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
tries gui
first, and fallbacks to simple
if it’s
not possible.
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 shortcutone to (un)mute audio with the
m
key shortcutone to hang up with the
h
key shortcut.Ctrl+c
will also have the same effect.
The following output options can be used:
split: use 2 windows, one for local feedback and the other for remote video, instead of the default single one with local feedback use with Picture-in-Picture.
size=widthxheight: specify the size of the destination windows (when split is not used). By default, 1280x720 is used.
tui¶
A Text User Interface can be used; it will then output the video streams directly in the terminal.
To make it work, you need to have a terminal compatible with at least one image standard (Kitty, iTerm2, or “block”, which uses Unicode half blocks and 24-bit color escape codes).
The control buttons are the same as for the simple
output.
Note
term-image is used to display images in the terminal. Check its documentation to see if your terminal is compatible with it (or just try). You can check compatibility at https://term-image.readthedocs.io/en/stable/start/installation.html#supported-terminal-emulators
Note
You need to have installed the term-image
package to make it work. It is the case
if you have used [TUI] or [all] dependencies during Libervia installation.
The following output options can be used:
renderer=RENDERER: Use a specific renderer. It is case-insensitive and RENDERER can be one of:
auto (default): selects the best possible renderer automatically
block: uses Unicode half blocks. This option may be less resource-intensive than other options (but not necessarily, depending on the implementation).
iterm2: iTerm2 image protocol
fps: frames per second to render. It defaults to 25, you can try lower values if your machine struggles to show images.
size: same as for
simple
output, except the default here is 640x380 for performance reasons.
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:
Note
You need to have installed the PyQt6
package to make it work. It is the case if you
have used [GUI] or [all] dependencies during Libervia installation.
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
Louise is expecting Pierre call, and will use TUI with the block
renderer to show it:
$ li call receive -a pierre@example.net -O tui --oo renderer=block
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.