arcanechat-tui/docs/user-guide.md

User Guide

Installation

Install Cursed Delta with pip:

$ pip install -U deltachat-cursed

Usage

After installation the command delta should be available, or you can use python3 -m deltachat-cursed. You can check if it is installed running the command delta --version or delta --help to see all the options

Creating new account

The first time you use Cursed Delta you need to configure your account:

$ delta init me@example.com

You will be asked for a password, press enter directly (empty password) to use OAuth2. Then run delta command to start the application with your configured account.

Opening existing account

If you want to use an already existent account, for example to open an account created with the official Delta Chat client:

$ delta --db ~/.config/DeltaChat/accounts/XXXXXXXXX/dc.db

If the account is encrypted you will be asked for a password.

Creating encrypted account

To create an encrypted account:

$ delta --prompt --db ~/MyAccounts/encrypted.db init me@example.com

You will be prompted for a password to encrypt the database, keep the password safe because you will need it to open the account each time and if the password is lost you will lose access to the account.

Tips

• Messages will be displayed in red if someone mentions you.
• You will get a notification if someone mentions you in a group.
• The message timestamp will be gray if the message is encrypted, or red if message is not encrypted.
• You will see → in your message if it is not sent yet, ✓ if it was send, ✓✓ when the message was read, or ✖ if the message was not delivered to some of the recipients.
• You can send emojis sending typing their string representation, for example: :thumbs_up:
• You can have emoji, contact names and commands autocompletion typing :, @ or / and pressing Tab
• You can tweak the app colors editing ~/.curseddelta/theme.json
• You can tweak the app keymap editing ~/.curseddelta/keymap.json
• You can tweak the app settings editing ~/.curseddelta/curseddelta.conf
• Put global theme, keymap, and config files in /etc/curseddelta/
• You can have per-folder config files, the application search for this files in the current working directory: ./curseddelta-theme.json, ./curseddelta-keymap.json, ./curseddelta.conf
• If you like to use the mouse, you can use the mouse to select chats in the chat list, select the draft area or scroll in the message history.

Configuration File Options

Inside your curseddelta.conf file, create a [global] section and there you can set:

• account_path: the path to the default accouunt database to be open when the program is launched without --db option
• notification: set to yes/no to enable/disable notifications (default: yes)
• date_format: format of the date marker in chats (default: %x)
• display_emoji: set to yes/no to enable/disable emoji rendering (default: yes)

Default Shortcuts

• Press Esc to leave the draft/editing area.
• Press q to quit the program.
• Press Ctrl + x to toggle the chat list.
• Use Meta + Enter to enter new line.
• Use Ctrl + o to open attachemnt in the last message in chat.
• You can switch chats with Meta + ↑ and Meta + ↓.
• Vim-like key bindings are also available, use h j k l to navigate between lists, use i to select the draft area and Esc to leave it.
• For shortcuts in the draft/editing area see: urwid_readline

Commands

This are some temporal commands to do things that are not implemented yet using a menu:

• Send /query user@example.com to start a private chat with user@example.com
• Send /add user@example.com to add user@example.com to the group where the command is sent
• Send /kick user@example.com to remove user@example.com from the group where the command is sent
• Send /part in a group to leave it
• Send /delete to delete the chat
• Send /names in a group to get the member list in the buffer, use Ctrl + l to clear
• Use /join GroupName to create a group named GroupName
• Send /id in a chat to get the chat's ID
• Use /send /path/to/file.txt to send a file attachment
• Send /nick YourNick to set your display name
• Send /pin or /unpin to pin/unpin chat
• Send /mute or /unmute to mute/unmute chat
• Send /topic <NEW NAME> to change chat name
• Send /clear to delete all messages in current chat
• To send a message starting with / use //