │
│                                                     │ henry4   zack   │
│                                                     │ jimmy17         │
│                                                     │ jodie           │
│[12:55] [6] [irc/freenode] 3:#test(+n){24}                             │
│[@carl] █                                                              │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                             filling_left_right = columns_vertical ▲

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│@carl    %Diego    celia    Harold^  jodie    mario    Rachel   Vince  │
│@jessika %Melody   Eva      henry4   lee      mark     richard  warren │
│@maddy   +Max      freddy   jimmy17  louise   peter    sheryl   zack   │
│───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                                                       │
        filling_top_bottom = columns_vertical ▲

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│@carl    @jessika @maddy   %Diego   %Melody  +Max      celia    Eva    │
│ freddy   Harold^  henry4   jimmy17  jodie    lee      louise   mario  │
│ mark     peter    Rachel   richard  sheryl   Vince    warren   zack   │
│───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                                                       │
      filling_top_bottom = columns_horizontal ▲

3.9.3. Conditions

The option conditions is a string which is evaluated to know if the bar must be displayed or not.

The string can be:

active: the window must be active
inactive: the window must be inactive
nicklist: the buffer displayed in window must have a nicklist
an expression: it is evaluated as boolean (see command /eval)

For the expression, following variables are available:

${active}: true if window is active
${inactive}: true if window is inactive
${nicklist}: true if buffer displayed in window has a nicklist

Following pointers are available:

${window}: the window where condition is evaluated
${buffer}: the buffer of window where condition is evaluated

Example to display nicklist bar in all buffers with a nicklist, and only if width of window is > 100 :

/set weechat.bar.nicklist.conditions "${nicklist} && ${window.win_width} > 100"

Same condition, but always display nicklist on buffer &bitlbee (even if window is small):

/set weechat.bar.nicklist.conditions "${nicklist} && (${window.win_width} > 100 || ${buffer.full_name} == irc.bitlbee.&bitlbee)"

3.10. Bare display

A special display, called "bare display" can be used for easy click on long URLs and selection of text (using the mouse).

The bare display has following features:

It displays only the content of current buffer: no window split neither bars (no title, nicklist, status, input, …).
The WeeChat mouse support is disabled (if it was enabled): you can use your mouse like you do in the terminal to click on URLs and select text.
Ncurses is not used, therefore URLs are not cut at the end of lines.

The default key to enabled bare display is kbd:[Alt+l], and same key to exit (or by default anything changing the input will exit the bare display, see option weechat.look.bare_display_exit_on_input).

The time format can be customized with the option weechat.look.bare_display_time_format.

The bare display can be enabled for a specific delay using the command /window.

If WeeChat looks like that:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│1.freenode│Welcome to #abc                                                            │
│  weechat │12:52:27   --> | Flashy (flashcode@weechat.org) has joined #abc    │@Flashy│
│2.  #test │12:52:27    -- | Nicks #abc: [@Flashy @joe +weebot peter]          │@joe   │
│3.  #abc  │12:52:27    -- | Channel #abc: 4 nicks (2 ops, 1 voice, 1 normal)  │+weebot│
│4.  #def  │12:52:27    -- | Channel created on Tue Jan 27 06:30:17 2009       │peter  │
│5.  #ghi  │12:54:15 peter | hey!                                              │       │
│          │12:55:01  @joe | peter: hook_process: https://weechat.org/files/do │       │
│          │               | c/devel/weechat_plugin_api.en.html#_weechat_hook_ │       │
│          │               | process                                           │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │                                                                   │       │
│          │[12:55] [5] [irc/freenode] 3:#abc(+n){4}                                   │
│          │[@Flashy(i)] hi peter!█                                                    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The screen will look like that in bare display:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│                                                                                      │
│12:52 --> Flashy (flashcode@weechat.org) has joined #abc                              │
│12:52 -- Nicks #abc: [@Flashy @joe +weebot peter]                                     │
│12:52 -- Channel #abc: 4 nicks (2 ops, 1 voice, 1 normal)                             │
│12:52 -- Channel created on Tue Jan 27 06:30:17 2009                                  │
│12:54 <peter> hey!                                                                    │
│12:55 <@joe> peter: hook_process: https://weechat.org/files/doc/devel/weechat_plugin_a│
│pi.en.html#_weechat_hook_process                                                      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

So you can click the URL from joe without any problem in your terminal (of course this supposes that your terminal supports click on URLs).

3.11. Notify levels

3.11.1. Setup notify levels

Four levels are possible in messages displayed in buffers, from lower to higher:

low: message with low importance (for example irc join/part/quit)
message: message from a user
private: message in a private buffer
highlight: message with highlight

Each buffer has a notify level, which is used to decide what messages will add buffer in hotlist.

The default notify level can be set using option weechat.look.buffer_notify_default, default is all.

Notify level	Level of messages added to hotlist
`none`	(none)
`highlight`	highlight + private
`message`	highlight + private + message
`all`	highlight + private + message + low

Notify level can be defined for a set of buffers, for example all buffers of irc server "freenode":

/set weechat.notify.irc.freenode message

Set notify level highlight on channel "#weechat" only:

/set weechat.notify.irc.freenode.#weechat highlight

The notify level for a buffer can be set with command /buffer:

/buffer notify highlight

3.11.2. Max hotlist level for nicks

It is possible to set max hotlist level for some nicks, per buffer, or per group of buffers (like IRC servers).

The buffer property "hotlist_max_level_nicks" can be set with a list of nicks and for each nick the max hotlist level to trigger, possible levels are:

-1: no hotlist changes for nick
0: low priority (like join/part messages)
1: message
2: private message
3: highlight (in fact useless, since it’s already the default max for all messages)

For example to disable highlights from "joe" and "mike" on current buffer:

/buffer set hotlist_max_level_nicks_add joe:2,mike:2

Note	The buffer property "hotlist_max_level_nicks" is not saved in configuration. You can easily save it with the script buffer_autoset.py: you can install it with `/script install buffer_autoset.py` and get help with `/help buffer_autoset`.

3.12. Highlights

3.12.1. Add words to highlight

By default, WeeChat highlights messages from other users containing your nick, therefore the highlight depends on the buffer (the nick can be different from one buffer to another).

You can add other words to highlight with the option weechat.look.highlight, for example to highlight your nick and "word1", "word2" and all words beginning with "test":

/set weechat.look.highlight word1,word2,test*

If you need a more specific rule for the word, you can use regular expressions with the option weechat.look.highlight_regex, for example to highlight words "flashcode", "flashcöde" and "flashy":

/set weechat.look.highlight_regex flashc[oö]de|flashy

The delimiters around words to highlight can be customized with the option weechat.look.word_chars_highlight.

3.12.2. Add tags to highlight

Lines displayed can contain "tags", which give some info about the origin of message or the message itself.
You can display tags with the command /debug tags (same command to hide them).

You can add specific tags to highlight with the option weechat.look.highlight_tags. Tags are separated by commas, and multiple tags can be separated by "+" to do a logical "and" between them.

For example to highlight all messages from nick "FlashCode" and all notices from nicks beginning with "toto":

/set weechat.look.highlight_tags "nick_flashcode,irc_notice+nick_toto*"

3.12.3. Set extra highlights on buffer

You can force highlight using a regular expression with the buffer property "highlight_regex".

For example to force the highlight on all messages in the current buffer:

/buffer set highlight_regex .*

Note	The buffer property "highlight_regex" is not saved in configuration. You can easily save it with the script buffer_autoset.py: you can install it with `/script install buffer_autoset.py` and get help with `/help buffer_autoset`.

3.13. Default key bindings

3.13.1. Keys for command line

Key	Description	Command
kbd:[←] kbd:[Ctrl+b]	Go to previous char in command line.	`/input move_previous_char`
kbd:[→] kbd:[Ctrl+f]	Go to next char in command line.	`/input move_next_char`
kbd:[Ctrl+←] kbd:[Alt+b]	Go to previous word in command line.	`/input move_previous_word`
kbd:[Ctrl+→] kbd:[Alt+f]	Go to next word in command line.	`/input move_next_word`
kbd:[Home] kbd:[Ctrl+a]	Go to the beginning of command line.	`/input move_beginning_of_line`
kbd:[End] kbd:[Ctrl+e]	Go to the end of command line.	`/input move_end_of_line`
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[b]	Insert code for bold text.	`/input insert \x02`
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[c]	Insert code for colored text.	`/input insert \x03`
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[i]	Insert code for italic text.	`/input insert \x1D`
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[o]	Insert code for color reset.	`/input insert \x0F`
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[v]	Insert code for reverse color.	`/input insert \x16`
kbd:[Ctrl+c], kbd:[_]	Insert code for underlined text.	`/input insert \x1F`
kbd:[Del] kbd:[Ctrl+d]	Delete next char in command line.	`/input delete_next_char`
kbd:[Backsp.] kbd:[Ctrl+h]	Delete previous char in command line.	`/input delete_previous_char`
kbd:[Ctrl+k]	Delete from cursor until end of command line (deleted string is copied to the internal clipboard).	`/input delete_end_of_line`
kbd:[Ctrl+r]	Search for text in buffer history (see keys for search context).	`/input search_text_here`
kbd:[Ctrl+t]	Transpose chars.	`/input transpose_chars`
kbd:[Ctrl+u]	Delete from cursor until beginning of command line (deleted string is copied to the internal clipboard).	`/input delete_beginning_of_line`
kbd:[Ctrl+w]	Delete previous word of command line (deleted string is copied to the internal clipboard).	`/input delete_previous_word`
kbd:[Ctrl+y]	Paste the internal clipboard content.	`/input clipboard_paste`
kbd:[Ctrl+_]	Undo last action on command line.	`/input undo`
kbd:[Alt+_]	Redo last action on command line.	`/input redo`
kbd:[Tab]	Complete command or nick (kbd:[Tab] again: find next completion).	`/input complete_next`
kbd:[Shift+Tab]	Without completion: do a partial completion, with pending completion: complete with previous completion.	`/input complete_previous`
kbd:[Enter] kbd:[Ctrl+j] kbd:[Ctrl+m]	Execute command or send message (in search mode: stop search).	`/input return`
kbd:[↑]	Call previous command/message (in search mode: search up).	`/input history_previous`
kbd:[↓]	Call next command/message (in search mode: search down).	`/input history_next`
kbd:[Ctrl+↑]	Call previous command/message in global history (common for all buffers).	`/input history_global_previous`
kbd:[Ctrl+↓]	Call next command/message in global history (common for all buffers).	`/input history_global_next`
kbd:[Alt+d]	Delete next word in command line (deleted string is copied to the internal clipboard).	`/input delete_next_word`
kbd:[Alt+k]	Grab a key and insert its code (and command bound if key exists) in command line.	`/input grab_key_command`
kbd:[Alt+r]	Delete entire command line.	`/input delete_line`
kbd:[Alt+s]	Toggle aspell.	`/mute aspell toggle`

