paperang-cli 0.1.0

Standalone CLI for Paperang thermal printers

paperang-cli

paperang-cli is a standalone command-line tool for working with Paperang thermal printers from Python.

It provides a small, script-friendly interface for discovering a printer, checking its status, and printing text or images with explicit safety gates. JSON output is available for automation and agent-driven workflows.

Current Support

Version 0.1.0 supports:

Printer	Transport	Status
Paperang P1	Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)	Supported

Local, cable, and USB data transports are not supported for Paperang P1 in this package.

Real printer communication and physical printing have been tested only on Windows. CI runs compatibility checks on Linux and macOS, but those checks do not prove BLE or printer behavior on those platforms.

Features

• Discover nearby Paperang printers over BLE
• Check battery level, Bluetooth MAC address, and live printer status
• Print short text or wrapped paragraphs
• Print local images with sticker and photo conversion presets
• Compose text and an image into one print job
• Preview every print path with --dry-run
• Emit machine-readable JSON with --json
• Use explicit allow flags before any paper-consuming operation

Image and composed printing are available, but remain experimental until you validate physical output on your printer.

Installation

Python 3.10 or newer is required.

Install the published package from PyPI:

python -m pip install paperang-cli

For local development, clone the repository and install it in editable mode:

git clone https://github.com/wyrtensi/paperang-cli.git
Set-Location "paperang-cli"
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest

The package installs two equivalent commands:

• paperang
• paperang-cli

Use paperang by default. Use paperang-cli if the shorter command conflicts with another executable on your system.

Safe First Run

Start with commands that do not consume paper:

paperang --json config show
paperang --json discover
paperang --json probe
paperang --json battery

Before a real print, run the matching command with --dry-run:

paperang --json print text "Hello from Paperang" --dry-run

After checking the result, explicitly allow paper use:

paperang --json print text "Hello from Paperang" --allow-paper-use

Keep the content, image, layout, conversion mode, font size, and feed options the same between dry-run and the real print.

Printing

Text

paperang --json print text "Shipping label" --dry-run
paperang --json print text "Shipping label" --allow-paper-use

Paragraph

paperang --json print paragraph "A longer wrapped note for the printer." --dry-run
paperang --json print paragraph "A longer wrapped note for the printer." --allow-paper-use

Image

Use --mode sticker for logos, icons, and line art:

paperang --json print image ".\sample.png" --dry-run --mode sticker
paperang --json print image ".\sample.png" --allow-paper-use --mode sticker

Use --mode photo as a starting point for photographs and smoother grayscale content:

paperang --json print image ".\photo.jpg" --dry-run --mode photo

Image quality depends on the source file and printer. A successful dry-run validates conversion and packaging, not the final paper output.

Compose

print compose combines wrapped text and an image in one vertical layout:

paperang --json print compose "Product label" ".\sample.png" --dry-run --mode sticker
paperang --json print compose "Product label" ".\sample.png" --allow-paper-use --mode sticker

Use --layout image-above when the image should be printed before the text:

paperang --json print compose "Product label" ".\sample.png" --dry-run --layout image-above

Compose printing uses the same experimental image conversion pipeline as print image.

Built-In Self-Test

The printer self-test consumes substantially more paper than an ordinary print. Use it only when you explicitly want the printer's built-in diagnostic page:

paperang --json print self-test --dry-run
paperang --json print self-test --allow-large-paper-use

The self-test dry-run only validates the CLI path and warning payload. It does not query hidden hardware state.

Commands

Command	Purpose
paperang discover	Scan for nearby supported printers
paperang battery	Query the current battery percentage
paperang mac	Query the printer-reported Bluetooth MAC address
paperang status	Query live printer information
paperang probe	Return a combined readiness summary
paperang print text	Print a short text block
paperang print paragraph	Print wrapped text
paperang print image	Print a local image
paperang print compose	Print text and an image as one job
paperang print self-test	Print the built-in diagnostic page
paperang config show	Show the resolved config and active settings
paperang config path	Show the resolved config path
paperang config init	Write an example config file

Run paperang --help or paperang <command> --help for the available options.

Configuration

Inspect the active config:

paperang --json config show

Create an example config:

paperang config init

Configuration is resolved in this order:

1. --config PATH
2. PAPERANG_CLI_CONFIG
3. the per-user default config path
4. built-in defaults

Default paths:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\paperang-cli\paperang-cli.config.json
• Linux and macOS: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/paperang-cli/paperang-cli.config.json, or ~/.config/paperang-cli/paperang-cli.config.json

See Configuration for the full schema.

Documentation

• Documentation index
• Installation guide
• Command reference
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting
• Agent contract
• Publishing runbook for agents

Project History And Acknowledgements

This standalone CLI builds on earlier reverse engineering and Paperang P1 control work by:

• ihc童鞋@提不起劲
• BroncoTc

The current paperang-cli package is maintained by wyrtensi.

License

This package is available under the MIT License.