A terminal-based Signal messenger client with an IRC aesthetic. Wraps signal-cli via JSON-RPC for the messaging backend.

Install

Homebrew (macOS)

brew tap johnsideserf/siggy
brew install siggy

Pre-built binaries

Download the latest release for your platform from Releases.

Linux / macOS (one-liner):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/johnsideserf/siggy/master/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/johnsideserf/siggy/master/install.ps1 | iex

Both scripts download the latest release binary and check for signal-cli.

From crates.io

Requires Rust 1.70+.

cargo install siggy

Build from source

Or clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/johnsideserf/siggy.git
cd siggy
cargo build --release
# Binary is at target/release/siggy

Prerequisites

• signal-cli installed and accessible on PATH (or configured via signal_cli_path)
• A Signal account linked as a secondary device (the setup wizard handles this)

Usage

siggy                        # Launch (uses config file)
siggy -a +15551234567        # Specify account
siggy -c /path/to/config.toml  # Custom config path
siggy --setup                # Re-run first-time setup wizard
siggy --demo                 # Launch with dummy data (no signal-cli needed)
siggy --incognito            # No local message storage (in-memory only)

On first launch, the setup wizard guides you through locating signal-cli, entering your phone number, and linking your device via QR code.

Configuration

Config is loaded from:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.config/siggy/config.toml
• Windows: %APPDATA%\siggy\config.toml

account = "+15551234567"
signal_cli_path = "signal-cli"
download_dir = "/home/user/signal-downloads"
notify_direct = true
notify_group = true
desktop_notifications = false
inline_images = true
mouse_enabled = true
send_read_receipts = true
theme = "Default"
proxy = ""

All fields are optional. signal_cli_path defaults to "signal-cli" (found via PATH), and download_dir defaults to ~/signal-downloads/. On Windows, use the full path to signal-cli.bat if it isn't in your PATH.

Features

• Messaging -- Send and receive 1:1 and group messages
• Attachments -- Image previews rendered inline as halfblock art; non-image attachments shown as [attachment: filename]
• Clickable links -- URLs and file paths are OSC 8 hyperlinks (clickable in terminals like Windows Terminal, iTerm2, etc.)
• Typing indicators -- Shows who is typing with contact name resolution
• Message sync -- Messages sent from your phone appear in the TUI
• Persistence -- SQLite message storage with WAL mode; conversations and read markers survive restarts
• Unread tracking -- Unread counts in sidebar with "new messages" separator in chat
• Notifications -- Terminal bell on new messages (configurable per direct/group, per-chat mute) and OS-level desktop notifications
• Contact resolution -- Names from your Signal address book; groups auto-populated on startup
• Message reactions -- React with r in Normal mode; emoji picker with badge display (👍 2 ❤️ 1)
• Reply / quote -- Press q on a focused message to reply with quoted context
• Edit messages -- Press e to edit your own sent messages
• Delete messages -- Press d to delete locally or remotely (for your own messages)
• Message search -- /search <query> with n/N to jump between results
• @mentions -- Type @ in group chats to mention members with autocomplete
• Message selection -- Focused message highlight when scrolling; J/K to jump between messages
• Read receipts -- Status symbols on outgoing messages (Sending → Sent → Delivered → Read → Viewed)
• Disappearing messages -- Honors Signal's disappearing message timers; set per-conversation with /disappearing
• Group management -- Create groups, add/remove members, rename, leave via /group
• Message requests -- Accept or delete messages from unknown senders
• Block / unblock -- Block contacts or groups with /block and /unblock
• Mouse support -- Click sidebar conversations, scroll messages, click to position cursor
• Color themes -- Selectable themes via /theme or /settings
• Setup wizard -- First-run onboarding with QR code device linking
• Vim keybindings -- Modal editing (Normal/Insert) with full cursor movement
• Command autocomplete -- Tab-completion popup for slash commands
• Settings overlay -- Toggle notifications, sidebar, inline images from within the app
• Responsive layout -- Resizable sidebar that auto-hides on narrow terminals (<60 columns)
• Incognito mode -- --incognito uses in-memory storage; nothing persists after exit
• Proxy support -- Configure a Signal TLS proxy via the proxy config field for use in restricted networks
• Demo mode -- Try the UI without signal-cli (--demo)

Commands

Command	Alias	Description
/join <name>	/j	Switch to a conversation by contact name, number, or group
/part	/p	Leave current conversation
/attach	/a	Open file browser to attach a file
/search <query>	/s	Search messages in current (or all) conversations
/sidebar	/sb	Toggle sidebar visibility
/bell [type]	/notify	Toggle notifications (direct, group, or both)
/mute		Mute/unmute current conversation
/block		Block current contact or group
/unblock		Unblock current contact or group
/disappearing <dur>	/dm	Set disappearing message timer (off, 30s, 5m, 1h, 1d, 1w)
/group	/g	Open group management menu
/theme	/t	Open theme picker
/contacts	/c	Browse synced contacts
/settings		Open settings overlay
/help	/h	Show help overlay
/quit	/q	Exit siggy

Type / to open the autocomplete popup. Use Tab to complete, arrow keys to navigate.

To message a new contact: /join +15551234567 (E.164 format).

Keyboard Shortcuts

The app uses vim-style modal editing with two modes: Insert (default) and Normal.

Global (both modes)

Key	Action
Ctrl+C	Quit
Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous conversation
PgUp / PgDn	Scroll messages (5 lines)
Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right	Resize sidebar

Normal mode

Press Esc to enter Normal mode.

Key	Action
j / k	Scroll down / up 1 line
J / K	Jump to previous / next message
Ctrl+D / Ctrl+U	Scroll down / up half page
g / G	Scroll to top / bottom
h / l	Move cursor left / right
w / b	Word forward / back
0 / $	Start / end of line
x	Delete character at cursor
D	Delete from cursor to end
y / Y	Copy message body / full line
r	React to focused message
q	Reply / quote focused message
e	Edit own sent message
d	Delete message (local or remote)
n / N	Jump to next / previous search match
i	Enter Insert mode
a	Enter Insert mode (cursor right 1)
I / A	Enter Insert mode at start / end of line
o	Enter Insert mode (clear buffer)
/	Enter Insert mode with / pre-typed

Insert mode (default)

Key	Action
Esc	Switch to Normal mode
Enter	Send message / execute command
Backspace / Delete	Delete characters
Up / Down	Recall input history
Left / Right	Move cursor
Home / End	Jump to start / end of line

Architecture

Keyboard --> InputAction --> App state --> SignalClient (mpsc) --> signal-cli (JSON-RPC stdin/stdout)
signal-cli --> JsonRpcResponse --> SignalEvent (mpsc) --> App state --> SQLite + Ratatui render

+------------+   mpsc channels   +----------------+
|  TUI       | <---------------> |  Signal        |
|  (main     |   SignalEvent     |  Backend       |
|  thread)   |   UserCommand     |  (tokio task)  |
+------------+                   +--------+-------+
                                          |
                                   stdin/stdout
                                          |
                                 +--------v-------+
                                 |  signal-cli    |
                                 |  (child proc)  |
                                 +----------------+

Built with Ratatui + Crossterm on a Tokio async runtime.

License

GPL-3.0