FAQ ​

How do I exit Whisper? ​

Type /quit at the > prompt and press Enter. You can also type /exit or press Ctrl+C (hold Control and press C).

You'll be back at your normal Terminal prompt where you can run other commands.

How do I know if I'm "inside" Whisper or at my regular Terminal? ​

If you see the > prompt (or @alice> if you're routed to a subscriber), you're inside Whisper. Type /quit to leave.

If you see your normal Terminal prompt (usually ends with $ or %), you're at your regular Terminal and can run commands like whisper insights or whisper account.

Is Whisper sending messages without my approval? ​

Only if you're using /unreads or --auto mode.

  • Regular chat mode (> prompt): Whisper only sends when you tell it to.
  • /review mode: You approve every message before it goes out.
  • /unreads: Whisper sends automatically after scoring and drafting.
  • --auto mode: Whisper runs fully unattended and sends on its own.

If you want full control, stick with the regular prompt or /review. See Best Practices for the recommended progression.

What does the scoring percentage mean? ​

The score represents conversion probability. It's based on how similar the current conversation looks to past conversations that led to purchases.

  • 80%+: High opportunity. This subscriber is likely ready to buy.
  • 50-79%: Moderate opportunity. Worth engaging.
  • Below 50%: Lower opportunity right now. Still worth replying to.

The arrow (↑ → ↓) shows the trend. ↑ means engagement is increasing, → means steady, ↓ means fading.

Scoring gets more accurate over time as Whisper learns from more conversations. Running whisper insights periodically improves the scoring data.

How do I switch between accounts? ​

When starting Whisper, pass the account name:

bash
whisper myaccount

To see all your configured accounts:

bash
whisper accounts

Each account is completely separate. Conversations, directives, profiles, and settings don't leak between accounts.

My session says it was compacted. What happened? ​

This is normal. When a conversation session gets very long, Whisper automatically summarizes the older parts to free up space. The important context is preserved, and you can keep going without interruption.

You don't need to do anything. Just repeat your last instruction if Whisper asks you to.

Whisper isn't starting. I get "command not found." ​

Make sure you've installed Whisper and opened a new Terminal window after installing. If you've done both and it still doesn't work, try:

bash
source ~/.zshrc

If that doesn't help, check that the binary exists:

bash
ls ~/.local/bin/whisper

If the file is there but the command isn't found, your PATH needs updating:

bash
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc

See Installation for full details.

How do I uninstall Whisper? ​

Delete the binary and its data:

bash
rm ~/.local/bin/whisper
rm -rf ~/.whisper

The first command removes the program. The second removes all local data (chat history, profiles, settings, etc.).

If you only want to remove the program but keep your data, just run the first command.

How do I talk to a specific subscriber? ​

Two ways:

Sticky context for extended conversations:

/sub alice

Your prompt changes to @alice> and everything goes to Alice's session.

One-off routing for quick actions:

@bob check his latest message

This routes one instruction to Bob without changing your focus.

See Subscriber Routing for the full guide.

What are directives and how do I use them? ​

Directives are standing instructions that apply to every conversation. Like sticky notes for your AI.

Add one:

/note Push the Beach Day photoset to outdoor fans

See all of them:

/notes

Remove one by number:

/note remove 3

See Directives for the full guide.

The AI saved a directive I don't want. How do I remove it? ​

Type /notes to see all directives. AI-created ones are tagged [agent]. Find the number of the one you want to remove, then:

/note remove 3

Replace 3 with the actual number.

Does Whisper remember what I told it about each subscriber? ​

Yes. Each subscriber gets their own AI memory that persists across sessions. When Whisper learns that someone likes video content or prefers a certain style of conversation, it saves that to their profile and remembers it next time.

You can also tell the AI to save something directly:

note that Alice prefers videos over photo sets

How do I update Whisper? ​

bash
whisper update

Whisper also checks for updates automatically when you start it. See Updating for more details.

The banner looks weird or colors are off ​

Whisper uses colors and ASCII art that look best in Hyper, a free terminal app. The built-in macOS Terminal works fine for functionality, but the visual experience (colors, banner art, overall vibe) is designed for Hyper.

Download it at hyper.is, install it, and run Whisper from there instead. You'll see the difference immediately.

Something else isn't working ​

Try these in order:

  1. Make sure you're on the latest version: whisper update
  2. Try closing and reopening Terminal
  3. Run whisper login to verify your configuration
  4. Check that your API key and AI provider key are still valid