skyper

skyper

Skyper is a commandline tool and node library for autostarting local Skype calls using Skype URIs.

On Mac OSX, Applescript is used to confirm the call. On other OSes you will need to confirm manually (patches welcome!).

Raw Desktop API access is available via skyper.desktop, though Microsoft will be gradually discontinuing portions of this API over time.

Installation

If you want the commandline tool, install globally using npm:

sudo npm install skyper -g

If you just want the node module:

npm install skyper

Linux users: if you want to use the Desktop API, you may also need to install the Python dbus and gobject modules. For example, on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install python-dbus python-gobject

Commandline examples

On the commandline, make a test call to Skype's echo bot:

skyper call echo123

Note for Mac OSX You may be prompted for your Administrator password. This happens when activating OSX Accessibility options for auto-confirming calls.

Specify more than one participant:

skyper call echo123,skype.test.user.1,skype.test.user.2

Get advanced usage information:

skyper -h
Usage: skyper {call|chat} user1,user2,... [--topic topic] [--video]

node examples

Using the node module, make a test call to Skype's echo bot:

var skyper = require("skyper");
skyper.call(["echo123"]);

Note for Mac OSX You may be prompted for your Administrator password. This happens when activating OSX Accessibility options for auto-confirming calls.

Specify more than one participant, as well as advanced arguments like topic and enabling video:

var skyper = require("skyper");
 
skyper.call(["echo123", "skype.test.user.1"], {
  topic: "Hello world", // Note: in some cases, Skype does not modify the topic.
  video: true
});

Give a callback if you want to know about issues starting or confirming the call:

var skyper = require("skyper");
 
skyper.call(["echo123", "skype.test.user.1"], {}, function(err) {
  if (err) {
    console.error("Oh no! Something happenend", err);
  }
});

Desktop API examples

When Python is available, skyper.desktop exposes the Skype Desktop API via Skype4Py. All Python dependencies install into a local virtualenv during npm install, which keeps them isolated from the rest of the system.

Note for Linux You may need to install the dbus and gobject libraries for Python separately. You can do this with sudo apt-get install python-dbus python-gobject

You can send a Skype API command like this:

var skyper = require("skyper");
 
skyper.desktop.send("CALL echo123");

You can also listen for events from Skype:

var skyper = require("skyper");
 
// When sending your command to Skype...
skyper.desktop.on("command", function(event) {
  console.log(">>>", event)
});
 
// When Skype acknowledges your command...
skyper.desktop.on("reply", function(event) {
  console.log("<<<", event)
});
 
// When other events happen in Skype (incoming call, buddy online, etc)...
skyper.desktop.on("notification", function(event) {
  console.log("---", event)
});

Desktop API REPL (experimental)

If you want to experiment with Skype's Desktop API and watch Skype events live, you can fire up a REPL by executing skyper with no arguments:

skyper
######################################################
 Welcome to the Skyper REPL (experimental)
 http://mjpizz.github.io/skyper/desktop-api-reference
######################################################
<- CONNSTATUS ONLINE
-> #0 PROTOCOL 8
<- CURRENTUSERHANDLE mjpizz
<- USERSTATUS ONLINE
<- #0 PROTOCOL 8
>

You can also launch the REPL via the node API:

var skyper = require("skyper");
 
skyper.desktop.startRepl();

Contributing

Just make a pull request :) In particular, it'd be great to support auto-confirm calls for Windows and Linux.