3.13.2. Keys for buffers / windows

Key	Description	Command
kbd:[Ctrl+l]	Redraw whole window.	`/window refresh`
kbd:[Ctrl+s], kbd:[Ctrl+u]	Set unread marker on all buffers.	`/input set_unread`
kbd:[Ctrl+x]	Switch current buffer if buffers are attached with same number.	`/input switch_active_buffer`
kbd:[Alt+x]	Zoom on merged buffer (kbd:[Alt+x] again: display all merged buffers).	`/input zoom_merged_buffer`
kbd:[PgUp]	Scroll up one page in buffer history.	`/window page_up`
kbd:[PgDn]	Scroll down one page in buffer history.	`/window page_down`
kbd:[Alt+PgUp]	Scroll up a few lines in buffer history.	`/window scroll_up`
kbd:[Alt+PgDn]	Scroll down a few lines in buffer history.	`/window scroll_down`
kbd:[Alt+Home]	Scroll to top of buffer.	`/window scroll_top`
kbd:[Alt+End]	Scroll to bottom of buffer.	`/window scroll_bottom`
kbd:[F1]	Scroll up one page in buflist.	`/bar scroll buflist * -100%`
kbd:[F2]	Scroll down one page in buflist.	`/bar scroll buflist * +100%`
kbd:[Alt+F1]	Go to the beginning of buflist.	`/bar scroll buflist * b`
kbd:[Alt+F2]	Go to the end of buflist.	`/bar scroll buflist * e`
kbd:[Alt+←] kbd:[Alt+↑] kbd:[Ctrl+p] kbd:[F5]	Switch to previous buffer.	`/buffer -1`
kbd:[Alt+→] kbd:[Alt+↓] kbd:[Ctrl+n] kbd:[F6]	Switch to next buffer.	`/buffer +1`
kbd:[F7]	Switch to previous window.	`/window -1`
kbd:[F8]	Switch to next window.	`/window +1`
kbd:[F9]	Scroll buffer’s title on the left.	`/bar scroll title * -30%`
kbd:[F10]	Scroll buffer’s title on the right.	`/bar scroll title * +30%`
kbd:[F11]	Scroll up one page in nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist * -100%`
kbd:[F12]	Scroll down one page in nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist * +100%`
kbd:[Alt+F11]	Go to the beginning of nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist * b`
kbd:[Alt+F12]	Go to the end of nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist * e`
kbd:[Alt+a]	Switch to next buffer with activity (with priority: highlight, message, other).	`/input jump_smart`
kbd:[Alt+h]	Clear hotlist (activity notification on other buffers).	`/input hotlist_clear`
kbd:[Alt+j], kbd:[Alt+f]	Switch to first buffer.	`/buffer -`
kbd:[Alt+j], kbd:[Alt+l]	Switch to last buffer.	`/buffer +`
kbd:[Alt+j], kbd:[Alt+r]	Switch to IRC raw buffer.	`/server raw`
kbd:[Alt+j], kbd:[Alt+s]	Switch to IRC server buffer.	`/server jump`
kbd:[Alt+0…9]	Switch to buffer by number (0 = 10).	`/buffer *N`
kbd:[Alt+j], kbd:[01…99]	Switch to buffer by number.	`/buffer *NN`
kbd:[Alt+l]	Toggle bare display on/off.	`/window bare`
kbd:[Alt+m]	Toggle mouse.	`/mouse toggle`
kbd:[Alt+n]	Scroll to next highlight.	`/window scroll_next_highlight`
kbd:[Alt+p]	Scroll to previous highlight.	`/window scroll_previous_highlight`
kbd:[Alt+u]	Scroll to first unread line in buffer.	`/window scroll_unread`
kbd:[Alt+w], kbd:[Alt+↑]	Switch to window above.	`/window up`
kbd:[Alt+w], kbd:[Alt+↓]	Switch to window below.	`/window down`
kbd:[Alt+w], kbd:[Alt+←]	Switch to window on the left.	`/window left`
kbd:[Alt+w], kbd:[Alt+→]	Switch to window on the right.	`/window right`
kbd:[Alt+w], kbd:[Alt+b]	Balance the sizes of all windows.	`/window balance`
kbd:[Alt+w], kbd:[Alt+s]	Swap buffers of two windows.	`/window swap`
kbd:[Alt+z]	Zoom on current window (kbd:[Alt+z] again: restore initial windows state, before zoom).	`/window zoom`
kbd:[Alt+<]	Switch to previous buffer in list of visited buffers.	`/input jump_previously_visited_buffer`
kbd:[Alt+>]	Switch to next buffer in list of visited buffers.	`/input jump_next_visited_buffer`
kbd:[Alt+/]	Switch to last buffer displayed (before last jump to a buffer).	`/input jump_last_buffer_displayed`
kbd:[Alt+=]	Toggle filters on/off.	`/filter toggle`
kbd:[Alt+-]	Toggle filters on/off in current buffer.	`/filter toggle @`

3.13.3. Keys for "search" context

These keys are used in context "search" (when kbd:[Ctrl+r] is pressed to search text in buffer).

Key	Description	Command
kbd:[Ctrl+r]	Switch search type: string (default), regular expression.	`/input search_switch_regex`
kbd:[Alt+c]	Switch exact case for search.	`/input search_switch_case`
kbd:[Tab]	Switch search in: messages (default), prefixes, prefixes + messages.	`/input search_switch_where`
kbd:[↑]	Search previous line.	`/input search_previous`
kbd:[↓]	Search next line.	`/input search_next`
kbd:[Enter] kbd:[Ctrl+j] kbd:[Ctrl+m]	Stop search at current position.	`/input search_stop_here`
kbd:[Ctrl+q]	Stop search and scroll to bottom of buffer.	`/input search_stop`

3.13.4. Keys for "cursor" context

These keys are used in context "cursor" (free movement of cursor on screen).

Key	Area	Description	Command
kbd:[↑]	-	Move cursor one line up.	`/cursor move up`
kbd:[↓]	-	Move cursor one line down.	`/cursor move down`
kbd:[←]	-	Move cursor one column left.	`/cursor move left`
kbd:[→]	-	Move cursor one column right.	`/cursor move right`
kbd:[Alt+↑]	-	Move cursor one area up.	`/cursor move area_up`
kbd:[Alt+↓]	-	Move cursor one area down.	`/cursor move area_down`
kbd:[Alt+←]	-	Move cursor one area left.	`/cursor move area_left`
kbd:[Alt+→]	-	Move cursor one area right.	`/cursor move area_right`
kbd:[m]	chat	Quote message.	`hsignal:chat_quote_message;/cursor stop`
kbd:[q]	chat	Quote prefix + message.	`hsignal:chat_quote_prefix_message;/cursor stop`
kbd:[Q]	chat	Quote time + prefix + message.	`hsignal:chat_quote_time_prefix_message;/cursor stop`
kbd:[b]	nicklist	Ban nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/ban ${nick}`
kbd:[k]	nicklist	Kick nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/kick ${nick}`
kbd:[K]	nicklist	Kick and ban nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/kickban ${nick}`
kbd:[q]	nicklist	Open query with nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/query ${nick};/cursor stop`
kbd:[w]	nicklist	Do a whois on nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/whois ${nick}`
kbd:[Enter] kbd:[Ctrl+j] kbd:[Ctrl+m]	-	Stop cursor mode	`/cursor stop`

3.13.5. Keys for "mouse" context

These keys are used in context "mouse", namely when a mouse event occurs.

