munkel

name	munkel
description	Send ephemeral end-to-end-encrypted messages that appear in friends' MacBook notches, via the munkel CLI (macOS). Use when the user wants to message, ping, or notify someone in a Munkel channel, broadcast to a channel, or list Munkel channels and members.

munkel — munkel into your friends' notches

Ephemeral, E2E-encrypted messages that slide out of the recipient's MacBook notch. The CLI is send-only — a thin client for the running Munkel.app, which owns channels, crypto, and the relay. It auto-launches the app if it isn't running, so no open -a Munkel first.

Notify one person — the common case

munkel dm <name> <message…>      # e.g. munkel dm sebil deploy is green

dm resolves <name> across every channel, so this is a single call — do NOT run munkel channels first. <name> matches a member's display name (case-insensitive) or a prefix of their key id (both shown by munkel channels). Success prints munkeled ✓ and exits 0.

If the send fails, the error says which case it is: an unknown name prints No online member matches …; a name in more than one channel prints the candidate channels. Either way, retry with the channel-scoped form:

munkel <channel> <name> <message…>    # munkel blue-table-42 sebil hi
munkel <channel> all <message…>       # broadcast to the whole channel

<channel> is a code like blue-table-42; any unambiguous prefix works. Broadcast (all) always needs an explicit channel. If you can't tell which channel is the right one, ask — don't send to every candidate, or you'll notify the wrong people too.

List channels (only when a send fails)

munkel channels            # ● online / ○ offline, with online members
munkel channels --json     # machine-readable [{code,connected,members}]

Limits

• Send-only: no way to read replies or history.
• Messages are ephemeral — nothing is stored anywhere. A success means the message was handed to the relay, not that it appeared in their notch. Don't use Munkel for notifications the user must not miss.

Run munkel --help for socket overrides (MUNKEL_SOCKET), dev mode, and exit codes (64 usage · 75 app didn't reply).