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https://github.com/sindresorhus/caprine

Elegant Facebook Messenger desktop app
https://github.com/sindresorhus/caprine

app caprine chat electron electron-app facebook facebook-messenger macos macos-app messenger nodejs

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Elegant Facebook Messenger desktop app

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README 

        


	


	


	

		

	

	
Caprine


	


		Elegant Facebook Messenger desktop app

	


	


	


	


		Caprine is an unofficial and privacy-focused Facebook Messenger app with many useful features.

	


	

		Caprine is feature complete. However, we welcome contributions for improvements and bug fixes.

	

	


		

		Website

		

	


	

		

	




## Highlights



- [Dark theme](#dark-mode)

- [Vibrant theme](#vibrancy-macos-only)\*

- [Privacy-focused](#privacy)

- [Keyboard shortcuts](#keyboard-shortcuts)

- [Menu bar mode](#menu-bar-mode-macos-only-)\*

- [Work Chat support](#work-chat-support)

- [Code blocks](#code-blocks)

- [Touch Bar support](#touch-bar-support-macos-only)\*

- [Custom styles](#custom-styles)

- Cross-platform

- Silent auto-updates

- Custom text size

- Emoji style setting

- Respects Do Not Disturb\*



\*macOS only



## Install



*macOS 10.12+ (Intel and Apple Silicon), Linux (x64 and arm64), and Windows 10+ (64-bit) are supported.*



Download the latest version on the [website](https://sindresorhus.com/caprine) or below.



### macOS



[**Download**](https://github.com/sindresorhus/caprine/releases/latest) the `.dmg` file.



Or with [Homebrew](https://brew.sh): `$ brew install caprine`



### Linux



	Distribution

	Repository

	Automatic Updates

	Maintainer

	How to install

	

		Arch Linux

		Community

		✔️

		Frederik Schwan

		pacman -S caprine

	

	

		Debian / Ubuntu (manually)

		GitHub

		❌

		Official

		

			Download the .deb file

		

	

	

		Debian / Ubuntu (deb-get)

		GitHub

		✔️

		Official

		

			Follow the instructions below

		

	

	

		Debian / Ubuntu (APT)

		Gemfury

		✔️

		Lefteris Garyfalakis

		

			Follow the instructions below

		

	

	

		RHEL / Fedora / openSUSE

		Copr

		✔️

		Dušan Simić

		

			Follow the instructions below

		

	

	

		AppImage

		GitHub

		✔️

		Official

		

			Follow the instructions below

		

	

	

		Flatpak

		Flathub

		✔️

		Dušan Simić

		

			Visit Flathub and follow the instructions

		

	

	

		Snap

		Snapcraft

		✔️

		Official

		

			Visit Snapcraft and follow the instructions

		

	



#### Installation using deb-get:



* Download and install [deb-get](https://github.com/wimpysworld/deb-get).

* Run `deb-get install caprine`.



Note: deb-get is 3rd party software, not to be associated with apt-get.



#### APT repository (Gemfury):



Run the following command to add it:



```sh

wget -q -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sindresorhus/caprine/main/packages/deb/addRepo.sh | sudo bash

```



Alternatively (for advanced users):

```sh

# Add the repository

echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://apt.fury.io/lefterisgar/ * *" > \

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/caprine.list



# Update the package indexes

sudo apt update



# Install Caprine

sudo apt install caprine

```



#### Copr:



For Fedora / RHEL:



```sh

sudo dnf copr enable dusansimic/caprine

sudo dnf install caprine

```



For openSUSE:

- Create a new file in `/etc/zypp/repos.d/caprine.repo`.

- Copy the contents of [this file](https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/dusansimic/caprine/repo/opensuse-tumbleweed/dusansimic-caprine-opensuse-tumbleweed.repo) and paste them into the file you just created.



Alternatively use the following one-liner:

```sh

curl -s https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/dusansimic/caprine/repo/opensuse-tumbleweed/dusansimic-caprine-opensuse-tumbleweed.repo | sudo tee /etc/zypp/repos.d/caprine.repo

```



#### AppImage:



[Download](https://github.com/sindresorhus/caprine/releases/latest) the `.AppImage` file.



Make it [executable](https://discourse.appimage.org/t/how-to-run-an-appimage/80):



```sh

chmod +x Caprine-2.xx.x.AppImage

```



Then run it!



#### About immutable Linux distributions:

[Fedora Silverblue](https://silverblue.fedoraproject.org), [Fedora Kinoite](https://kinoite.fedoraproject.org), [EndlessOS](https://endlessos.com), [CarbonOS](https://carbon.sh) and other immutable distributions only support Flatpak and/or AppImage.*



*Note: On some distributions Flatpak must be [pre-configured manually](https://flatpak.org/setup).*



### Windows



	Method

	Repository

	Automatic Updates

	Maintainer

	How to install

	

		Manually

		GitHub

		❌

		Official

		

			Download the .exe file

		

	

	

		Chocolatey

		Community

		✔️

		Michael Quevillon

		choco install caprine

	



*For taskbar notification badges to work on Windows 10, you'll need to [enable them in Taskbar Settings](https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/48186-taskbar-buttons-hide-show-badges-windows-10-a.html).*



## Features



### Dark mode



You can toggle dark mode in the `View` menu or with Command d / Control d.






### Hide Names and Avatars



You can prevent others from looking at who you're chatting with by enabling the “Hide Names and Avatars” feature in the “View” menu or with Command/Control Shift n.



