signal-cli

name	signal-cli
description	Use this skill when the user wants to send a Signal message or attachment to a person or group, even if they ask in terms of messaging someone rather than using signal-cli explicitly. It also applies when the user needs to set up or troubleshoot Signal CLI access, link Signal on a computer, or inspect Signal accounts, contacts, or groups.

signal-cli

Use the local signal-cli binary to send Signal messages and attachments. Account inspection, syncing, and recipient resolution support that primary workflow.

Default workflow

1. Check whether signal-cli is installed and linked:

command -v signal-cli
signal-cli listAccounts

2. If the binary is missing or listAccounts is empty, read references/onboarding.md and complete setup before trying to send anything.
3. Before listing contacts, listing groups, or sending, sync the account once:

signal-cli -u "[phone]" receive

4. Use the bundled scripts for recipient resolution and sending:

python3 scripts/find_contact.py --account "[phone]" --query "Alice"
python3 scripts/send_message.py --account "[phone]" --to "Alice" --text "hello"
python3 scripts/send_message.py --account "[phone]" --to "Alice" --text "see attachment" --attachment "/path/to/file"

5. If the user asks for raw CLI usage patterns beyond the defaults here, read references/commands.md.

Defaults

• Prefer linking signal-cli as a secondary device to the user's existing Signal account.
• Prefer the bundled scripts over handwritten signal-cli command assembly for contact lookup and person-to-person sends.
• Use E.164 phone numbers ([phone]) for account and direct recipient arguments.
• After first-time setup, send --note-to-self before messaging another person or group.

Safety rules

• Confirm the final recipient and final message text before any send.
• If recipient lookup returns multiple candidates, stop and ask the user which one to use.
• If the message contains sensitive information, ask explicitly before sending it via Signal.
• When sending to a group, confirm the intended group after listing candidate groups or group ids.

Gotchas

• signal-cli can look healthy while no account is linked; listAccounts is the real check.
• Contacts, groups, and profile state can be stale until receive runs.
• Group sends may report warnings for stale or unregistered members while still delivering successfully. Treat that as sent only when the command exits successfully.
• listContacts and listGroups are easiest to automate with -o json.