---
name: "fb"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "fb-client"
version: "2.4.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/fb"
---

# fb(1)

a client for https://paste.xinu.at

## NAME

**fb** – a client for https://paste.xinu.at

## SYNOPSIS

**fb** \[options\] *file\|directory\|id://ID\|URL* *...*

**fb** \[**-dg**\] \[options\] *ID\|URL* *...*

**fb** \[**-hv**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**fb** is a client to https://paste.xinu.at which allows the user to easily upload, delete or download files. By default, files will be uploaded as-is and a link to the file will be printed to stdout after each upload. If multiple files are uploaded a multipaste ( see **--multipaste** ) will be created automatically.

Directories will be packed into a tarball and the resulting *upload.tar* file will be uploaded. If no arguments are given, data will be read from stdin into a temporary file that will be uploaded as soon as EOF is received. If the file being uploaded is bigger than 10MiB **fb** will query the server for the maximum upload size and abort the upload if the file would be rejected.

Before terminating, **fb** will try to copy all links into the clipboard. Depending on the environment from which **fb** was executed. If you want this to work, you need to install the correct tool for your environment:

- [xclip(1)](/xclip/1.md)

  when running on X11

- [wl-clipboard(1)](/wl-clipboard/1.md)

  when running on wayland

- pbcopy(1)

  when running on Mac OS / Darwin

If you want to use paste.xinu.at, you need to create an account there and then run ‘**fb** **-a**’ to create an API key.

IDs of existing pastes can either be given as URLs pointing to that paste or by prefixing the ID with "id://".

## OPTIONS

- **-c,** **--compress**

  Compress the files to be uploaded using [gzip(1)](/gzip/1.md). This affects all files including piped content and directories. If specified twice, [xz(1)](/xz/1.md) will be used rather than gzip. If used in conjunction with the -g option this decompresses the download before it's output to stdout.

- **-d,** **--delete**

  Delete the IDs. You can no longer upload files in this mode. If the argument is a URL, **fb** will try to extract the ID. This option also accepts IDs without the "id://" prefix.

- **--config** *\<config* *file\>*

  Use an alternative configuration file. The default value is "$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/fb-client/config".

- **-e** *extension,* **--extension** *extension*

  Change the extension used for highlighting. You can also do this if you have already uploaded the file by appending the extension to the URL. https://paste.xinu.at/\<ID\>/bash will change the syntax highlighting to bash.

- **-n** *\<file* *name\>,* **--name** *\<file* *name\>*

  Use the specified file name for the upload when pasting from stdin. Defaults to "stdin"

- **-a,** **--create-apikey**

  Create a new API key. Asks for username and password.

- **-H,** **--history**

  Display a history of uploads.

- **-g,** **--get**

  Download the IDs and output on stdout. Please take care when using this, as binary data may cause unexpected results when being output directly to a terminal. You can no longer upload files in this mode. If the argument is a URL, **fb** will try to extract the ID. This option also accepts IDs without the "id://" prefix.

- **-m,** **--multipaste**

  Create a multipaste of the IDs/files/directories/URLs. This uploads files as always, but then creates a multipaste combining all of them. URLs starting with the pastebin URL will have their ID extracted and will not be downloaded. Only the multipaste URL will be displayed and copied to the clipboard. This option is enabled automatically if multiple files are uploaded.

- **-M** *\<length\>,* **--min-id-length** *\<length\>*

  Request the server to generate IDs of at least \<length\> characters. The minimum supported length are two characters.

- **-h,** **--help**

  Display a short help message.

- **-t,** **--tar**

  Upload a tar file containing all files and directories specified on the command line. The file name can be specified with the -n option. (don't add any extensions)

- **-v,** **--version**

  Display the client version.

- **-D,** **--debug**

  Display debugging information.

## CONFIGURATION FILES

- $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/fb-client/apikey

  This file contains the API key to use for authentication.

- $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/fb-client/config

  This file allows to override certain variables by using the format 'option\_name="value"'. Both, the option value and name, are case-sensitive string literals. Environment variables can be used in the value by using the $VARIABLE\_NAME syntax.

  The following option names are supported:

  - pastebin

    The URL of the pastebin you want to use

  - clipboard\_cmd

    The command used to copy URLs of uploaded files to the clipboard. This defaults to [xclip(1)](/xclip/1.md) on X11, [wl-copy(1)](/wl-copy/1.md) on Wayland and pbcopy(1) on Mac OS / Darwin.

  - clipboard\_target

    Configure which clipboard to use. Allowed settings:

    - default

      Use the default behavior, i.e. "primary" for X11/xclip and "clipboard" for Wayland/wl-copy. This is implicitly the default if not specified.

    - none / off

      Disable copying the upload URL into the clipboard.

    - primary

      Enforce copy into the "primary" selection (for Wayland/wl-copy).

    - clipboard

      Enforce copy into the "clipboard" selection (for X11/xclip).

  - apikey\_file

    The file that contains the API key. This defaults to "$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/fb-client/apikey"

## ENVIRONMENT

Some options can be changed by modifying environment variables:

- GZIP

  Assigning GZIP will make the gzip-program treat it's value as if they had been appended to the command line.

- XZ\_OPTS

  The XZ\_OPTS environment variable can be used in order to pass additional options to xz, in case xz is used for compression.

- TMPDIR

  Setting TMPDIR to some directory where **fb** creates temporary files inside this directory rather than the system default.

## EXAMPLES

- **fb** **-tc** *directory* *file*

  This will create a .tar archive containing the directory and the file and compress it using gzip and upload one archive.

- **fb** **-c** *directory* *file*

  This will create a .tar archive containing only the directory. Both (directory and file) will be compressed using gzip and uploaded independently.

- **fb** **-cc** *directory*

  This will create a .tar archive containing only the directory and compress it using xz.

- **fb** *id://1bAc* *directory* *file* *https://paste.xinu.at/42SomeID/* *http://example.com/example.png*

  This will create a multipaste containing an existing paste with the ID 1bAc, a tarball of the directory, the file, the existing paste 42SomeID, the file example.png, which will be downloaded by the client and then uploaded to the server.

- **make** **\|&** **fb**

  This will upload the output of make (stdout and stderr) in csh and similar shells.

## SEE ALSO

[curl(1)](/curl/1.md), [gzip(1)](/gzip/1.md), [tar(1)](/tar/1.md), [xz(1)](/xz/1.md), [xclip(1)](/xclip/1.md)

## AUTHORS

**fb** was written by

- Florian Pritz ⟨bluewind@xinu.at⟩

- Moritz Wilhelmy ⟨moritz@wzff.de⟩

and may be copied under the terms of the GPLv3.