Button ⁽¹⁾	Gesture	Area	Description	Command
◾◽◽	-	chat	Switch to window.	`/window ${_window_number}`
◾◽◽	left	chat	Switch to previous buffer.	`/window ${_window_number};/buffer +1`
◾◽◽	right	chat	Switch to next buffer.	`/window ${_window_number};/buffer +1`
◾◽◽	left (long)	chat	Switch to first buffer.	`/window ${_window_number};/buffer 1`
◾◽◽	right (long)	chat	Switch to last buffer.	`/window ${_window_number};/input jump_last_buffer`
◾◽◽	-	chat (script buffer)	Select line in script buffer.	`/script go ${_chat_line_y}`
◽◽◾	-	chat (script buffer)	Install/remove script.	`/script go ${_chat_line_y};/script installremove -q ${script_name_with_extension}`
⇑	-	chat	Scroll up a few lines in buffer history.	`/window scroll_up -window ${_window_number}`
⇓	-	chat	Scroll down a few lines in buffer history.	`/window scroll_down -window ${_window_number}`
⇑	-	chat (script buffer)	Move 5 lines up in script buffer.	`/script up 5`
⇓	-	chat (script buffer)	Move 5 lines down in script buffer.	`/script down 5`
kbd:[Ctrl+⇑]	-	chat	Scroll horizontally to the left.	`/window scroll_horiz -window ${_window_number} -10%`
kbd:[Ctrl+⇓]	-	chat	Scroll horizontally to the right.	`/window scroll_horiz -window ${_window_number} +10%`
◾◽◽	up / left	buflist	Move buffer to a lower number.	Signal `buflist_mouse`.
◾◽◽	down / right	buflist	Move buffer to a higher number.	Signal `buflist_mouse`.
◾◽◽	-	buflist	Switch to buffer (previously visited buffer if the buffer is the current one).	Signal `buflist_mouse`.
◽◽◾	-	buflist	Switch to next visited buffer if the buffer is the current one.	Signal `buflist_mouse`.
kbd:[Ctrl+⇑]	-	buflist	Switch to previous buffer.	Signal `buflist_mouse`.
kbd:[Ctrl+⇓]	-	buflist	Switch to next buffer.	Signal `buflist_mouse`.
◾◽◽	up	nicklist	Scroll up one page in nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist ${_window_number} -100%`
◾◽◽	down	nicklist	Scroll down one page in nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist ${_window_number} +100%`
◾◽◽	up (long)	nicklist	Go to the beginning of nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist ${_window_number} b`
◾◽◽	down (long)	nicklist	Go to the end of nicklist.	`/bar scroll nicklist ${_window_number} e`
◾◽◽	-	nicklist	Open query with nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/query ${nick}`
◽◽◾	-	nicklist	Do a whois on nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/whois ${nick}`
◾◽◽	left	nicklist	Kick nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/kick ${nick}`
◾◽◽	left (long)	nicklist	Kick and ban nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/kickban ${nick}`
◽◽◾	left	nicklist	Ban nick.	`/window ${_window_number};/ban ${nick}`
◽◽◾	-	input	Grab a mouse event and insert its code in command line.	`/input grab_mouse_area`
⇑	-	any bar	Scroll bar by -20%.	`/bar scroll ${_bar_name} ${_window_number} -20%`
⇓	-	any bar	Scroll bar by +20%.	`/bar scroll ${_bar_name} ${_window_number} +20%`
◽◾◽	-	anywhere	Start cursor mode at this point.	`/cursor go ${_x},${_y}`

Note	⁽¹⁾ "⇑" and "⇓" are wheel up and down.

3.14. Mouse support

WeeChat supports mouse clicks and gestures. It is working with local terminal, and remotely via ssh connection with or without screen/tmux.

3.14.1. Enable mouse

To enable mouse at startup:

/set weechat.look.mouse on

To enable mouse now, press kbd:[Alt+m] or do following command:

/mouse enable

It is possible to temporarily disable mouse, and bind that on a key. For example key kbd:[Alt+%] to disable mouse for 10 seconds:

/key bind meta-% /mouse toggle 10

Important

When mouse is enabled in WeeChat, all mouse events are caught by WeeChat, so actions such as copy/paste or clicks on URLs are not sent to the terminal.
Using kbd:[Shift] key causes the events to be sent directly to the terminal, as if the mouse was disabled (on some terminals like iTerm, you have to use kbd:[Alt] instead of kbd:[Shift]).

Note	For any problem with mouse, please look at WeeChat FAQ / Mouse.

3.14.2. Bind mouse events to commands

Many default mouse events are already defined by WeeChat (see keys for "mouse" context).

You can change or add bindings with the command /key using context "mouse" (for syntax, see command /key).

Event name consists of a modifier (optional), a button/wheel name and a gesture (optional). Different elements are separated by "-".

List of modifiers:

Modifier	Description
`ctrl`	Key kbd:[Ctrl]
`alt`	Key kbd:[Alt]
`ctrl-alt`	Keys kbd:[Ctrl] + kbd:[Alt]

List of buttons/wheel:

Button/wheel	Description
`button1`	Click on left button
`button2`	Click on right button
`button3`	Click on middle button (often click on wheel)
`button4 … button9`	Click on extra buttons
`wheelup`	Wheel (up)
`wheeldown`	Wheel (down)

List of gestures (only for buttons, not wheel):

Gesture	Distance
`gesture-up`	3 … 19
`gesture-up-long`	≥ 20
`gesture-down`	3 … 19
`gesture-down-long`	≥ 20
`gesture-left`	3 … 39
`gesture-left-long`	≥ 40
`gesture-right`	3 … 39
`gesture-right-long`	≥ 40

List of incomplete events (only for buttons, useful for plugins/scripts):

Event	Description
`event-down`	Button was pressed but not released yet
`event-drag`	Mouse was moved with button pressed down

Example of events:

button1
ctrl-button1
button1-gesture-right
button1-event-down
button1-event-drag
alt-button2-gesture-down-long
wheelup
ctrl-alt-wheeldown
…

Tip	When binding a key in context "mouse", it’s possible to match many events using `` at beginning or end of name, for example `button1-gesture-` will match any gesture made using left button.

Tip	You can find an event name with command `/input grab_mouse` then doing event with mouse. This will insert event name on command line.

3.15. Secured data

3.15.1. Storage

WeeChat can encrypt passwords or private data using secured data, stored in file sec.conf.

This configuration file is read before any other file, and the values stored inside can be used in various WeeChat or plugins/scripts options.

You can set a passphrase to encrypt data in sec.conf. This is not mandatory but highly recommended, otherwise data is stored as plain text in file.

/secure passphrase this is my passphrase

When a passphrase is set, WeeChat will ask you to enter it on startup (but not on /upgrade).

You can change this behavior and use a file with the passphrase (see option sec.crypt.passphrase_file).

Encryption

The encryption of data is made in 3 steps:

Derive a key from the passphrase (with optional salt).
Compute hash of data to encrypt.
Encrypt the hash + data (output is: salt + encrypted hash/data).

Note	The cipher block mode is CFB.

The result is put as hexadecimal string in file sec.conf, for example:

[data]
__passphrase__ = on
freenode = "53B1C86FCDA28FC122A95B0456ABD79B5AB74654F21C3D099A6CCA8173239EEA59533A1D83011251F96778AC3F5166A394"

Decryption

The decryption of data is made in 3 steps:

Derive a key using salt and passphrase.
Decrypt hash + data.
Check that decrypted hash == hash of data.

3.15.2. Manage secured data

To add secured data, use /secure set, for example a password for freenode IRC server:

/secure set freenode mypassword

For comfort, secured data can be displayed in a dedicated buffer (kbd:[Alt+v] on buffer to see values), just do:

/secure

Secured data can be used in some options that can contain private data like password, using this format: "${sec.data.xxx}" where "xxx" is the name of secured data (used with /secure set xxx …).
For a complete list of supported options, see /help secure.

To use the freenode password, for example with SASL authentication:

/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_password "${sec.data.freenode}"

3.16. Commands and options

3.16.1. WeeChat commands

autogen/user/weechat_commands.adoc

3.16.2. Secured data options

Sections in file sec.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`crypt`	`/set sec.crypt.*`	Options for encryption.
`data`	`/secure`	Secured data.

Options:

autogen/user/sec_options.adoc

3.16.3. WeeChat options

Sections in file weechat.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`debug`	`/debug set /set weechat.debug.*`	Debug level, for core and plugins (options can be added/removed in section).
`startup`	`/set weechat.startup.*`	Startup options.
`look`	`/set weechat.look.*`	Look and feel.
`palette`	`/color alias /set weechat.palette.*`	Color aliases (options can be added/removed in section).
`color`	`/set weechat.color.*`	Colors.
`completion`	`/set weechat.completion.*`	Completion options.
`history`	`/set weechat.history.*`	History options (commands and buffers).
`proxy`	`/proxy /set weechat.proxy.*`	Proxy options.
`network`	`/set weechat.network.*`	Network/SSL options.
`bar`	`/bar /set weechat.bar.*`	Bar options.
`layout`	`/layout`	Layouts.
`notify`	`/buffer notify`	Notify levels for buffers (options can be added/removed in section).
`filter`	`/filter`	Filters.
`key`	`/key`	Keys in default context.
`key_search`	`/key`	Keys in search context.
`key_cursor`	`/key`	Keys in cursor context.
`key_mouse`	`/key`	Keys in mouse context.

Options:

autogen/user/weechat_options.adoc

4. Plugins

A plugin is a dynamic library, written in C and compiled, which is loaded by WeeChat. Under GNU/Linux, the file has ".so" extension, ".dll" under Windows.

