---
name: "primitivus"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "sat-xmpp-primitivus"
version: "0.8.0~hg3453.864485605d12-3"
release: "Debian 11 (Bullseye)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/primitivus"
---

# primitivus(1)

Salut à Toi's console interface

## NAME

primitivus - Salut à Toi's console interface

## SYNOPSIS

primitivus \[ **--profile=***PROFILE* \| **--help** \]

## DESCRIPTION

Primitivus is Salut à Toi's console interface, based on Urwid.

Primitivus is modal (vi-like), one can switch from one mode to another in the same way as in vi/vim:

- •

  From any mode, press **\[Esc\]** to switch to normal mode.

- •

  From normal mode, press **:** to switch to command mode.

- •

  From normal mode, press **i** to switch to insert mode — the one you use to write messages to your contacts.

Primitivus can be handled either with the mouse, in a very intuitive way, or with the keyboard. The keyboard shortcuts are explained in the section **KEYBOARD** **HANDLING**.

## OPTIONS

- **--profile=***PROFILE* **-p** *PROFILE*

  select the profile to use

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

  display a help message and quit

## KEYBOARD HANDLING

In the sequel we use the following shortcuts:

- •

  **C** stands for *Ctrl*

- •

  **M** means *Meta*, on a PC it is usually the *Alt* key

- •

  **S** stands for *Shift*

### Main keys

- **C-x**

  quit Primitivus

- **\[tab\]** **C-up/down arrow**

  change focus

- **C-f 1** **C-f m**

  focus on the menu

- **C-f 2** **C-f b**

  focus on the roster or the chat window

- **C-f 3** **C-f e**

  focus on the edition line

- **M-m**

  display/hide the menu

- **C-n**

  show the next notification

- **C-s**

  hide/redisplay a pop-up window temporarily

- **F2**

  hide/display the roster

- **C-l**

  refresh the screen

### Chat rooms

- **M-j**

  join a chat room

- **M-p**

  hide/display the list of participants

- **M-t**

  hide/display timestamps

- **M-n**

  use/don't use short nicks

- **M-l**

  hide/display frame decorations

- **M-s**

  change the room's topic appearance by switching between:

  - •

    one single line (the topic is cut if it's too long)

  - •

    the full topic

  - •

    topic hidden

### Edition line

- **C-a** **\[home\]**

  move the cursor at the beginning of the line

- **C-e** **\[end\]**

  move the cursor at the end of the line

- **C-k**

  erase the line, starting at the cursor's position

- **C-w**

  erase the last word

- **S-\[tab\]**

  invoke completion (dependent on the context)

- **up/down arrows**

  browse sent messages history

### Contacts

- **M-d**

  hide/display offline contacts

- **M-s**

  hide/display contacts' status messages

### Card game

- **space**

  select a card

## COMMANDS

The following commands must be typed in command mode (type **\[Esc\]** to switch to normal mode, then the **:** at the beginning of the command will switch to command mode).

- **:quit**

  quit Primitivus

- **:messages**

  display log messages (see also the *SAT\_LOG\_LEVEL* environment variable in [**sat**(1)](/sat/1.md))

- **:presence \[status\]**

  set your presence status. Invoked without argument, a pop-up will allow you to choose your presence status; otherwise, you can use the following arguments:

  - **online**

    - **chat**

    (free to chat)

  - **away**

    (away from keyboard)

  - **dnd**

    (do not disturb)

  - **xa**

    (extended away)

- **:status \[message\]**

  set your status message. Invoked without argument, a pop-up will allow you to enter a message.

- **:history**

  set the number of lines of history to display in the chat window (**:history 0** to clear the window)

## SEE ALSO

[**sat**(1)](/sat/1.md)

## AUTHORS AND COPYING

Salut à Toi was written by Jérôme Poisson \<goffi@goffi.org\>.

This man page was converted from the help message and Salut à Toi's wiki by Matteo Cypriani \<mcy@lm7.fr\> for the Debian distribution (2013). It is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (CC-By-SA 3.0).