proton contacts

Every command under proton contacts, with the arguments and flags it takes. For these commands in use, see the contacts guide.

Holds create, delete, emails, export, get, groups, import, keys, list, merge and update.

create

Create a contact.

A photo from a file is shrunk until its shorter side is at most 180 pixels and stored as JPEG; JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP are read. A web address is stored as it is given.

proton contacts create

proton contacts create --name 'Jane Roe' --email jane@example.com
proton contacts create --name 'Jane Roe' --email work:jane@acme.com --phone cell:+43123456 --anniversary 2015-06-20
proton contacts create --name 'Jane Roe' --email jane@example.com --phone '+43 660 1234567' --organization Acme
proton contacts create --name 'Jane Roe' --email jane@example.com --photo https://example.com/jane.png

Flag	Description
--address stringArray	Set a postal address, as ADDRESS or KIND:ADDRESS (repeatable)
--anniversary string	Set the anniversary (e.g. 2015-06-20)
--birthday string	Set the birthday (e.g. 1990-01-31)
--email stringArray	Set an email address, as ADDRESS or KIND:ADDRESS (repeatable)
--first-name string	Set the given name
--gender string	Set the gender
--job-title stringArray	Set a job title (repeatable)
--language stringArray	Set a preferred language, e.g. de-AT (repeatable)
--last-name string	Set the family name
--name string	Set the name shown in listings
--nickname stringArray	Set a nickname (repeatable)
--note stringArray	Set a note (repeatable)
--organization stringArray	Set an organization (repeatable)
--phone stringArray	Set a phone number, as NUMBER or KIND:NUMBER (repeatable)
--photo string	Set the photo: an image file, - for stdin, or a web address
--role stringArray	Set a role played in an organization (repeatable)
--timezone stringArray	Set a time zone, e.g. Europe/Vienna (repeatable)
--website stringArray	Set a website, as URL or KIND:URL (repeatable)

delete

Delete contacts.

proton contacts delete REF...

proton contacts delete jane

export

Write contacts out as .vcf files, or as one stream with –dest -.

Naming contacts writes those; naming none writes the whole address book, narrowed by –keyword.

The stored card goes out whole, so properties this tool has no flag for are exported too. Each address’s groups go out as CATEGORIES beside it, which is what import reads them back from.

proton contacts export [REF...]

proton contacts export --dest-dir ./address-book
proton contacts export jane --dest jane.vcf
proton contacts export --dest - > contacts.vcf

Flag	Description
--dest string	Write to this path, or - for stdout
--dest-dir string	Write into this directory, keeping each item’s own name
--force	Overwrite a file that already exists
--keyword string	Match text in the name or the address

get

Show one contact in full.

proton contacts get REF

proton contacts get jane@example.com
proton contacts get 'Jane Roe'

import

Read contacts in from a .vcf file, or from stdin with -.

Each card goes in whole, so a property this tool has no flag for survives the trip. A card with no name and no address is skipped and reported: there would be nothing to file it under.

The groups a card names in CATEGORIES are applied: an address goes into a group of that name, and a group you do not have is created. –no-groups leaves them out, and –dry-run shows what the file would put where.

A card that carries a UID replaces the contact with that UID, which is what makes a file from export a backup. A card without one is a new contact, so importing such a file twice creates duplicates; use merge afterwards to fold them together.

proton contacts import PATH

proton contacts import contacts.vcf
proton contacts import contacts.vcf --dry-run
proton contacts import google.vcf --no-groups
proton contacts import - < exported.vcf

Flag	Description
--no-groups	Leave the groups the file names out

list

List contacts.

proton contacts list

proton contacts list
proton contacts list --output json

Flag	Description
--desc	Reverse the order
--keyword string	Match text in the name or the address
--limit int	How many contacts per page; 0 for all of them (default 50)
--page int	Which page of results, counting from zero
--sort string	Order by: name, email (default name)

merge

Fold duplicate contacts into one.

Contacts are duplicates when they share an email address, compared without regard to case. Sharing only a name is not enough.

The oldest contact of each set is kept, so groups and trusted keys that refer to it keep working. Fields from the others are added; nothing is overwritten.

proton contacts merge

proton contacts merge --dry-run
proton contacts merge

update

Change a contact’s details.

Only what you pass is replaced. A repeatable flag replaces the whole list rather than adding to it, so pass every value you want the contact to keep. –clear-note removes every note, –clear-photo the photo, and so on for each detail.

A photo from a file is shrunk until its shorter side is at most 180 pixels and stored as JPEG; JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP are read. A web address is stored as it is given.

proton contacts update REF

proton contacts update jane --job-title 'Head of Design'
proton contacts update jane --email jane.roe@work.example --birthday 1990-04-16
proton contacts update jane --photo ~/Pictures/jane.jpg
proton contacts update jane --clear-note --clear-photo

Flag	Description
--address stringArray	Replace a postal address, as ADDRESS or KIND:ADDRESS (repeatable)
--anniversary string	Replace the anniversary (e.g. 2015-06-20)
--birthday string	Replace the birthday (e.g. 1990-01-31)
--clear-address	Remove every postal address
--clear-anniversary	Remove the anniversary
--clear-birthday	Remove the birthday
--clear-email	Remove every email address
--clear-first-name	Remove the given name
--clear-gender	Remove the gender
--clear-job-title	Remove every job title
--clear-language	Remove every preferred language
--clear-last-name	Remove the family name
--clear-nickname	Remove every nickname
--clear-note	Remove every note
--clear-organization	Remove every organization
--clear-phone	Remove every phone number
--clear-photo	Remove the photo
--clear-role	Remove every role
--clear-timezone	Remove every time zone
--clear-website	Remove every website
--email stringArray	Replace an email address, as ADDRESS or KIND:ADDRESS (repeatable)
--first-name string	Replace the given name
--gender string	Replace the gender
--job-title stringArray	Replace a job title (repeatable)
--language stringArray	Replace a preferred language, e.g. de-AT (repeatable)
--last-name string	Replace the family name
--name string	Replace the name shown in listings
--nickname stringArray	Replace a nickname (repeatable)
--note stringArray	Replace a note (repeatable)
--organization stringArray	Replace an organization (repeatable)
--phone stringArray	Replace a phone number, as NUMBER or KIND:NUMBER (repeatable)
--photo string	Replace the photo: an image file, - for stdin, or a web address
--role stringArray	Replace a role played in an organization (repeatable)
--timezone stringArray	Replace a time zone, e.g. Europe/Vienna (repeatable)
--website stringArray	Replace a website, as URL or KIND:URL (repeatable)

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Every command also takes the flags that work everywhere.