WhatsApp Chat Parser CLI

A simple command-line tool to convert WhatsApp chat exports into clean JSON format.

Features

• Convert WhatsApp chat export files to JSON
• Preserves message order and multi-line messages
• Handles media message indicators
• Simple command-line interface
• Optional pretty-printing of output
• Custom output file naming

Installation

npm install -g whatsapp-chat-parser-cli

Usage

Exporting WhatsApp Chat

1. Open WhatsApp
2. Open the chat you want to export
3. Click the three dots menu (⋮)
4. Select 'More' > 'Export chat'
5. Choose 'Without media'
6. Save the exported .txt file

Using the Parser

Basic usage:

whatsapp-parser chat.txt

With options:

whatsapp-parser chat.txt -o output.json -f

Command Line Options

• -o, --output <path> - Specify output file path (default: chat-output.json)
• -f, --format - Format JSON output (pretty print)
• -h, --help - Display help information
• -V, --version - Display version number

Output Format

The parser generates a JSON array where each element represents a message:

[
  {
    "sender": "John Doe",
    "message": "Hello world!"
  },
  {
    "sender": "Jane Smith",
    "message": "Hi there!"
  }
]

Examples

1. Basic parsing: whatsapp-parser WhatsApp.txt
2. Save to a specific file with pretty printing: whatsapp-parser WhatsApp.txt -o parsed-chat.json -f
3. Display help: whatsapp-parser --help

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Known Limitations

• Currently only supports the default WhatsApp export format
• Media files are marked as "Media omitted" in the output
• System messages (like "Messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted") are ignored

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Siddhesh Sonawane

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the need to analyze WhatsApp chat data
• Built with Node.js and Commander.js

Support

For support, issues, or feature requests, please create an issue in the GitHub repository.