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CLI | Plik

Plik ships with a powerful cross-platform CLI client written in Go.

Installation ​

From GitHub Releases ​

Download the latest client binary for your platform directly from the GitHub releases page:

bash

# Linux (amd64)
wget https://github.com/root-gg/plik/releases/download/1.4-RC3/plik-1.4-RC3-linux-amd64
chmod +x plik-1.4-RC3-linux-amd64
sudo mv plik-1.4-RC3-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/plik

# macOS (amd64)
curl -L -o plik https://github.com/root-gg/plik/releases/download/1.4-RC3/plik-1.4-RC3-darwin-amd64
chmod +x plik
sudo mv plik /usr/local/bin/plik

# Windows (amd64)
# Download plik-1.4-RC3-windows-amd64.exe from the release page

Available platforms: linux-amd64, linux-386, linux-arm, linux-arm64, darwin-amd64, freebsd-amd64, freebsd-386, openbsd-amd64, openbsd-386, windows-amd64, windows-386

From Plik Web UI ​

Any running Plik instance serves its client binaries through the web interface. Navigate to your Plik server and download the client for your platform.

Bash Client ​

A lightweight bash client (plik.sh) is also available for environments where you can't install a Go binary. It requires only curl, openssl, and standard POSIX tools:

bash

# Download from GitHub releases
wget https://github.com/root-gg/plik/releases/download/1.4-RC3/plik-1.4-RC3.sh
chmod +x plik-1.4-RC3.sh
sudo mv plik-1.4-RC3.sh /usr/local/bin/plik

# Or grab it from a running Plik server
curl -o plik https://your-plik-server/clients/bash/plik.sh
chmod +x plik

Usage ​

plik [options] [FILE] ...
Options:
  -o, --oneshot             Enable OneShot ( Each file will be deleted on first download )
  -r, --removable           Enable Removable upload ( Each file can be deleted by anyone at any moment )
  -S, --stream              Enable Streaming ( It will block until remote user starts downloading )
  -t, --ttl TTL             Time before expiration (Upload will be removed in m|h|d)
  --extend-ttl              Extend upload expiration date by TTL when accessed
  -n, --name NAME           Set file name when piping from STDIN
  --stdin                   Enable pipe from stdin explicitly when DisableStdin is set in .plikrc
  --server SERVER           Overrides server url
  --token TOKEN             Specify an upload token ( if '-' prompt for value )
  --comments COMMENT        Set comments of the upload ( MarkDown compatible )
  -p                        Protect the upload with login and password ( be prompted )
  --password PASSWD         Protect the upload with "login:password" ( if omitted default login is "plik" )
  -a                        Archive upload using default archive params ( see ~/.plikrc )
  --archive MODE            Archive upload using the specified archive backend : tar|zip
  --compress MODE           [tar] Compression codec : gzip|bzip2|xz|lzip|lzma|lzop|compress|no
  --archive-options OPTIONS [tar|zip] Additional command line options
  -s                        Encrypt upload using the default encryption parameters ( see ~/.plikrc )
  --not-secure              Do not encrypt upload files regardless of the ~/.plikrc configurations
  --secure MODE             Encrypt upload files using the specified crypto backend : openssl|pgp|age (default: age)
  --cipher CIPHER           [openssl] Openssl cipher to use ( see openssl help )
  --passphrase PASSPHRASE   [openssl|age] Passphrase or '-' to be prompted for a passphrase
  --recipient RECIPIENT     [pgp|age] Set recipient ( pgp: name, age: @github_user, ssh://host, URL, ssh key, or age1... )
  --secure-options OPTIONS  [openssl|pgp] Additional command line options
  --insecure                (TLS) Do not verify the server's certificate chain and hostname
  --update                  Update client
  --login                   Authenticate with the Plik server via browser
  --mcp                     Start as MCP (Model Context Protocol) server over stdio
  -j --json                Output upload metadata as JSON (implies --quiet)
  -q --quiet                Enable quiet mode
  -d --debug                Enable debug mode
  -v --version              Show client version
  -i --info                 Show client and server information
  -h --help                 Show this help

Examples ​

Upload a file:

bash

🪂 ➜  plik git:(master) ✗ plik README.md
Upload successfully created at Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:02:54 CET :
    http://127.0.0.1:8080/#/?id=vDPmPEUqc5oCt31T

README.md :  2.56 KiB / 2.56 KiB [=========================================] 100.00% 719.15 KiB/s 0s

Commands :
curl -s "http:/127.0.0.1:8080/file/vDPmPEUqc5oCt31T/UZzSdZ7zPgfRiTem/README.md" > 'README.md'

Create an encrypted archive:

bash

plik -a -s mydirectory/

Upload with expiration:

bash

plik --ttl 24h document.pdf

Quick Upload with curl ​

No CLI needed — upload with a single curl command:

bash

curl --form 'file=@/path/to/file' http://127.0.0.1:8080

With authentication token:

bash

curl --form 'file=@/path/to/file' \
     --header 'X-PlikToken: xxxx-xxx-xxxx-xxxxx-xxxxxxxx' \
     http://127.0.0.1:8080

TIP

The DownloadDomain configuration option must be set for quick upload to work properly.

CLI Authentication ​

When authentication is enabled on the server, you can authenticate the CLI client using --login:

This starts a device authorization flow:

  1. The CLI displays a verification code and opens a URL in your browser
  2. In the browser, log in (if needed) and approve the CLI login by confirming the code
  3. The CLI automatically receives a token and saves it to ~/.plikrc

TIP

The token created via --login is identical to tokens created in the web UI. It appears in your token list and can be revoked from the web UI at any time.

First-run experience ​

When running plik for the first time and the server has authentication enabled, the CLI will prompt you to authenticate via browser:

  • If authentication is forced: you'll be prompted with a default of Yes
  • If authentication is enabled: you'll be prompted with a default of No

You can always authenticate later with plik --login.

Manual token configuration ​

Alternatively, you can create a token manually in the web UI and add it to your configuration:

toml

# ~/.plikrc
Token = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Or pass it on the command line:

bash

plik --token xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx myfile.txt

Configuration (.plikrc) ​

The client configuration is a TOML file loaded from:

  1. PLIKRC environment variable
  2. ~/.plikrc
  3. /etc/plik/plikrc

Key settings:

toml

URL = "https://plik.example.com"
Token = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"

# Archive defaults
[Archive]
    Backend = "tar"
    Compress = "gzip"

# Encryption defaults
[Secure]
    Backend = "openssl"
    Cipher = "aes-256-cbc"

See the full .plikrc template for all available options.

Tips & Tricks ​

Screenshot Upload (Linux) ​

Upload screenshots directly to clipboard (requires scrot and xclip):

bash

alias pshot="scrot -s -e 'plik -q \$f | xclip ; xclip -o ; rm \$f'"

Windows "Send to Plik" ​

Upload files to Plik directly from the Windows Explorer right-click menu. See the dedicated guide for step-by-step instructions.