CLI Reference

Complete reference for the Tallow command-line interface.

Global Options

--relay <ADDRESS>    Override default relay server
--tor                Route through Tor (SOCKS5 proxy)
--no-p2p             Disable peer-to-peer, force relay
--verbose            Enable verbose logging
--quiet              Suppress non-essential output
--no-color           Disable colored output (also respects NO_COLOR env)

Commands

tallow send

Send files or directories to a peer.

tallow send [OPTIONS] <FILES...>

Arguments:

• <FILES...> — One or more files or directories to send

Options:

Examples:

# Send a single file
tallow send photo.jpg

# Send multiple files
tallow send file1.txt file2.pdf

# Send a directory
tallow send ./documents/

# Send with a custom code
tallow send --code my-custom-code file.txt

# Send with password protection
tallow send --password sensitive.pdf

tallow receive

Receive files from a peer.

tallow receive [OPTIONS] <CODE>

Arguments:

• <CODE> — The room code from the sender

Options:

Examples:

# Receive with a room code
tallow receive U93DGU

# Receive to a specific directory
tallow receive --output ~/Downloads U93DGU

# Auto-accept without confirmation
tallow receive --yes U93DGU

tallow chat

Start an encrypted chat session.

tallow chat [OPTIONS] [CODE]

Options:

Examples:

# Start a new chat (generates code)
tallow chat

# Join an existing chat
tallow chat U93DGU

tallow clip

Share clipboard content securely.

tallow clip [OPTIONS] [CODE]

Sends or receives clipboard text through an encrypted channel.

tallow tui

Launch the interactive terminal UI.

tallow tui

Opens a full-screen terminal interface with panels for sending, receiving, chat, clipboard, contacts, history, and settings. Supports slash commands and a command palette (Ctrl+K).

tallow identity

Manage your cryptographic identity.

tallow identity [SUBCOMMAND]

Subcommands:

tallow config

Manage configuration.

tallow config [SUBCOMMAND]

Subcommands:

tallow doctor

Run diagnostic checks.

tallow doctor

Checks system compatibility, crypto library availability, network connectivity to the relay, and Tor availability.

tallow benchmark

Benchmark cryptographic operations.

tallow benchmark [OPTIONS]

Tests ML-KEM key generation, encapsulation, AES-256-GCM throughput, BLAKE3 hashing speed, and Argon2id derivation time.

tallow speed-test

Test transfer speed to the relay.

tallow speed-test [OPTIONS]

Measures upload throughput to the configured relay server.

tallow completions

Generate shell completions.

tallow completions <SHELL>

Supported shells: bash, zsh, fish, powershell, elvish

# Bash
tallow completions bash > ~/.bash_completion.d/tallow

# Zsh
tallow completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_tallow

# Fish
tallow completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/tallow.fish

tallow update

Update Tallow to the latest version.

tallow update

Auto-detects your installation method (Homebrew, Scoop, or binary download) and updates accordingly.

Environment Variables