// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2003-2025 Sébastien Helleu <flashcode@flashtux.org>
//
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later

= WeeChat quick start guide
:author: Sébastien Helleu
:email: flashcode@flashtux.org
:lang: en
include::includes/attributes-en.adoc[]

[[start]]
== Start WeeChat

A recommended (but not mandatory) X terminal emulator for running WeeChat is rxvt-unicode.
It has good UTF-8 support and works well with WeeChat's default key bindings.

Run from your shell:

[source,shell]
----
weechat
----

[[help]]
== Online help

WeeChat has help for all commands, just issue:

----
/help
----

To get help on a specific command, issue:

----
/help command
----

Help is available for options as well:

----
/help config.section.option
----

(where `config` is configuration name (`weechat` for core, or a plugin
name), `section` the section of this configuration and `option` the
option name).

[[options]]
== Set options

To set options, issue:

----
/set config.section.option value
----

WeeChat immediately uses the new value (you *never* need to restart WeeChat
after changes to configuration).

All settings are saved when WeeChat ends (or with the `/save` command to force
a write of the options).

[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.

The plugin _fset_ allows you to easily browse options and change them.

For example to display WeeChat options:

----
/fset weechat.*
----

IRC options:

----
/fset irc.*
----

The `/fset` command has completion on part of option names, so for example if
you type `/fset hot` and press kbd:[Tab] this is completed as `/fset hotlist`.
If you press kbd:[Enter], options about the hotlist are displayed.

For more information about the `/fset` command and keys, see `/help fset`.

[[core_vs_plugins]]
== Core vs plugins

WeeChat "core" is only used to display data on screen and interact with
the user, that means weechat core without plugins is useless
(faithful users: IRC was part of core for versions ≤ 0.2.6).

All network protocols like IRC are provided in separate plugins.

Use the `/plugin` command to list loaded plugins, you should see "irc" and
other plugins in the list.

[[add_irc_server]]
== Add an IRC server

You can add an IRC server with the `/server` command, for example:

----
/server add libera irc.libera.chat/6697 -tls
----

In this command, `libera` is the internal server name used by WeeChat:
you'll be able to connect with `/connect libera` and the server options
are _irc.server.libera.xxx_.

As usual, help is available if you're lost:

----
/help server
----

[[irc_server_options]]
== Set custom IRC server options

WeeChat uses default values for all servers ("fall backs"), if you
don't specify a specific value for a server option.
These default options are "irc.server_default.*".

For each server option, WeeChat uses its value if it is defined (not
"null"). Otherwise WeeChat uses default value ("irc.server_default.xxx").

For example there are default nicks (based on your un*x login), and you can
override them for the libera server with following command:

----
/set irc.server.libera.nicks "mynick,mynick2,mynick3,mynick4,mynick5"
----

To set the user and real names:

----
/set irc.server.libera.username "My user name"
/set irc.server.libera.realname "My real name"
----

To enable auto-connect to server at startup:

----
/set irc.server.libera.autoconnect on
----

If SASL is available on the server, you can use it for authentication (you will be
identified before you join channels):

----
/set irc.server.libera.sasl_username "mynick"
/set irc.server.libera.sasl_password "xxxxxxx"
----

To run a command after connection to server, for example to authenticate
with nickserv (only if you don't use SASL for authentication):

----
/set irc.server.libera.command "/msg nickserv identify xxxxxxx"
----

[NOTE]
Many commands in option _command_ can be separated by `;` (semi-colon).

If you want to protect your password in configuration files, you can use
secured data.

First setup a passphrase:

----
/secure passphrase this is my secret passphrase
----

Then add a secured data with your libera password:

----
/secure set libera_password xxxxxxx
----

Then you can use `+${sec.data.libera_password}+` instead of your password in the
IRC options mentioned above, for example:

----
/set irc.server.libera.sasl_password "${sec.data.libera_password}"
----

To auto-join some channels when connecting to server:

----
/set irc.server.libera.autojoin "#channel1,#channel2"
----

The `/autojoin` command lets you configure the _autojoin_ option easily
(see `/help autojoin`).

