toot/docs/usage.rst

=====
Usage
=====

Running ``toot`` displays a list of available commands.

Running ``toot <command> -h`` shows the documentation for the given command.

.. code-block:: none

    $ toot

    toot - a Mastodon CLI client

    Authentication:
      toot login       Log into a mastodon instance using your browser (recommended)
      toot login_cli   Log in from the console, does NOT support two factor authentication
      toot activate    Switch between logged in accounts.
      toot logout      Log out, delete stored access keys
      toot auth        Show logged in accounts and instances

    Read:
      toot whoami      Display logged in user details
      toot whois       Display account details
      toot instance    Display instance details
      toot search      Search for users or hashtags
      toot timeline    Show recent items in a timeline (home by default)
      toot curses      An experimental timeline app (doesn't work on Windows)

    Post:
      toot post        Post a status text to your timeline
      toot upload      Upload an image or video file
      toot delete      Delete an existing status

    Accounts:
      toot follow      Follow an account
      toot unfollow    Unfollow an account
      toot mute        Mute an account
      toot unmute      Unmute an account
      toot block       Block an account
      toot unblock     Unblock an account

    To get help for each command run:
      toot <command> --help

    https://github.com/ihabunek/toot

Authentication
--------------

Before tooting, you need to log into a Mastodon instance.

.. code-block:: sh

    toot login

You will be redirected to your Mastodon instance to log in and authorize toot to access your account, and will be given an **authorization code** in return which you need to enter to log in.

The application and user access tokens will be saved in the configuration file located at ``~/.config/toot/instances/config.json``.

Using multiple accounts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's possible to be logged into **multiple accounts** at the same time. Just repeat the login process for another instance. You can see all logged in accounts by running ``toot auth``. The currently active account will have an **ACTIVE** flag next to it.

To switch accounts, use ``toot activate``. Alternatively, most commands accept a ``--using`` option which can be used to specify the account you wish to use just that one time.

Finally you can logout from an account by using ``toot logout``. This will remove the stored access tokens for that account.

Examples
--------

Posting
~~~~~~~

The simplest action is posting a status.

.. code-block:: bash

  toot post "hello there"

You can also attach media:

.. code-block:: bash

  toot post "hello media" --media path/to/image.png

If the media is sensitive, mark it as such and people will need to click to show it:

.. code-block:: bash

  toot post "naughty pics ahoy" --media nsfw.png --sensitive


It is possible to pipe in the status text:

.. code-block:: bash

    echo "Text to post" | toot post
    cat post.txt | toot post
    toot post < post.txt


Using the Curses UI
~~~~~~~

toot has an expimental curses based console UI. The command to start it is ``toot curses``.

To navigate the UI use these commands:

* ``k`` or ``up arrow`` or ``A`` to move up the list of tweets
* ``j`` or ``down arrow`` or ``B`` to move down the list of tweets
* ``h`` to show a help screen
* ``v`` to view the current toot in a browser (this is great for seeing the comment thread on a toot)
* ``q`` to quit the curses interface and return to the command line
* ``s`` to show sensitive content. (This is per-toot, and there will be a read bar in the toot to indicate that it is there.)

*Note that the curses UI is not available on Windows.*