Plugins found are automatically loaded when WeeChat is starting, and it is possible to load or unload plugins while WeeChat is running.

It’s important to make difference between a plugin and a script: a plugin is a binary file compiled and loaded with command /plugin, whereas a script is a text file loaded with a plugin like python with command /python.

You can use command /plugin to load/unload a plugin, or list all loaded plugins. When a plugin is unloaded, all buffers created by this plugin are automatically closed.

Examples to load, unload or list plugins:

/plugin load irc
/plugin unload irc
/plugin list

Default plugins are:

Plugin	Description
alias	Define alias for commands.
aspell	Spell checking for command line.
buflist	Bar item with list of buffers.
charset	Charset decoding/encoding for buffers.
exec	Execution of external commands in WeeChat.
fifo	FIFO pipe used to remotely send commands to WeeChat.
fset	Fast set of WeeChat and plugins options.
irc	IRC chat protocol.
logger	Log buffers to files.
relay	Relay data via network.
script	Script manager.
python	Python scripting API.
perl	Perl scripting API.
ruby	Ruby scripting API.
lua	Lua scripting API.
tcl	Tcl scripting API.
guile	Guile (scheme) scripting API.
javascript	JavaScript scripting API.
php	PHP scripting API.
trigger	Text replacement and command execution on events triggered by WeeChat/plugins.
xfer	File transfer and direct chat.

To learn more about plugin or script development (through API), please read the WeeChat plugin API reference or the WeeChat scripting guide.

4.1. Alias

Alias plugin lets you create alias for commands (from WeeChat or other plugins).

Some aliases are created by default, with name in upper case (to make them different from standard commands); commands are not case sensitive in WeeChat, so for example /close runs the alias /CLOSE.

List of default aliases:

autogen/user/alias_default_aliases.adoc

4.1.1. Commands

autogen/user/alias_commands.adoc

4.1.2. Options

Sections in file alias.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`cmd`	`/alias /set alias.cmd.*`	Commands for aliases.
`completion`	`/alias /set alias.completion.*`	Completions for aliases.

4.2. Aspell

Aspell plugin lets you check spelling in command line. It is possible to use many languages by buffer.

Spell checking is disabled by default and can be toggled with key kbd:[Alt+s].

4.2.1. Dictionaries

Before using spell checking, dictionaries must be defined, either globally or specific to buffers.

Multiple dictionaries can be used at same time: WeeChat will check words in all dictionaries.

For example to use English and French:

/set aspell.check.default_dict "en,fr"

It is possible to use a different dictionary on a specific buffer, for example on a German channel:

/aspell setdict de

For more information, see the command /aspell.

4.2.2. Speller options

Speller options can be defined by adding options in section "option" of aspell configuration.

The option name is an aspell configuration option. List of options can be found in a shell with following command:

$ aspell config

For example, to enable option "ignore-case":

/set aspell.option.ignore-case "true"

4.2.3. Suggestions

Suggestions are displayed in a bar item called "aspell_suggest". The number of suggestions is set in option aspell.check.suggestions.

To enable suggestions you must set option aspell.check.suggestions to an integer ≥ 0 and add the bar item "aspell_suggest" to a bar, like status.

Example of suggestions with English dictionary (en):

│[12:55] [6] [irc/freenode] 3:#test(+n){4} [print,prone,prune]                    │
│[@Flashy] prinr █                                                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Example of suggestions with English and French dictionaries (en,fr):

│[12:55] [6] [irc/freenode] 3:#test(+n){4} [print,prone,prune/prime,primer,primé] │
│[@Flashy] prinr █                                                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

4.2.4. Commands

autogen/user/aspell_commands.adoc

4.2.5. Options

Sections in file aspell.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`color`	`/set aspell.color.*`	Colors.
`check`	`/set aspell.check.*`	Options to control spell checking.
`dict`	`/aspell setdict /set aspell.dict.*`	Dictionaries used by buffer (options can be added/removed in section).
`look`	`/set aspell.look.*`	Look and feel.
`option`	`/set aspell.option.*`	Speller options (options can be added/removed in section).

Options:

autogen/user/aspell_options.adoc

4.3. Buflist

Buflist plugin displays a list of buffers in a bar item called "buflist" (two other bar items "buflist2" and "buflist3" are available as well).
A default bar "buflist" is created on startup with this item.

4.3.1. Commands

autogen/user/buflist_commands.adoc

4.3.2. Options

Sections in file buflist.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`format`	`/set buflist.format.*`	Formats used to display list of buffers.
`look`	`/set buflist.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/buflist_options.adoc

4.4. Charset

Charset plugin lets you decode or encode data using charsets.

There is default charset for decode/encode, and specific charsets for buffers (or group of buffers).

This plugin is optional, but recommended: if it’s not loaded, WeeChat can only read/write UTF-8 data.

Charset plugin should be autoloaded by WeeChat. To be sure plugin is loaded, try:

/charset

If command is not found, then load plugin with command:

/plugin load charset

If plugin is not found, then you should compile again WeeChat with plugins and Charset support.

When Charset plugin starts, it displays terminal and internal charsets. Terminal charset depends on your locale, and internal is UTF-8.

For example:

charset: terminal: ISO-8859-15, internal: UTF-8

4.4.1. Set charset

To set global decode and encode charsets, use command /set.

For example:

/set charset.default.decode ISO-8859-15
/set charset.default.encode ISO-8859-15

If global decode charset is not set (for example during first load of Charset plugin), it will be automatically set to terminal charset (if it’s different from UTF-8), or by default to ISO-8859-1.

Default encode value is empty, so it sends by default with internal charset (UTF-8).

To set IRC server charset, use command /charset on server buffer. If you give only charset, then it will set decoding and encoding values.

For example:

/charset ISO-8859-15

It’s equivalent to:

/charset decode ISO-8859-15
/charset encode ISO-8859-15

To set IRC channel (or private) charset, use same commands as server, but on channel (or private) buffer.

To set charset for all channels/privates of an IRC server:

/set charset.encode.irc.freenode ISO-8859-15

To see all charsets used, use following command:

/set charset.*

4.4.2. Troubleshooting

For any problem with charsets, please look at WeeChat FAQ / Charset.

4.4.3. Commands

autogen/user/charset_commands.adoc

4.4.4. Options

Sections in file charset.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`default`	`/set charset.default.*`	Default decoding/encoding charset.
`decode`	`/charset decode /set charset.decode.*`	Decoding charset by buffer (options can be added/removed in section).
`encode`	`/charset encode /set charset.encode.*`	Encoding charset by buffer (options can be added/removed in section).

Options:

autogen/user/charset_options.adoc

4.5. Exec

The /exec command lets you execute external commands inside WeeChat and display the output locally, or send it to a buffer.

4.5.1. Commands

autogen/user/exec_commands.adoc

4.5.2. Options

Sections in file exec.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`command`	`/set exec.command.*`	Options for commands.
`color`	`/set exec.color.*`	Colors.

Options:

autogen/user/exec_options.adoc

4.6. Fifo

You can remote control WeeChat, by sending commands or text to a FIFO pipe (if option "fifo.file.enabled" is enabled, it is by default).

The FIFO pipe is located in ~/.weechat/ and is called weechat_fifo by default.

Syntax for the FIFO pipe commands/text is one of following:

  plugin.buffer *text or command here
  *text or command here

Some examples:

Change nick on IRC server freenode to "newnick":

$ echo 'irc.server.freenode */nick newnick' >~/.weechat/weechat_fifo

Send a message on IRC #weechat channel:

$ echo 'irc.freenode.#weechat *hello!' >~/.weechat/weechat_fifo

Send a message on current buffer:

$ echo '*hello!' >~/.weechat/weechat_fifo

Send two commands to unload/reload Python scripts (you have to separate them with "\n"):

$ printf '%b' '*/python unload\n*/python autoload\n' >~/.weechat/weechat_fifo

4.6.1. Commands

autogen/user/fifo_commands.adoc

4.6.2. Options

Sections in file fifo.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`file`	`/set fifo.file.*`	FIFO pipe control.

Options:

autogen/user/fifo_options.adoc

4.7. Fset

Fast Set plugin displays a list of options in a buffer, and helps to set WeeChat and plugin options.

4.7.1. Commands

autogen/user/fset_commands.adoc

4.7.2. Options

Sections in file fset.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`color`	`/set fset.color.*`	Colors.
`format`	`/set fset.format.*`	Formats used to display list of options.
`look`	`/set fset.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/fset_options.adoc

4.8. IRC

The IRC plugin is designed to chat through IRC protocol with other people.

It is multi-servers, and offers all supported IRC commands including DCC chat and file transfer (via xfer plugin, see Xfer plugin).

4.8.1. Command line options

It is possible to give URL for one or many IRC servers, as follow:

irc[6][s]://[nick[:password]@]irc.example.org[:port][/channel][,channel[...]]

Example to join #weechat and #toto on server chat.freenode.net server, default port (6667), with nick nono:

$ weechat irc://nono@chat.freenode.net/#weechat,#toto

4.8.2. SSL certificates

When connecting to IRC server with SSL, WeeChat checks by default that the connection is fully trusted.

