Source Code

GIF Sender

Send GIFs naturally in WhatsApp conversations.

CRITICAL: WhatsApp GIF Workflow

WhatsApp doesn't support direct Tenor/Giphy URLs. You MUST:

Download the GIF
Convert to MP4
Send with gifPlayback: true

Complete Workflow

Step 1: Search for GIF

gifgrep "SEARCH QUERY" --max 5 --format url

Search in English for best results.

Always get 5 results and pick the best one based on the filename/description - don't just take the first result.

Step 2: Download the GIF

curl -sL "GIF_URL" -o /tmp/gif.gif

Step 3: Convert to MP4

ffmpeg -i /tmp/gif.gif -movflags faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p -vf "scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2" /tmp/gif.mp4 -y

Step 4: Send via message tool

message action=send to=NUMBER message="‎" filePath=/tmp/gif.mp4 gifPlayback=true

Note: Use invisible character ‎ (left-to-right mark, U+200E) as message to send GIF without visible caption.

One-liner Example

# Search
gifgrep "thumbs up" --max 3 --format url

# Pick best URL, then:
curl -sL "https://media.tenor.com/xxx.gif" -o /tmp/g.gif && \
ffmpeg -i /tmp/g.gif -movflags faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p -vf "scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2" /tmp/g.mp4 -y 2>/dev/null

# Then send with message tool, gifPlayback=true

When to Send GIFs

✅ Good times:

User asks for a GIF
Celebrating good news
Funny reactions
Expressing emotions (excitement, facepalm, etc.)

❌ Don't overuse:

One GIF per context is enough
Not every message needs a GIF

Popular Search Terms

Emotion	Search Terms
Happy	celebration, party, dancing, excited
Approval	thumbs up, nice, good job, applause
Funny	laugh, lol, haha, funny
Shocked	mind blown, shocked, surprised, wow
Sad	crying, sad, disappointed
Frustrated	facepalm, ugh, annoyed
Love	heart, love, hug
Cool	sunglasses, cool, awesome

Security & Safety Notes

Source domains: gifgrep only searches trusted GIF providers (Tenor, Giphy)
File handling: All downloads go to /tmp and are overwritten each time (-y flag)
Empty caption: The ‎ character (U+200E, Left-to-Right Mark) is used as an invisible caption so WhatsApp sends the GIF without visible text. This is a standard Unicode control character, not an injection technique
WhatsApp integration: Uses the platform's built-in message tool — no separate WhatsApp credentials needed
ffmpeg safety: Processes only GIF files from trusted providers; no arbitrary file execution

Why This Works

WhatsApp converts all GIFs to MP4 internally
Direct Tenor/Giphy URLs often fail
MP4 with gifPlayback=true displays as looping GIF
Small file size = fast delivery

gif-whatsapp