NAME

pw-cli - The PipeWire Command Line Interface

SYNOPSIS

pw-cli [command]

DESCRIPTION

Interact with a PipeWire instance.

When a command is given, pw-cli(1) will execute the command and exit

When no command is given, pw-cli(1) starts an interactive session with the default pipewire instance pipewire-0.

Connections to other, remote instances can be made. The current instance name is displayed at the prompt. Some commands operate on the current instance and some on the local instance.

Use the 'help' command to list the available commands.

GENERAL COMMANDS

help: Show a quick help on the commands available.

MODULE MANAGEMENT

Modules are loaded and unloaded in the local instance and can add functionality or objects to the local instance.

load-module name [arguments...]: Load a module specified by its name and arguments. For most modules it is OK to be loaded more than once.

This command returns a module variable that can be used to unload the module.

unload-module module-var: Unload a module, specified either by its variable.

OBJECT INTROSPECTION

list-objects: List the objects of the current instance.

Objects are listed with their id, type and version.

info id|all: Get information about a specific object or all objects.

Requesting info about an object will also notify you of changes.

WORKING WITH REMOTES

connect [remote-name]: Connect to a remote instance and make this the new current instance.

If no remote name is specified, a connection is made to the default remote instance, usually pipewire-0

This command returns a remote var that can be used to disconnect or switch remotes

disconnect [remote-var]: Disconnect from a remote instance.

If no remote name is specified, the current instance is disconnected.

list-remotes: List all remote instances.
switch-remote [remote-var]: Make the specified remote the current instance.

If no remote name is specified, the local instance is made current.

NODE MANAGEMENT

create-node factory-name [properties...]: Create a node from a factory in the current instance.

Properties are key=value pairs separated by whitespace

This command returns a node variable.

destroy-node node-var: Destroy a node
export-node node-id [remote-var]: Export a node from the local instance to the specified instance. When no instance is specified, the node will be exported to the current instance.

LINK MANAGEMENT

create-link node-id port-id node-id port-id [properties...]: Create a link between 2 nodes and ports.

Port ids can be -1 to automatically select an available port.