### Vibrancy *(macOS only)*



On *macOS*, you can toggle the window vibrancy effect in the `View` menu.






### Privacy






You can choose to prevent people from knowing when you have seen a message and when you are currently typing. These settings are available under the `Caprine`/`File` menu.



### Mute desktop notifications *(macOS only)*



You can quickly disable receiving notifications from the `Caprine`/`File` menu or the Dock on macOS.



### Hide notification message preview












You can toggle the `Show Message Preview in Notification` setting in the `Caprine`/`File` menu.



### Prevents link tracking



Links that you click on will not be tracked by Facebook.



### Jump to conversation hotkey



You can switch conversations similar to how you switch browser tabs: Command/Control n (where `n` is `1` through `9`).



### Compact mode



The interface adapts when resized to a small size.






### Desktop notifications



Desktop notifications can be turned on in `Preferences`.






### Always on Top



You can toggle whether Caprine stays on top of other windows in the `Window`/`View` menu or with Command/Control Shift t.



### Work Chat support



Support for Work Chat: Messenger for [Workplace](https://www.facebook.com/workplace). You can switch to it in the `Caprine`/`File` menu.






### Code blocks



You can send code blocks by using [Markdown syntax](https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet#code).








### Background behavior



When closing the window, the app will by default continue running in the background, in the dock on macOS and the tray on Linux/Windows. Right-click the dock/tray icon and choose `Quit` to completely quit the app. On macOS, click the dock icon to show the window. On Linux, right-click the tray icon and choose `Toggle` to toggle the window. On Windows, click the tray icon to toggle the window.



Note that you can change the behavior of Caprine so that the app closes when the window is closed. For this, you'll need to go to the settings and click on `Quit on Window Close`.



### Quick access to conversations from the Dock menu *(macOS only)*






### Touch Bar support *(macOS only)*






### Custom languages for spell-check *(Not for macOS)*



Users can select supported languages from `Conversation` → `Spell Checker Language`.



macOS detects the language automatically.



### Custom styles



Advanced users can modify the colors/styles of Caprine. Click the menu item `Caprine`/`File` → `Caprine Settings` → `Advanced` → `Custom Styles` and a CSS file will open up in your default editor.



### Menu Bar Mode *(macOS only)* 






You can enable `Show Menu Bar Icon` in the `Caprine Preferences` menu to have a Caprine icon in the menu bar. The icon will indicate when you have unread notifications and you can click it to toggle the Caprine window. You can also toggle the Caprine window with the global shortcut Command Shift y.



You can also remove Caprine from the Dock and task switcher by clicking `Hide Dock Icon` menu item from the menu bar icon. There will then no longer be any menus for the window, but you can access those from the `Menu` item in the menu bar icon menu.



### Keyboard shortcuts



Description            | Keys

-----------------------| -----------------------

New conversation       | Command/Control n

Search conversations   | Command/Control k

Toggle "Dark mode"     | Command/Control d

Hide Names and Avatars | Command/Control Shift n

Next conversation      | Command/Control ] or Control Tab

Previous conversation  | Command/Control [ or Control Shift Tab

Jump to conversation   | Command/Control 1…9

Insert GIF             | Command/Control g

Insert sticker         | Command/Control s

Insert emoji           | Command/Control e

Attach files           | Command/Control t

Focus text input       | Command/Control i

Search in conversation | Command/Control f

Mute conversation      | Command/Control Shift m

Hide conversation      | Command/Control Shift h

Delete conversation    | Command/Control Shift d

Toggle "Always on Top" | Command/Control Shift t

Toggle window menu     | Alt *(Windows/Linux only)*

Toggle main window     | Command Shift y *(macOS only)*

Toggle sidebar         | Command/Control Shift s

Switch to Messenger    | Command/Control Shift 1

Switch to Workchat     | Command/Control Shift 2

Preferences            | Command/Control ,



###### Tip



On macOS, you can [change these in the System Preferences](https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/how-to-make-custom-keyboard-shortcuts-for-any-macos-menu-items-and-to-launch-your-favorite-apps/) and you can even add your own keyboard shortcuts for menu items without a predefined keyboard shortcut.



## FAQ



#### Can I contribute localizations?



The main app interface is already localized by Facebook. The app menus are not localized, and we're not interested in localizing those.



---



## Dev



Built with [Electron](https://electronjs.org).



### Run



```sh

npm install && npm start

```



### Build



See the [`electron-builder` docs](https://www.electron.build/multi-platform-build).



### Publish



```sh

npm run release

```



Then edit the automatically created GitHub Releases draft and publish.



## Maintainers



- [Dušan Simić](https://github.com/dusansimic)

- [Lefteris Garyfalakis](https://github.com/lefterisgar)

- [Michael Quevillon](https://github.com/mquevill)

- [Nikolas Spiridakis](https://github.com/1nikolas)



**Former**



- [Jarek Radosz](https://github.com/CvX)



## Links



- [Product Hunt post](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/caprine-2)



## Press



- [The Essential Windows Apps for 2018 - Lifehacker](https://lifehacker.com/lifehacker-pack-for-windows-our-list-of-the-essential-1828117805)

- [Caprine review: Customize Facebook Messenger on Windows 10 - Windows Central](https://www.windowscentral.com/caprine-review-customizing-facebook-messenger-windows-10)



## Disclaimer



Caprine is a third-party app and is not affiliated with Facebook.