Some options are used to control SSL connection:

weechat.network.gnutls_ca_file: path to file with certificate authorities (by default: "%h/ssl/CAs.pem")
irc.server.xxx.ssl_cert: SSL certificate file used to automatically identify your nick (for example CertFP on oftc, see below)
irc.server.xxx.ssl_dhkey_size: size of the key used during the Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange (by default: 2048)
irc.server.xxx.ssl_verify: check that the SSL connection is fully trusted (on by default)

Note	Option "ssl_verify" is on by default, so verification is strict and may fail, even if it was OK with versions prior to 0.3.1.

First example: connect to oftc and check certificate

Import certificate in shell:

$ mkdir -p ~/.weechat/ssl
$ wget -O ~/.weechat/ssl/CAs.pem http://www.spi-inc.org/ca/spi-cacert.crt

Note	It is possible to concatenate many certificates in file CAs.pem.

In WeeChat, with "oftc" server already added:

/connect oftc

Second example: connect to oftc using CertFP

Create certificate in shell:

$ mkdir -p ~/.weechat/ssl
$ cd ~/.weechat/ssl
$ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout nick.pem -x509 -days 365 -out nick.pem

In WeeChat, with "oftc" server already added:

/set irc.server.oftc.ssl_cert "%h/ssl/nick.pem"
/connect oftc
/msg nickserv cert add

For more information, look at https://www.oftc.net/NickServ/CertFP

4.8.3. SASL authentication

WeeChat supports SASL authentication, using different mechanisms:

plain: plain text password (default)
ecdsa-nist256p-challenge: challenge with public/private key
external: client side SSL cert
dh-blowfish: blowfish encrypted password (insecure, not recommended)
dh-aes: AES encrypted password (insecure, not recommended)

Note	The "gcrypt" library is required when compiling WeeChat in order to use "dh-blowfish" and "dh-aes" mechanisms (see dependencies).

Options in servers are:

sasl_mechanism: mechanism to use (see above)
sasl_timeout: timeout (in seconds) for authentication
sasl_fail: action to perform if authentication fails
sasl_username: username (nick)
sasl_password: password
sasl_key: file with ECC private key (for mechanism ecdsa-nist256p-challenge)

SASL ECDSA-NIST256P-CHALLENGE

You must generate a private key in order to authentify with the ECDSA-NIST256P-CHALLENGE mechanism (no password is required on connection).

You can generate the key with this command:

$ openssl ecparam -genkey -name prime256v1 -out ~/.weechat/ecdsa.pem

Get the public key (encoded as base64) with this command:

$ openssl ec -noout -text -conv_form compressed -in ~/.weechat/ecdsa.pem | grep '^pub:' -A 3 | tail -n 3 | tr -d ' \n:' | xxd -r -p | base64

Connect to the server, identify (for example with "nickserv identify") and set your public key in your account, using nickserv (replace the base64 value with your public key):

/connect freenode
/msg nickserv identify your_password
/msg nickserv set pubkey Av8k1FOGetUDq7sPMBfufSIZ5c2I/QYWgiwHtNXkVe/q

Configure the SASL options in the server:

/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_mechanism ecdsa-nist256p-challenge
/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_username "your_nickname"
/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_key "%h/ecdsa.pem"

Reconnect to the server:

/reconnect freenode

4.8.4. Connect to Freenode with TOR/SASL

In addition to SSL, Freenode servers support connections with TOR (https://www.torproject.org/), a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.

In first place, install TOR. For Debian (and derived):

$ sudo apt-get install tor

In WeeChat you need to add a socks5 proxy for TOR service (hostname/IP and port depend on your TOR configuration):

/proxy add tor socks5 127.0.0.1 9050

Now, add a new server, for example:

/server add freenode-tor freenodeok2gncmy.onion

Set proxy for TOR:

/set irc.server.freenode-tor.proxy "tor"

Set SASL authentication with ECDSA-NIST256P-CHALLENGE (see the chapter SASL ECDSA-NIST256P-CHALLENGE to generate a private key):

/set irc.server.freenode-tor.sasl_mechanism ecdsa-nist256p-challenge
/set irc.server.freenode-tor.sasl_username "your_nickname"
/set irc.server.freenode-tor.sasl_key "%h/ecdsa.pem"

And finally, connection to server:

/connect freenode-tor

For more info about Freenode and TOR: http://freenode.net/kb/answer/chat#accessing-freenode-via-tor

4.8.5. Smart filter for join/part/quit messages

A smart filter is available to filter join/part/quit messages when nick did not say something during past X minutes on channel.

Smart filter is enabled by default, but you must add a filter to hide lines on buffers, for example:

/filter add irc_smart * irc_smart_filter *

It is possible to create filter for one channel only or channels beginning with same name (see /help filter):

/filter add irc_smart_weechat irc.freenode.#weechat irc_smart_filter *
/filter add irc_smart_weechats irc.freenode.#weechat* irc_smart_filter *

You can hide only join or part/quit with following options:

/set irc.look.smart_filter_join on
/set irc.look.smart_filter_quit on

You can setup delay (in minutes):

/set irc.look.smart_filter_delay 5

If a nick did not speak during last 5 minutes, its join and/or part/quit will be hidden on channel.

4.8.6. CTCP replies

It is possible to customize CTCP replies, or block some CTCP queries (do not reply).

For example, to customize reply to CTCP "VERSION", use following command:

/set irc.ctcp.version "I'm running WeeChat $version, it rocks!"

If you want to block CTCP "VERSION" (do not reply to a query), then set empty string:

/set irc.ctcp.version ""

Even unknown CTCP can be customized, for example you can reply to CTCP "BLABLA":

/set irc.ctcp.blabla "This is my answer to CTCP BLABLA"

It is possible to customize CTCP for one server only, using its internal name before CTCP name:

/set irc.ctcp.freenode.version "WeeChat $version (for freenode)"

If you want to restore standard CTCP reply, then remove option:

/unset irc.ctcp.version

Following codes can be used in strings and are automatically expanded by WeeChat when replying to CTCP:

Code	Description	Value/example
$clientinfo	List of supported CTCP	`ACTION DCC CLIENTINFO FINGER PING SOURCE TIME USERINFO VERSION`
$version	WeeChat version	`0.4.0-dev`
$versiongit	WeeChat version + git version ⁽¹⁾	`0.4.0-dev (git: v0.3.9-104-g7eb5cc4)`
$git	Git version ⁽¹⁾	`v0.3.9-104-g7eb5cc4`
$compilation	WeeChat compilation date	`Dec 16 2012`
$osinfo	Info about OS	`Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 / x86_64`
$site	WeeChat site	`https://weechat.org/`
$download	WeeChat site, download page	`https://weechat.org/download`
$time	Current date/time	`Sun, 16 Dec 2012 10:40:48 +0100`
$username	User name on IRC server	`name`
$realname	Real name on IRC server	`John Doe`

Note	⁽¹⁾ The git version is the output of command `git describe`. It is known only if WeeChat has been compiled inside the git repository and if git was installed.

If CTCP options are not defined (by default), CTCP replies are:

CTCP	Reply format	Example
CLIENTINFO	`$clientinfo`	`ACTION DCC CLIENTINFO FINGER PING SOURCE TIME USERINFO VERSION`
FINGER	`WeeChat $versiongit`	`WeeChat 0.4.0-dev (git: v0.3.9-104-g7eb5cc4)`
SOURCE	`$download`	`https://weechat.org/download`
TIME	`$time`	`Sun, 16 Dec 2012 10:40:48 +0100`
USERINFO	`$username ($realname)`	`name (John Doe)`
VERSION	`WeeChat $versiongit ($compilation)`	`WeeChat 0.4.0-dev (git: v0.3.9-104-g7eb5cc4) (Dec 16 2012)`

4.8.7. Target buffer for IRC messages

It is possible to customize target buffer for IRC messages (buffer used to display message) with options irc.msgbuffer.*.

For some IRC messages (see list below), you can use value:

current: current buffer (if it’s IRC buffer, or on server buffer by default)
private: private buffer for nick, or current/server buffer if not found (according to option irc.look.msgbuffer_fallback)
server: server buffer
weechat: WeeChat "core" buffer

When option is not set (default), WeeChat chooses appropriate buffer, commonly server or channel buffer.