You can also configure WeeChat to automatically update the _autojoin_ option
when you join or leave channels:

----
/set irc.server_default.autojoin_dynamic on
----

To remove a value of a server option, and use the default value instead,
for example to use default nicks (irc.server_default.nicks):

----
/unset irc.server.libera.nicks
----

Other options: you can setup other options with the following command ("xxx" is
option name):

----
/set irc.server.libera.xxx value
----

[TIP]
You can complete name and value of options with the kbd:[Tab] key
and kbd:[Shift+Tab] for a partial completion (useful for long words like
the name of option).

[[connect_to_irc_server]]
== Connect to IRC server

----
/connect libera
----

With this command, WeeChat connects to the libera server and auto-joins the
channels configured in the "autojoin" server option.

[NOTE]
This command can be used to create and connect to a new server without using the
`/server` command (see `/help connect`).

By default, server buffers are merged with WeeChat _core_ buffer. To switch
between the _core_ buffer and server buffers, you can use kbd:[Ctrl+x].

It is possible to disable auto merge of server buffers to have independent
server buffers:

----
/set irc.look.server_buffer independent
----

[[join_part_irc_channels]]
== Join/part IRC channels

Join a channel:

----
/join #channel
----

Part a channel (keeping the buffer open):

----
/part [quit message]
----

Close a server, channel or private buffer (`/close` is an alias for
`/buffer close`):

----
/close
----

[CAUTION]
Closing the server buffer will close all channel/private buffers.

Disconnect from server, on the server buffer:

----
/disconnect
----


[[irc_private_messages]]
== IRC private messages

Open a buffer and send a message to another user (nick _foo_):

----
/query foo this is a message
----

Close the private buffer:

----
/close
----

[[buffer_window]]
== Buffer/window management

A buffer is a component linked to a plugin with a number, a category,
and a name. A buffer contains the data displayed on the screen.

A window is a view on a buffer. By default there's only one window
displaying one buffer. If you split the screen, you will see many windows
with many buffers at same time.

Commands to manage buffers and windows:

----
/buffer
/window
----

For example, to vertically split your screen into a small window (1/3 width),
and a large window (2/3), use command:

----
/window splitv 33
----

To remove the split:

----
/window merge
----

[[key_bindings]]
== Key bindings

WeeChat uses many keys by default. All these keys are in the documentation
(link:weechat_user.en.html#key_bindings[User's guide / Key bindings ^↗^^]),
but you should know at least some vital keys:

- kbd:[Alt+←] / kbd:[Alt+→] or kbd:[F5] / kbd:[F6]: switch to previous/next
  buffer
- kbd:[F1] / kbd:[F2]: scroll bar with list of buffers ("buflist")
- kbd:[F7] / kbd:[F8]: switch to previous/next window (when screen is split)
- kbd:[F9] / kbd:[F10]: scroll title bar
- kbd:[F11] / kbd:[F12]: scroll nicklist
- kbd:[Tab]: complete text in input bar, like in your shell
- kbd:[PgUp] / kbd:[PgDn]: scroll text in current buffer
- kbd:[Alt+a]: jump to buffer with activity (in hotlist)

According to your keyboard and/or your needs, you can rebind any key
to a command with the `/key` command.
A useful key is kbd:[Alt+k] to find key codes.

For example, to bind kbd:[Alt+!] to the command `/buffer close`:

----
/key bind (press alt-k) (press alt-!) /buffer close
----

You'll have a command line like:

----
/key bind meta-! /buffer close
----

To remove key:

----
/key unbind meta-!
----

[[plugins_scripts]]
== Plugins/scripts

On some distros like Debian, plugins are available via a separate package
(like weechat-plugins).
Plugins are automatically loaded when found (please look at the WeeChat
documentation to load/unload plugins or scripts).

Many external scripts (from contributors) are available for WeeChat, you can
download and install scripts from the repository with the `/script` command,
for example:

----
/script install go.py
----

See `/help script` for more info.

A list of scripts is available in WeeChat with `/script` or on
https://weechat.org/scripts/[this page ^↗^^].

[[more_doc]]
== More documentation

You can now use WeeChat and read
https://weechat.org/doc/[FAQ/documentation ^↗^^]
for any other questions.

Enjoy using WeeChat!
