call: A/V Calls

call lets you initiate or receive calls from the terminal.

Common UI

There are various UI available to display a call. By default, one will be automatically selected according to platform. To select an UI, use the --output, -O option, with one of the following value:

default

The default value make a guess on the best output to use on the current platform.

Note

For the moment, default always select simple output.

simple

During a call, a simple graphical window will be created, displaying your correspondent’s video, with your own video feed in the bottom right corner.

With the UI present (by default), there are 3 buttons:

  • one to (un)mute video with the v key shortcut

  • one to (un)mute audio with the m key shortcut

  • one to hang up with the h key shortcut. Ctrl+c will have the same effect.

gui

The gui option enables a full graphical user interface for handling calls, akin to other frontends (web, desktop). This GUI provides a comprehensive and interactive experience for call management directly from your CLI environment, ensuring quick access to the call feature from the CLI frontend.

This interface is accessible if your system supports X11 or Wayland and requires PyQt v6 or higher. Here’s how to navigate and use the GUI:

Call Interface

The call interface is made with:

  • Video Feeds: The main window displays the other party’s video, with your video in the bottom right.

  • Fullscreen Mode: A fullscreen toggle button is located at the top right of the window.

  • Controls: The following buttons are available at the bottom of your screen:

    • Mute/Unmute video or audio with respective buttons.

    • Desktop Sharing.

    • Hang up.

Desktop Sharing

To share your desktop, you need to be in a supported environment (X11 or Wayland).

For Wayland, you’ll need to have the xdg-desktop-portal package installed, along with its sibling desktop environment-specific package (e.g., xdg-desktop-portal-gtk or xdg-desktop-portal-kde).

Once you’ve clicked on the desktop sharing button, you’ll have to select what you want to share. It can be your entire screen or a specific application window. On X11, a simple dialog will appear, while for Wayland, a dialog provided by your environment will ask you to select what you want to share.

example

Pierre wants to call Louise with a GUI:

$ li call make louise@example.org -O gui

make

Make a call. The primary argument is the JID of the entity you wish to call.

example

Pierre wants to call Louise:

$ li call make louise@example.org

receive

Receive a call. By default, you’ll see a confirmation prompt when someone is calling; you can then use y to accept the call or n to reject it. Use the -a JID, --auto-accept JID option to automatically accept calls from a specific entity (can be used multiple times), or the --auto-accept-all to accept any incoming call.

Note

Accepting a call automatically activates your webcam and microphone, and shares your IP address with the caller. Therefore, using --auto-accept-all is a security risk. Only use it if you have a very good reason to do so.

examples

Louise is expecting a call. When she receives one, a prompt will ask her to confirm and start it:

$ li call receive

Piotr has a device with a webcam and microphone for observing wildlife. He set the device to automatically accept his calls:

$ li call receive -a piotr@example.net

Note

Libervia CLI will exit once the first accepted call is terminated. Looping in a shell may be necessary to call the same device multiple times.

Note

Since using auto-accept mode activates the webcam and microphone, consider the privacy implications and ensure that no one will be filmed or recorded without their consent.