Non-comprehensive list of IRC messages or alias that you can customize:

message	alias	description
`error`		error
`invite`		invited on a channel
`join`		join
`kick`		kick
`kill`		kill
`mode`		mode
`notice`		notice
`part`		part
`quit`		quit
`topic`		topic
`wallops`		wallops
	`ctcp`	ctcp (sent or received, in a privmsg or notice message)
`221`		user mode string
`275`	`whois`	whois (secure connection)
`301`	`whois`	whois (away)
`303`		ison
`305`	`unaway`	unaway
`306`	`away`	away
`307`	`whois`	whois (registered nick)
`310`	`whois`	whois (help mode)
`311`	`whois`	whois (user)
`312`	`whois`	whois (server)
`313`	`whois`	whois (operator)
`314`	`whowas`	whowas
`315`	`who`	who (end)
`317`	`whois`	whois (idle)
`318`	`whois`	whois (end)
`319`	`whois`	whois (channels)
`320`	`whois`	whois (identified user)
`321`	`list`	list (start)
`322`	`list`	list (channel)
`323`	`list`	list (end)
`326`	`whois`	whois (has oper privs)
`327`	`whois`	whois (host)
`328`		channel URL
`329`		channel creation date
`330`	`whois`	whois (logged in as)
`331`		no topic for channel
`332`		topic of channel
`333`		infos about topic
`335`	`whois`	whois (is a bot on)
`338`	`whois`	whois (host)
`341`		inviting
`343`	`whois`	whois (is opered as)
`344`	`reop`	channel reop
`345`	`reop`	channel reop (end)
`346`	`invitelist`	invite list
`347`	`invitelist`	invite list (end)
`348`	`exceptionlist`	exception list
`349`	`exceptionlist`	exception list (end)
`351`		server version
`352`	`who`	who
`353`	`names`	list of users on channel
`366`	`names`	end of /names list
`367`	`banlist`	ban list
`368`	`banlist`	end of ban list
`369`	`whowas`	whowas (end)
`378`	`whois`	whois (connecting from)
`379`	`whois`	whois (using modes)
`401`	`whois`	no such nick/channel
`402`	`whois`	no such server
`432`		erroneous nickname
`433`		nickname already in use
`438`		not authorized to change nickname
`671`	`whois`	whois (secure connection)
`728`	`quietlist`	quiet list
`729`	`quietlist`	end of quiet list
`732`	`monitor`	list of monitored nicks
`733`	`monitor`	list of monitored nicks (end)
`901`		you are now logged in

Other numeric commands can be customized as well.

Message can be prefixed by server name to be specific to an irc server (for example: freenode.whois).

Some examples:

Display result of /whois on private buffer:

/set irc.msgbuffer.whois private

Restore default buffer for whois (server buffer):

/unset irc.msgbuffer.whois

Display invitation on current buffer, only for "freenode" server:

/set irc.msgbuffer.freenode.invite current

Display message "303" (ison) on WeeChat "core" buffer:

/set irc.msgbuffer.303 weechat

4.8.8. Commands

autogen/user/irc_commands.adoc

4.8.9. Options

Sections in file irc.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set irc.look.*`	Look and feel.
`color`	`/set irc.color.*`	Colors.
`network`	`/set irc.network.*`	Network options.
`msgbuffer`	`/set irc.msgbuffer.*`	Target buffer for IRC messages (options can be added/removed in section).
`ctcp`	`/set irc.ctcp.*`	CTCP replies (options can be added/removed in section).
`ignore`	`/ignore`	Ignore people.
`server_default`	`/set irc.server_default.*`	Default values for servers (used when options in server are not defined).
`server`	`/server /set irc.server.*`	Servers.

Options:

autogen/user/irc_options.adoc

4.9. Logger

The Logger plugin lets you save content of buffers to files, with options about what and how it is saved.

4.9.1. Log levels

Logging is made with a level for each buffer. Default level is 9 (log all messages displayed on buffer). You can change level for one buffer, or a group of buffers.

Possible levels are 0 to 9. Zero means "do not log anything" and 9 means "log all messages".

Plugins are using different levels for messages displayed. IRC plugin uses following levels:

level 1: message from user (on channel or private)
level 2: nick change (you or someone else)
level 3: any server message (except join/part/quit)
level 4: server message join/part/quit

So if you set level 3 for an IRC channel, WeeChat will log all messages, but not join/part/quit.

Some examples:

Set level 3 for IRC channel #weechat:

/set logger.level.irc.freenode.#weechat 3

Set level 3 for freenode server buffer:

/set logger.level.irc.server.freenode 3

Set level 3 for all channels on server freenode:

/set logger.level.irc.freenode 3

Set level 2 for all IRC buffers:

/set logger.level.irc 2

4.9.2. Filenames masks

It is possible to define a filename mask for each buffer, and use local buffer variables to build filename. To see local variables for current buffer:

/buffer localvar

For example, on buffer "irc.freenode.#weechat", WeeChat will search a mask with option name, in this order:

logger.mask.irc.freenode.#weechat
logger.mask.irc.freenode
logger.mask.irc
logger.file.mask

That means you can have masks specific for some IRC servers ("logger.mask.irc.freenode") or for a plugin ("logger.mask.irc").

Log files by date

To have log files by date, you can use date/time specifiers in mask (see man strftime for formats), for example:

/set logger.file.mask "%Y/%m/$plugin.$name.weechatlog"

You’ll have following files:

~/.weechat/
    |--- logs/
        |--- 2010/
            |--- 11/
            |       irc.server.freenode.weechatlog
            |       irc.freenode.#weechat.weechatlog
        |--- 2010/
            |--- 12/
            |       irc.server.freenode.weechatlog
            |       irc.freenode.#weechat.weechatlog

IRC log files by server and channel

If you want one directory by IRC server and one file by channel inside:

/set logger.mask.irc "irc/$server/$channel.weechatlog"

You’ll have following files:

~/.weechat/
    |--- logs/
        |--- irc/
            |--- freenode/
            |       freenode.weechatlog
            |       #weechat.weechatlog
            |       #mychan.weechatlog
            |--- oftc/
            |       oftc.weechatlog
            |       #chan1.weechatlog
            |       #chan2.weechatlog

4.9.3. Commands

autogen/user/logger_commands.adoc

4.9.4. Options

Sections in file logger.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set logger.look.*`	Look and feel.
`color`	`/set logger.color.*`	Colors.
`file`	`/set logger.file.*`	Options for log files.
`level`	`/set logger.level.*`	Log level by buffer (options can be added/removed in section).
`mask`	`/set logger.mask.*`	Filename mask by buffer (options can be added/removed in section).

Options:

autogen/user/logger_options.adoc

4.10. Relay

The Relay plugin is used to relay data via network, using different protocols:

irc: IRC proxy: used to share connections to IRC servers with one or many other IRC clients
weechat: protocol used by remote interfaces to display and interact with WeeChat, for example:
- Glowing Bear (HTML5): https://www.glowing-bear.org/
- QWeeChat (Qt): https://weechat.org/download
- WeeChat-Android (Android): https://github.com/ubergeek42/weechat-android
- weechat.el (Emacs): https://github.com/the-kenny/weechat.el
- WeeCloud (JavaScript): https://github.com/eirikb/weecloud

4.10.1. Password

It is highly recommended to set a password for relay, with command:

/set relay.network.password "mypassword"

This password is used for irc and weechat protocols.

4.10.2. SSL

You can use SSL by creating a certificate and private key, and by using prefix "ssl." in the name of protocol.

The default file for certificate/key is ~/.weechat/ssl/relay.pem (option relay.network.ssl_cert_key).

You can create a certificate and private key with following commands:

$ mkdir -p ~/.weechat/ssl
$ cd ~/.weechat/ssl
$ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout relay.pem -x509 -days 365 -out relay.pem

If WeeChat is already running, you can reload the certificate and private key with command:

/relay sslcertkey

4.10.3. IRC proxy

The Relay plugin can act as an IRC proxy: it will simulate an IRC server, and you can connect to WeeChat with any other IRC client (including WeeChat itself).

You can define one port by IRC server, or one generic port for all servers.

When using one port for all servers, the client must send the internal name of server in the IRC "PASS" command, with this format:

PASS server:password

Example: IRC proxy with SSL for any server (client will choose):

/relay add ssl.irc 8000

Example: IRC proxy without SSL only for server "freenode":

/relay add irc.freenode 8000

Now you can connect on port 8000 with any IRC client using server password "mypassword" (or "freenode:mypassword" if no server was specified in the relay).

4.10.4. WeeChat protocol

The Relay plugin can send data to remote interface using WeeChat protocol.

You can connect with a remote interface, see the list in Relay.

Important

WeeChat itself can NOT connect to another WeeChat with this protocol.

For example:

/relay add weechat 9000

Now you can connect on port 9000 with a remote interface using password "mypassword".

4.10.5. WebSocket

WebSocket protocol (RFC 6455) is supported in Relay plugin for all protocols.

The WebSocket handshake is automatically detected and socket becomes ready for WebSocket if required headers are found in handshake and if origin is allowed (see option relay.network.websocket_allowed_origins).

A WebSocket can be opened in a HTML5 with a single line of JavaScript:

websocket = new WebSocket("ws://server.com:9000/weechat");

The port (9000 in example) is the port defined in Relay plugin. The URI must always end with "/weechat" (for irc and weechat protocols).

4.10.6. Commands

autogen/user/relay_commands.adoc

4.10.7. Options

Sections in file relay.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set relay.look.*`	Look and feel.
`color`	`/set relay.color.*`	Colors.
`network`	`/set relay.network.*`	Network options.
`irc`	`/set relay.irc.*`	Options specific to irc protocol (irc proxy).
`port`	`/relay add /set relay.port.*`	Ports used for relay (irc and weechat protocols) (options can be added/removed in section).

Options:

autogen/user/relay_options.adoc

4.11. Scripts

WeeChat provides 8 scripting plugins: Python, Perl, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, Guile (scheme), JavaScript and PHP. These plugins can load, execute and unload scripts for these languages.

Another plugin called "script" is a script manager and is used to load/unload scripts of any language, and install/remove scripts of WeeChat scripts repository, which are visible at this URL: https://weechat.org/scripts

For more information about how to write scripts, or WeeChat API for scripts, please read the WeeChat scripting guide.

4.11.10. Script options

Sections in file script.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set script.look.*`	Look and feel.
`color`	`/set script.color.*`	Colors.
`scripts`	`/set script.scripts.*`	Options for download of scripts.

