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
always select simple
output.
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 have the same effect.
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:
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
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.