How do I install the Wacrawl skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add gabrielmoreira/wacrawl in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Wacrawl safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Wacrawl?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Wacrawl free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Wacrawl?

gabrielmoreira (@gabrielmoreira) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Wacrawl by gabrielmoreira — Agent Skill

Name: Wacrawl
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: gabrielmoreira

Wacrawl

Read-only local archive and full-text search of WhatsApp Desktop messages via the wacrawl CLI. Use for searching chat history, exporting conversations, and creating encrypted backups. macOS only (reads local WhatsApp Desktop SQLite databases).

gabrielmoreira Updated Sep 9, 2026 17 repo stars

File contents

wacrawl — WhatsApp Desktop Archive (Read-Only)

wacrawl is a read-only local archive tool for WhatsApp Desktop on macOS. It snapshots the local SQLite databases (ChatStorage.sqlite, ContactsV2.sqlite) without modifying them. Use it for searching chat history, exporting conversations, and creating encrypted backups.

This is different from wacli — wacrawl is read-only archaeology of local data; wacli is an active WhatsApp Web client for sending/receiving messages.

Secret Safety

wacrawl reads local files only — no API tokens needed.
The optional age encryption key at ~/.wacrawl/age.key is auto-generated and must not be printed to agent context.
Never read, print, or send ~/.wacrawl/age.key to LLM context.

Prerequisites

macOS only (reads WhatsApp Desktop's local SQLite databases).
WhatsApp Desktop must be installed and have synced messages.
Full Disk Access may be required for the terminal app to read WhatsApp's container.

Health Check

wacrawl doctor

Sync Local Data

wacrawl sync

Snapshots the current state of WhatsApp Desktop's databases into wacrawl's local store.

List Chats

wacrawl chats
wacrawl chats --limit 20
wacrawl chats --json

Search Messages

wacrawl search "query"
wacrawl search "invoice" --limit 20
wacrawl messages --chat <jid> --limit 50
wacrawl messages --chat <jid> --json

Encrypted Backup

wacrawl backup
wacrawl backup --output /path/to/backup/

Creates age-encrypted JSONL.gz shards suitable for Git-backed storage.

Saving to Memory

To save search results or chat exports to Moltis memory for future reference:

Run wacrawl with --json output
Summarize the relevant conversations into a daily digest
Save as memory/whatsapp/YYYY-MM-DD.md

Example workflow:

wacrawl search "project meeting" --json --limit 20

Then write a summary to memory:

# WhatsApp — 2026-04-28

## Key Conversations
- Discussion with Alice about project timeline — agreed on June deadline
- Bob shared the updated budget spreadsheet
- Team group: standup notes, blockers discussed

Notes

Store dir: ~/.wacrawl (override with --store).
Use --json for machine-readable output when parsing.
JIDs: direct chats look like <number>@s.whatsapp.net; groups look like <id>@g.us.
This tool cannot work inside a Linux sandbox — it requires macOS WhatsApp Desktop files.

---name: wacrawldescription: Read-only local archive and full-text search of WhatsApp Desktop messages via the wacrawl CLI. Use for searching chat history, exporting conversations, and creating encrypted backups. macOS only (reads local WhatsApp Desktop SQLite databases).--- # wacrawl — WhatsApp Desktop Archive (Read-Only) `wacrawl` is a read-only local archive tool for WhatsApp Desktop on macOS. It snapshots the local SQLite databases (ChatStorage.sqlite, ContactsV2.sqlite) without modifying them. Use it for searching chat history, exporting conversations, and creating encrypted backups. This is different from `wacli` — wacrawl is read-only archaeology of local data; wacli is an active WhatsApp Web client for sending/receiving messages. ## Secret Safety - wacrawl reads local files only — no API tokens needed. - The optional age encryption key at `~/.wacrawl/age.key` is auto-generated and must not be printed to agent context. - **Never** read, print, or send `~/.wacrawl/age.key` to LLM context. ## Prerequisites - macOS only (reads WhatsApp Desktop's local SQLite databases). - WhatsApp Desktop must be installed and have synced messages. - Full Disk Access may be required for the terminal app to read WhatsApp's container. ## Health Check ```bash wacrawl doctor ``` ## Sync Local Data ```bash wacrawl sync ``` Snapshots the current state of WhatsApp Desktop's databases into wacrawl's local store. ## List Chats ```bash wacrawl chats wacrawl chats --limit 20 wacrawl chats --json ``` ## Search Messages ```bash wacrawl search "query" wacrawl search "invoice" --limit 20 wacrawl messages --chat <jid> --limit 50 wacrawl messages --chat <jid> --json ``` ## Encrypted Backup ```bash wacrawl backup wacrawl backup --output /path/to/backup/ ``` Creates age-encrypted JSONL.gz shards suitable for Git-backed storage. ## Saving to Memory To save search results or chat exports to Moltis memory for future reference: 1. Run wacrawl with `--json` output 2. Summarize the relevant conversations into a daily digest 3. Save as `memory/whatsapp/YYYY-MM-DD.md` Example workflow: ```bash wacrawl search "project meeting" --json --limit 20 ``` Then write a summary to memory: ```markdown # WhatsApp — 2026-04-28 ## Key Conversations - Discussion with Alice about project timeline — agreed on June deadline - Bob shared the updated budget spreadsheet - Team group: standup notes, blockers discussed ``` ## Notes - Store dir: `~/.wacrawl` (override with `--store`). - Use `--json` for machine-readable output when parsing. - JIDs: direct chats look like `<number>@s.whatsapp.net`; groups look like `<id>@g.us`. - This tool cannot work inside a Linux sandbox — it requires macOS WhatsApp Desktop files.

Frequently asked questions