A list of bitlbees commands, with syntax and description. Arranged by category.
Contents
Bitlbee management
register <password>
BitlBee can save your settings so you won't have to enter all your IM passwords every time you log in. If you want the Bee to save your settings, use the register command. Please do pick a secure password, don't just use your nick as your password. Please note that IRC is not an encrypted protocol, so the passwords still go over the network in plaintext. Evil people with evil sniffers will read it all. (So don't use your root password.. 
To identify yourself in later sessions, you can use the identify command. To change your password later, you can use the set password command.
identify [-noload|-force] <password>
BitlBee saves all your settings (contacts, accounts, passwords) on-server. To prevent other users from just logging in as you and getting this information, you'll have to identify yourself with your password. You can register this password using the register command. Once you're registered, you can change your password using set password <password>. The -noload and -force flags can be used to identify when you're logged into some IM accounts already. -force will let you identify yourself and load all saved accounts (and keep the accounts you're logged into already). -noload will log you in but not load any accounts and settings saved under your current nickname. These will be overwritten once you save your settings (i.e. when you disconnect).
drop <password>
Drop your BitlBee registration. Your account files will be removed and your password will be forgotten. For obvious security reasons, you have to specify your NickServ password to make this command work.
set
Other syntaxes include:
set <variable> set <variable> <value> set -del <variable>
Without any arguments, this command lists all the set variables. You can also specify a single argument, a variable name, to get that variable's value. To change this value, specify the new value as the second argument. With -del you can reset a setting to its default value. To get more help information about a setting, try: Example:
<ctrlsoft> help set private
qlist
This gives you a list of all the unanswered questions from root.
yes [<number>]
Sometimes an IM-module might want to ask you a question. (Accept this user as your buddy or not?) To accept a question, use the yes command. By default, this answers the first unanswered question. You can also specify a different question as an argument. You can use the qlist command for a list of questions.
no [<number>]
Sometimes an IM-module might want to ask you a question. (Accept this user as your buddy or not?) To reject a question, use the no command. By default, this answers the first unanswered question. You can also specify a different question as an argument. You can use the qlist command for a list of questions.
help
Other syntaxes include:
help [subject]
This command gives you the help information you're reading right now. If you don't give any arguments, it'll give a short help index.
save
This command saves all your nicks and accounts immediately. Handy if you have the autosave functionality disabled, or if you don't trust the program's stability...
IM Account management
account [<account id>] <action> [<arguments>]
Available actions: add, del, list, on, off and set. See help account <action> for more information.
account add <protocol> <username> <password>
Adds an account on the given server with the specified protocol, username and password to the account list. Supported protocols right now are: Jabber, MSN, OSCAR (AIM/ICQ*), Yahoo and Twitter. For more information about adding an account, see help account add <protocol>.
* for ICQ use account add icq <username> <password>
account <account id> del
This commands deletes an account from your account list. You should signoff the account before deleting it. The account ID can be a number/tag (see account list), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
account list
This command gives you a list of all the accounts known by BitlBee.
account [<account id>] on
This command will try to log into the specified account. If no account is specified, BitlBee will log into all the accounts that have the auto_connect flag set. The account ID can be a number/tag (see account list), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
account [<account id>] off
This command disconnects the connection for the specified account. If no account is specified, BitlBee will deactivate all active accounts and cancel all pending reconnects. The account ID can be a number/tag (see account list), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
account <account id> set
Other syntaxes include:
account <account id> set <setting> account <account id> set <setting> <value> account <account id> set -del <setting>
This command can be used to change various settings for IM accounts. For all protocols, this command can be used to change the handle or the password BitlBee uses to log in and if it should be logged in automatically. Some protocols have additional settings. You can see the settings available for a connection by typing account <account id> set. For more infomation about a setting, see help set <setting>. The account ID can be a number/tag (see account list), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
Manage IM contacts
add <account id> <handle> [<nick>]
Other syntaxs include
add -tmp <account id> <handle> [<nick>]
Adds the given buddy at the specified connection to your buddy list. The account ID can be a number (see account list), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection. If you want, you can also tell BitlBee what nick to give the new contact. The -tmp option adds the buddy to the internal BitlBee structures only, not to the real contact list (like done by set handle_unknown add). This allows you to talk to people who are not in your contact list. This normally won't show you any presence notifications. If you use this command in a control channel containing people from only one group, the new contact will be added to that group automatically. Example:
<ctrlsoft> add 3 gryp@jabber.org grijp * grijp has joined &bitlbee
info <nick>
Other syntaxs include
info <connection> <handle>
Requests IM-network-specific information about the specified user. The amount of information you'll get differs per protocol. For some protocols (ATM Yahoo! and MSN) it'll give you an URL which you can visit with a normal web browser to get the information. Example:
<ctrlsoft> info 0 72696705 <root> User info - UIN: 72696705 Nick: Lintux First/Last name: Wilmer van der Gaast E-mail: lintux@lintux.cx
remove <nick>
Removes the specified nick from your buddy list. Example:
<ctrlsoft> remove gryp * gryp has quit [Leaving...]
block <nick>
Other syntaxes include:
block <connection> <handle> block <connection>
Puts the specified user on your ignore list. Either specify the user's nick when you have him/her in your contact list or a connection number and a user handle. When called with only a connection specification as an argument, the command displays the current block list for that connection.
allow <nick>
Other syntaxes inlude:
allow <connection> <handle>
Reverse of block. Unignores the specified user or user handle on specified connection. When called with only a connection specification as an argument, the command displays the current allow list for that connection.
blist [all|online|offline|away]
You can get a more readable buddy list using the blist command. If you want a complete list (including the offline users) you can use the all argument.
Channel/chatroom administration
channel [<account id>] <action> [<arguments>]
Available actions: del, list, set. See help chat <action> for more information. There is no channel add command. To create a new channel, just use the IRC /join command. See also help channels and help groupchats.
channel <channel id> del
Remove a channel and forget all its settings. You can only remove channels you're not currently in, and can't remove the main control channel. (You can, however, leave it.)
channel list
This command gives you a list of all the channels you configured.
channel [<channel id>] set
Other syntaxes include:
channel [<channel id>] set <setting> channel [<channel id>] set <setting> <value> channel [<channel id>] set -del <setting>
This command can be used to change various settings for channels. Different channel types support different settings. You can see the settings available for a channel by typing channel <channel id> set. For more infomation about a setting, see help set <setting>. The channel ID can be a number (see channel list), or (part of) its name, as long as it matches only one channel. If you want to change settings of the current channel, you can omit the channel ID.
chat <action> [<arguments>]
Available actions: add, with. See help chat <action> for more information.
chat add <account id> <room> [<channel>]
Add a chatroom to the list of chatrooms you're interested in. BitlBee needs this list to map room names to a proper IRC channel name. After adding a room to your list, you can simply use the IRC /join command to enter the room. Also, you can tell BitlBee to automatically join the room when you log in. (See chat set) Password-protected rooms work exactly like on IRC, by passing the password as an extra argument to /join.
chat with <nickname>
While most chat subcommands are about named chatrooms, this command can be used to open an unnamed groupchat with one or more persons. This command is what /join #nickname used to do in older BitlBee versions.
group list
Only the group list command is supported at the moment, which shows a list of all groups defined so far. If you want to move contacts between groups, you can use the IRC /invite command. Also, if you use the add command in a control channel configured to show just one group, the new contact will automatically be added to that group.
Source:
This document contains info deived from the help command in biltbee. The first version was based on BitlBee version bzr-devel-689.