Options:

autogen/user/script_options.adoc

4.11.11. Python options

Sections in file python.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set python.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/python_options.adoc

4.11.12. Perl options

Sections in file perl.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set perl.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/perl_options.adoc

4.11.13. Ruby options

Sections in file ruby.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set ruby.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/ruby_options.adoc

4.11.14. Lua options

Sections in file lua.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set lua.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/lua_options.adoc

4.11.15. Tcl options

Sections in file tcl.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set tcl.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/tcl_options.adoc

4.11.16. Guile options

Sections in file guile.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set guile.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/guile_options.adoc

4.11.17. Javascript options

Sections in file javascript.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set javascript.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/javascript_options.adoc

4.11.18. PHP options

Sections in file php.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set php.look.*`	Look and feel.

Options:

autogen/user/php_options.adoc

4.12. Trigger

Trigger is the Swiss Army knife for WeeChat: it can hook many things (signal, modifier, print, …), change the content of data, and execute one or more commands. A condition can be used to prevent the trigger to run in some circumstances.

Using triggers require you to know how the signals, modifiers, … are working. So you might consider reading the WeeChat plugin API reference / Hooks.

4.12.1. Default triggers

WeeChat creates 5 triggers by default, which can be disabled, updated or deleted:

a beep trigger for notifications
four other triggers to hide passwords on screen

List of default triggers:

Name	Hook	Description
`beep`	print	Beep on highlight/private message.
`cmd_pass`	modifier	Hide password in commands: `/msg nickserv id\|identify\|set password\|ghost\|release\|regain\|recover`, `/oper`, `/quote pass`, `/set password`, `/secure passphrase\|decrypt\|set`.
`cmd_pass_register`	modifier	Hide password in command `/msg nickserv register`.
`msg_auth`	modifier	Hide password in IRC auth message displayed (message received from server after the user issued the command).
`server_pass`	modifier	Hide server password in commands `/server` and `/connect`.

4.12.2. Anatomy of a trigger

A trigger has the following options (names are trigger.trigger.<name>.<option>):

Option	Values	Description
`enabled`	`on`, `off`	When option is `off`, the trigger is disabled and actions are not executed any more.
`hook`	`signal`, `hsignal`, `modifier`, `line`, `print`, `command`, `command_run`, `timer`, `config`, `focus`	The hook used in trigger. For more information, see WeeChat plugin API reference / Hooks.
`arguments`	string	The arguments for the hook, it depends on the hook type used.
`conditions`	string	Conditions to execute the trigger; they are evaluated (see command /eval).
`regex`	string	One or more POSIX extended regular expressions, to change data received in the hook callback (and some stuff added by trigger plugin), see regular expression.
`command`	string	Command to execute (many commands can be separated by semicolons); it is evaluated (see command /eval).
`return_code`	`ok`, `ok_eat`, `error`	The return code of callback (default is `ok`, which should be used in almost all triggers, the other values are rarely used).
`post_action`	`none`, `disable`, `delete`	Action to take on the trigger after execution (default is `none` which should be used in almost all triggers, the other values are rarely used).

For example, the default beep trigger has following options:

trigger.trigger.beep.enabled = on
trigger.trigger.beep.hook = print
trigger.trigger.beep.arguments = ""
trigger.trigger.beep.conditions = "${tg_displayed} && (${tg_highlight} || ${tg_msg_pv})"
trigger.trigger.beep.regex = ""
trigger.trigger.beep.command = "/print -beep"
trigger.trigger.beep.return_code = ok
trigger.trigger.beep.post_action = none

4.12.3. Execution

When a trigger callback is called, following actions are executed, in this order, if triggers are globally enabled and if the trigger itself is enabled:

check trigger conditions: if false, exit
replace text in trigger using regular expression(s)
execute command(s)
exit with a return code (except for hooks modifier and focus)
perform post action (if different from none).

4.12.4. Hook arguments

The arguments depend on the hook used. They are separated by semicolons.

Hook	Arguments	Examples	Documentation (API)
signal	1. signal name (priority allowed) (required) 2. signal name (priority allowed) 3. …	`,irc_in_privmsg` `,irc_in_privmsg;*,irc_in_notice` `signal_sigwinch`	hook_signal
hsignal	1. signal name (priority allowed) (required) 2. signal name (priority allowed) 3. …	`nicklist_nick_added`	hook_hsignal
modifier	1. modifier name (priority allowed) (required) 2. modifier name (priority allowed) 3. …	`weechat_print` `5000\|input_text_display;5000\|history_add`	hook_modifier
line	1. buffer type 2. buffer name 3. tags	`formatted` `free` `;irc.freenode.` `*;irc.freenode.#weechat` `formatted;irc.freenode.#weechat;irc_notice`	hook_line
print	1. buffer name 2. tags 3. message 4. strip colors (0/1)	`irc.freenode.` `irc.freenode.#weechat` `irc.freenode.#weechat;irc_notice` `;;;1`	hook_print
command	1. command name (priority allowed) (required) 2. description 3. arguments 4. description of arguments 5. completion	`test` `5000\|test`	hook_command
command_run	1. command (priority allowed) (required) 2. command (priority allowed) 3. …	`/cmd arguments`	hook_command_run
timer	1. interval in milliseconds (required) 2. alignment on second (default: 0) 3. max number of calls (default: 0, which means "no end")	`3600000` `60000;0;5`	hook_timer
config	1. option name (priority allowed) (required) 2. option name (priority allowed) 3. …	`weechat.look.*`	hook_config
focus	1. area name (priority allowed) (required) 2. area name (priority allowed) 3. …	`buffer_nicklist`	hook_focus

4.12.5. Conditions

The conditions are used to continue processing in trigger, or stop everything.

They are evaluated, and data available in callback can be used (see data in callbacks and command /eval).

Example: the default beep trigger uses this condition to make a beep only on highlight or private message:

${tg_displayed} && (${tg_highlight} || ${tg_msg_pv})

4.12.6. Regular expression

The regular expression is used to change variables in callback hashtable.

The format is: "/regex/replace" or "/regex/replace/var" (where var is a variable of the hashtable).

If var does not exist in the hashtable, it is created automatically with an empty value. This allows to create custom temporary variables.

If var is not specified, the default variable is used, it depends on hook type:

Hook	Default variable	Update allowed ⁽¹⁾
signal	tg_signal_data
hsignal
modifier	tg_string	tg_string
line	message	buffer, buffer_name, y, date, date_printed, str_time, tg_tags, notify_level, highlight, prefix, message
print	tg_message
command	tg_argv_eol1
command_run	tg_command
timer	tg_remaining_calls
config	tg_value
focus

Note	⁽¹⁾ All variables can be updated in the trigger, but only these variables have an effect on the value returned by the trigger and used by WeeChat.

Many regular expressions can be separated by a space, for example: "/regex1/replace1/var1 /regex2/replace2/var2".

The char "/" can be replaced by any char (one or more identical chars).

Matching groups can be used in "replace":

${re:0} to ${re:99}: ${re:0} is the whole match, ${re:1} to ${re:99} are groups captured
${re:+}: the last match (with highest number)
${hide:c,${re:N}}: match "N" with all chars replaced by "c" (example: ${hide:*,${re:2}} is the group #2 with all chars replaced by *).

Example: use bold for words between "*":

/\*(\S+)\*/*${color:bold}${re:1}${color:-bold}*/

Example: default trigger server_pass uses this regular expression to hide password in commands /server and /connect (chars in passwords are replaced by *):

==^(/(server|connect) .*-(sasl_)?password=)(\S+)(.*)==${re:1}${hide:*,${re:4}}${re:5}

Note	In this example, the delimiter used is "==" because there is a "/" in the regular expression.

4.12.7. Command

The command is executed after replacement of text with the regular expression. Many commands can be separated by semicolons.

It is evaluated (see command /eval) and text replaced with a regular expression can be used in the command.

Example: default beep trigger uses this command to make a beep (BEL):

/print -beep

4.12.8. Data in callbacks

Data received in callbacks are stored in hashtables (pointers and strings) and can be used in following options:

conditions
regex
command

The content of hashtables depend on the hook type.

A convenient way to see data in a trigger is to open trigger monitor buffer, using the command:

/trigger monitor

Signal

The "signal" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_signal`	string	Name of signal
`tg_signal_data`	string	Data sent with the signal

If the signal contains an IRC message, the message is parsed and following data is added in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`irc_server`	pointer	Pointer to IRC server (variables in hdata of type "irc_server" can be used, like `${irc_server.name}`).
`irc_channel`	pointer	Pointer to IRC channel (variables in hdata of type "irc_channel" can be used, like `${irc_channel.name}`).
`server`	string	Name of server (example: "freenode").
`tags`	string	Tags in message (rarely used).
`message_without_tags`	string	Message without tags.
`nick`	string	Nick.
`host`	string	Hostname.
`command`	string	IRC command (example: "PRIVMSG", "NOTICE", …).
`channel`	string	IRC channel.
`arguments`	string	Arguments of command (includes value of channel).
`text`	string	Text (for example user message).
`pos_command`	string	The index of command in message ("-1" if command was not found).
`pos_arguments`	string	The index of arguments in message ("-1" if arguments was not found).
`pos_channel`	string	The index of channel in message ("-1" if channel was not found).
`pos_text`	string	The index of text in message ("-1" if text was not found).

