WEECHAT-HEADLESS(1) WeeChat Manual WEECHAT-HEADLESS(1)

weechat-headless - the extensible chat client (headless version)

weechat-headless [-a|--no-connect] [--daemon] [--stdout] [-d|--dir <path>] [-t|--temp-dir] [-p|--no-plugin] [-P|--plugins <plugins>] [-r|--run-command <command>] [-s|--no-script] [--upgrade] [debug-option...] [plugin:option...]
weechat-headless [-c|--colors]
weechat-headless [-h|--help]
weechat-headless [-l|--license]
weechat-headless [-v|--version]

WeeChat (Wee Enhanced Environment for Chat) is a free chat client, fast and light, designed for many operating systems. It is highly customizable and extensible with scripts.

The command weechat-headless runs WeeChat in a headless mode (no interface). It can be used for tests or to daemonize WeeChat with the option "--daemon".

-a, --no-connect

Disable auto-connect to servers when WeeChat is starting.

-c, --colors

Display default colors in terminal.

--daemon

Run WeeChat in background, as a daemon (works only with the command weechat-headless).

--stdout

Display log messages on standard output instead of writing them in log file (works only with the command weechat-headless, not compatible with option "--daemon").

-d, --dir <path>

Force a single directory for all WeeChat files (directory is created if not found). Four directories can be given, separated by colons (in this order: config, data, cache, runtime). If this option is not given, the environment variable WEECHAT_HOME is used (if not empty).

-t, --temp-dir

Create a temporary WeeChat home directory and delete it on exit (incompatible with option "-d").
The name of the directory is automatically built by WeeChat, with this template: "weechat_temp_XXXXXX" (where "XXXXXX" is random). It it created in the first available directory in this list: environment variable "TMPDIR", "/tmp" (may be different according to the operating system), environment variable "HOME", current directory.
The temporary home directory has permissions 0700 (only owner can read, write and execute).

-h, --help

Display help.

-i, --build-info

Display build information and exit.

-l, --license

Display WeeChat license.

-p, --no-plugin

Disable plugins auto-load.

-P, --plugins <plugins>

Load only these plugins at startup (see /help weechat.plugin.autoload). If this option is given, the option weechat.plugin.autoload is not used.

-r, --run-command <command>

Run command(s) after startup; many commands can be separated by semicolons, this option can be given multiple times.

-s, --no-script

Disable scripts auto-load.

--upgrade

Upgrade WeeChat using session files generated with command /upgrade -quit.

-v, --version

Display WeeChat version.

plugin:option

Option for a plugin.

WARNING: these options are for debug purposes only, DO NOT USE IN PRODUCTION!

--no-dlclose

Do not call the function dlclose after plugins are unloaded. This is useful with tools like Valgrind to display stack for unloaded plugins.

--no-gnutls

Do not call the init and deinit functions of GnuTLS library. This is useful with tools like Valgrind and electric-fence, to prevent GnuTLS memory errors.

--no-gcrypt

Do not call the init and deinit functions of Gcrypt library. This is useful with tools like Valgrind, to prevent Gcrypt memory errors.

For complete doc on plugin options, please look at plugins documentation in WeeChat user’s guide https://weechat.org/doc.

With irc plugin, you can connect to a server with an URL like:

irc[6][s]://[[nickname][:password]@]server[:port][/#channel1[,#channel2...]]

To join WeeChat IRC channel support with nick "mynick":

irc://mynick@irc.libera.chat/#weechat

IPv6 address can be enclosed in brackets to add a port after address, for example:

irc://mynick@[2001:db8:0:85a3::ac1f:8001]:6668/#test

$HOME/.config/weechat/weechat.conf

main WeeChat configuration file

$HOME/.config/weechat/plugins.conf

plugins configuration file

$HOME/.config/weechat/sec.conf

configuration file with secured data

$HOME/.config/weechat/alias.conf

configuration file for alias plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/buflist.conf

configuration file for buflist plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/charset.conf

configuration file for charset plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/exec.conf

configuration file for exec plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/fifo.conf

configuration file for fifo plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/fset.conf

configuration file for fset plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/guile.conf

configuration file for guile plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/irc.conf

configuration file for irc plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/javascript.conf

configuration file for javascript plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/logger.conf

configuration file for logger plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/lua.conf

configuration file for lua plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/perl.conf

configuration file for perl plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/php.conf

configuration file for php plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/python.conf

configuration file for python plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/relay.conf

configuration file for relay plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/ruby.conf

configuration file for ruby plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/script.conf

configuration file for script plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/spell.conf

configuration file for spell plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/tcl.conf

configuration file for tcl plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/trigger.conf

configuration file for trigger plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/typing.conf

configuration file for typing plugin

$HOME/.config/weechat/xfer.conf

configuration file for xfer plugin

$HOME/.local/share/weechat/weechat.log

WeeChat log file

weechat(1)

This manpage was written by Sébastien Helleu.

WeeChat is written by Sébastien Helleu and contributors (complete list is in the AUTHORS.md file).

Copyright © 2003-2026 Sébastien Helleu

WeeChat is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Please read the COPYING file for more information.

Web: https://weechat.org

For help or a bug report: https://weechat.org/about/support

Sébastien Helleu

WeeChat 4.10.1