When the data is a pointer, the variable tg_signal_data can be used like this to read a hdata property (in this example this is a pointer on a buffer):

${buffer[${tg_signal_data}].full_name}

Hsignal

The "hsignal" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_signal`	string	Name of signal

The hashtable contains all keys/values from hashtable received (type: string/string).

Modifier

The "modifier" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_modifier`	string	Name of modifier.
`tg_modifier_data`	string	Data sent with modifier.
`tg_string`	string	The string that can be modified.
`tg_string_nocolor`	string	The string without color codes.

For the weechat_print modifier, variables using message tags are added (see hook print below), and following variables:

Variable	Type	Description
`buffer`	pointer	Buffer where message is printed.
`tg_plugin`	string	Plugin of buffer where message is printed.
`tg_buffer`	string	Full name of buffer where message is printed.
`tg_prefix`	string	Prefix of message printed.
`tg_prefix_nocolor`	string	Prefix without color codes.
`tg_message`	string	Message printed.
`tg_message_nocolor`	string	Message without color codes.

If the modifier contains an IRC message, the message is parsed and extra data is added in hashtable (see hook signal).

Line

The "line" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`buffer`	pointer	Buffer.
`buffer_name`	string	Buffer name.
`buffer_type`	string	Buffer type ("formatted" or "free").
`y`	string	Line number for a buffer with free content (≥ 0), -1 for a buffer with formatted content.
`date`	string	Line date (timestamp).
`date_printed`	string	Date when line was displayed (timestamp).
`str_time`	string	Date for display. It may contain color codes.
`displayed`	string	"1" if displayed, "0" if line filtered.
`notify_level`	string	"0" = low level, "1" = message, "2" = private message, "3" = highlight
`highlight`	string	"1" if highlight, otherwise "0".
`prefix`	string	Prefix.
`message`	string	Message.

Variables set using tags in message (they are also set in print callback and modifier weechat_print):

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_tags`	string	Tags of message (with comma added at beginning/end of string).
`tg_tags_count`	string	Number of tags in message.
`tg_tag_nick`	string	Nick (from tag "nick_xxx").
`tg_tag_prefix_nick`	string	Color of nick in prefix (from tag "prefix_nick_ccc").
`tg_tag_host`	string	User name and host, format: username@host (from tag "host_xxx").
`tg_tag_notify`	string	Notify level (none, message, private, highlight).
`tg_notify`	string	Notify level, if different from none.
`tg_msg_pv`	string	"1" for a private message, otherwise "0".

Print

The "print" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`buffer`	pointer	Buffer.
`tg_date`	string	Message date/time (format: `YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss`).
`tg_displayed`	string	"1" if displayed, "0" if line filtered.
`tg_highlight`	string	"1" if highlight, otherwise "0".
`tg_prefix`	string	Prefix.
`tg_prefix_nocolor`	string	Prefix without color codes.
`tg_message`	string	Message.
`tg_message_nocolor`	string	Message without color codes.

Variables set using tags in message (they are also set in line callback and modifier weechat_print):

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_tags`	string	Tags of message (with comma added at beginning/end of string).
`tg_tags_count`	string	Number of tags in message.
`tg_tag_nick`	string	Nick (from tag "nick_xxx").
`tg_tag_prefix_nick`	string	Color of nick in prefix (from tag "prefix_nick_ccc").
`tg_tag_host`	string	User name and host, format: username@host (from tag "host_xxx").
`tg_tag_notify`	string	Notify level (none, message, private, highlight).
`tg_notify`	string	Notify level, if different from none.
`tg_msg_pv`	string	"1" for a private message, otherwise "0".

Command

The "command" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`buffer`	pointer	Buffer.
`tg_argvN`	string	Argument #N.
`tg_argv_eolN`	string	From argument #N until end of arguments.

Command_run

The "command_run" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`buffer`	pointer	Buffer.
`tg_command`	string	Command executed.

Timer

The "timer" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_remaining_calls`	string	Number of remaining calls.
`tg_date`	string	Current date/time (format: `YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss`).

Config

The "config" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`tg_option`	string	Option.
`tg_value`	string	Value.

Focus

The "focus" callback sets following variables in hashtable:

Variable	Type	Description
`window`	pointer	Window.
`buffer`	pointer	Buffer.

The hashtable contains all keys/values from hashtable received (type: string/string).

4.12.9. Examples

Color for URLs

Display URLs in green:

/trigger add url_color modifier weechat_print "${tg_notify}" "==\S+://\S+==${color:green}${re:0}${color:reset}=="

Note	The simple regex used to detect URL may not catch well all URLs, but it is faster than a complex regex.

Auto pong on ping queries

When someone sends a "ping" in a private buffer, this trigger will auto-reply with pong:

/trigger add pong print "" "${type} == private && ${tg_message} == ping" "" "pong"

Responsive layout

Following triggers can be used to customize things displayed when the size of terminal is changed:

/trigger add resize_small signal signal_sigwinch "${info:term_width} < 100" "" "/bar hide nicklist"
/trigger add resize_big signal signal_sigwinch "${info:term_width} >= 100" "" "/bar show nicklist"

The triggers catch the signal "signal_sigwinch", which is sent by WeeChat when signal SIGWINCH is received (when terminal size is changed).

The condition with ${info:term_width} checks the width of terminal (you can also use ${info:term_height} if needed).

In the example, when the terminal becomes small, the nicklist is hidden. And the bar is restored when the width is greater or equal to 100 chars.

Automatic save of configuration

You can automatically save configuration files (*.conf), for example each hour:

/trigger add cfgsave timer 3600000;0;0 "" "" "/mute /save"

Arguments for the timer hook are:

3600000: 3600 * 1000 milliseconds, the callback is called each hour
0: alignment on second (not aligned here)
0: max number of calls (0 = no end for the timer)

The command /mute /save will silently save configuration files (nothing displayed on core buffer).

4.12.10. Commands

autogen/user/trigger_commands.adoc

4.12.11. Options

Sections in file trigger.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set trigger.look.*`	Look and feel.
`color`	`/set trigger.color.*`	Colors.
`trigger`	`/trigger add /trigger set /set trigger.trigger.*`	Trigger options.

Options:

autogen/user/trigger_options.adoc

4.13. Xfer

Xfer plugin brings:

direct chat (between two hosts, without server): for example "DCC Chat" via IRC plugin
file transfer, for example "DCC" via IRC plugin

4.13.1. Commands

autogen/user/xfer_commands.adoc

4.13.2. Options

Sections in file xfer.conf:

Section	Control command	Description
`look`	`/set xfer.look.*`	Look and feel.
`color`	`/set xfer.color.*`	Colors.
`network`	`/set xfer.network.*`	Network options.
`file`	`/set xfer.file.*`	Options for files sent/received.

Options:

autogen/user/xfer_options.adoc

5. Support

Before asking for support, be sure you’ve read documentation and FAQ provided with WeeChat.

For support with IRC, on server chat.freenode.net:

official channels (with developers):
- #weechat (English)
- #weechat-fr (French)
non-official channels:
- #weechat-de (German)
- #weechat-fi (Finnish)

For other ways of support, see: https://weechat.org/about/support

Files

weechat_user.en.adoc

Latest commit

History

weechat_user.en.adoc

File metadata and controls

WeeChat user’s guide

1. Introduction

1.1. Features

1.2. Prerequisites

2. Installation

2.1. Binary packages

2.2. Source package

2.2.1. Dependencies

2.2.2. Compile with cmake

2.2.3. Compile with autotools

2.2.4. Run tests

2.3. Git sources

2.4. Report crashes

2.4.1. Debug info

2.4.2. Core files

2.4.3. Get backtrace with gdb

2.4.4. Debug a running WeeChat

3. Usage

3.1. Running WeeChat

3.2. Environment variables

3.3. Files and directories

3.4. Screen layout

3.5. Command line

3.5.1. Syntax

3.5.2. Color codes

3.6. Colors

3.6.1. Basic colors

3.6.2. Extended colors

3.6.3. Aliases

3.6.4. Attributes

3.7. Buffers and windows

3.8. Buffers lines

3.8.1. Format of lines

3.8.2. Lines tags

3.9. Bars

3.9.1. Items

3.9.2. Filling

3.9.3. Conditions

3.10. Bare display

3.11. Notify levels

3.11.1. Setup notify levels

3.11.2. Max hotlist level for nicks

3.12. Highlights

3.12.1. Add words to highlight

3.12.2. Add tags to highlight

3.12.3. Set extra highlights on buffer

3.13. Default key bindings

3.13.1. Keys for command line

3.13.2. Keys for buffers / windows

3.13.3. Keys for "search" context

3.13.4. Keys for "cursor" context

3.13.5. Keys for "mouse" context

3.14. Mouse support

3.14.1. Enable mouse

3.14.2. Bind mouse events to commands

3.15. Secured data

3.15.1. Storage

Encryption

Decryption

3.15.2. Manage secured data

3.16. Commands and options

3.16.1. WeeChat commands

3.16.2. Secured data options

3.16.3. WeeChat options

4. Plugins

4.1. Alias

4.1.1. Commands

4.1.2. Options

4.2. Aspell

4.2.1. Dictionaries

4.2.2. Speller options

4.2.3. Suggestions

4.2.4. Commands

4.2.5. Options