How to Use the sau CLI Command for All Supported Platforms

The sau CLI command provides a unified entry point to authenticate, validate sessions, and publish content across Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Tencent Channels through platform-specific subcommands orchestrated by the build_parser() and dispatch() functions in sau_cli.py.

The sau CLI serves as the central automation engine for the social-auto-upload repository by dreammis, wrapping Playwright-based browser automation in a hierarchical command structure. Each platform implements its own login, validation, and upload logic within the uploader/ package, while the CLI handles argument parsing, cookie persistence, and runtime configuration through standardized flags.

CLI Architecture and Dispatch System

The command-line interface is driven by two core functions in sau_cli.py:

• build_parser() constructs a hierarchical argument parser that creates subcommands for each platform (Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Tencent) and their respective actions (login, check, upload-video, upload-note)
• dispatch() routes parsed arguments to the appropriate helper functions (login_*, check_*, upload_*) and determines whether to use immediate or scheduled publishing based on the presence of the --schedule flag

All upload requests are validated through dataclasses before reaching platform-specific implementations, ensuring type safety across the execution pipeline.

Authentication and Cookie Management

The CLI maintains persistent sessions by storing authentication cookies in JSON files under <BASE_DIR>/cookies/<platform>_<account>.json, managed by the resolve_account_file helper. When you execute a login command, the browser automation creates or refreshes these cookie files, subsequent commands automatically load them to bypass repeated authentication.

To force a fresh login, simply delete the corresponding cookie file in the cookies/ directory and rerun the login command for that platform and account combination.

Platform-Specific Command Reference

Douyin (抖音)

Douyin commands utilize DouYinVideo and DouYinNote classes from uploader/douyin_uploader/main.py.

Login and verify authentication:

sau douyin login --account myDouyin --headless
sau douyin check --account myDouyin

Upload video content:

sau douyin upload-video --account myDouyin --file path/video.mp4 --title "My Clip" --desc "Description here" --tags tag1,tag2 --thumbnail path/thumb.jpg --schedule "2024-12-01 10:00"

Publish image notes:

sau douyin upload-note --account myDouyin --images img1.jpg img2.jpg --title "My Note" --note "Note text content" --tags note1,note2

Kuaishou (快手)

Kuaishou automation relies on KSVideo and KSNote from uploader/ks_uploader/main.py.

Account setup and validation:

sau kuaishou login --account ksUser --headless
sau kuaishou check --account ksUser

Content publishing commands:

sau kuaishou upload-video --account ksUser --file vid.mp4 --title "KS Title" --desc "Description" --tags ks,demo --thumbnail thumb.jpg
sau kuaishou upload-note --account ksUser --images img1.png img2.png --title "KS Note" --note "Note body text"

Xiaohongshu (小红书)

Xiaohongshu integration uses XiaoHongShuVideo and XiaoHongShuNote classes defined in uploader/xiaohongshu_uploader/main.py.

Authentication workflow:

sau xiaohongshu login --account xhsUser
sau xiaohongshu check --account xhsUser

Media upload examples:

sau xiaohongshu upload-video --account xhsUser --file video.mp4 --title "XHS Video" --desc "Example description" --tags xhs,example --thumbnail thumb.png
sau xiaohongshu upload-note --account xhsUser --images pic1.jpg pic2.jpg --title "XHS Note" --note "Note text content"

Bilibili

Unlike other platforms, Bilibili uses the external biliup binary through the run_biliup_command function in uploader/bilibili_uploader/runtime.py.

Authentication and upload commands:

sau bilibili login --account biliUser
sau bilibili check --account biliUser
sau bilibili upload-video --account biliUser --file vid.mp4 --title "Bili Video" --desc "Video description" --tid 17 --tags demo,video --schedule "2024-11-15 08:30"

Note that Bilibili login requires an interactive terminal session to complete the authentication flow.

Tencent / WeChat Channels

Tencent video uploads are handled by the TencentVideo class in uploader/tencent_uploader/main.py.

Standard workflow:

sau tencent login --account wxUser --headless
sau tencent check --account wxUser

Video upload with draft option:

sau tencent upload-video --account wxUser --file vid.mp4 --title "WX Title" --desc "Description" --tags wx,video --thumbnail thumb.jpg --short-title "Short Title" --category "Entertainment" --draft

The --draft flag saves the video without publishing, allowing manual review in the platform interface.

Global Runtime Flags

The add_runtime_flags() function in sau_cli.py defines parameters available across all platform commands:

• --account <name> – Specifies the account identifier used to locate the cookie file at cookies/<platform>_<account>.json
• --debug – Enables verbose diagnostic output for troubleshooting browser automation
• --headless / --headed – Controls browser visibility; headless mode runs without UI (default), while headed mode shows the browser window
• --schedule "<YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM>" – Schedules content for future publication; omitted for immediate upload
• --tags "tag1,tag2" – Comma-separated tag list; accepts empty strings for no tags

File path arguments (--file, --thumbnail, --images) are validated using existing_file_path validators before processing begins.

Summary

• The sau CLI command centralizes control for five major Chinese social media platforms through a modular architecture in sau_cli.py
• Authentication cookies are persisted to JSON files under the cookies/ directory, keyed by platform and account name
• Each platform supports login, check, upload-video, and upload-note actions dispatched through the dispatch() function
• Bilibili uniquely relies on the external biliup binary rather than native Playwright classes
• The --schedule flag enables delayed publishing across all platforms except where noted, while --draft is specific to Tencent Channels

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the sau CLI store and manage authentication credentials?

The CLI stores session cookies in platform-specific JSON files located at <BASE_DIR>/cookies/<platform>_<account>.json, managed by the resolve_account_file function. These files are created during the login process and automatically refreshed when tokens expire. No passwords are stored locally; the cookie files contain only session tokens obtained through QR-code or interactive browser authentication.

Can I schedule posts for future publication using the sau CLI?

Yes, all supported platforms accept the --schedule flag with a datetime string in "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM" format. When provided, the dispatch() function routes the request through the scheduling logic rather than immediate publication. If the flag is omitted, content publishes immediately upon successful upload.

What is the difference between upload-video and upload-note commands?

The upload-video command processes single video files with optional thumbnails and metadata, utilizing platform-specific video classes like DouYinVideo or XiaoHongShuVideo. The upload-note command handles multi-image posts (carousels) with accompanying text, using note-specific classes such as DouYinNote or KSNote. Note commands require the --images flag accepting multiple image paths rather than a single --file argument.

Why does Bilibili authentication require different handling than other platforms?

Bilibili uses the external biliup binary rather than native Playwright automation classes. The CLI invokes run_biliup_command from uploader/bilibili_uploader/runtime.py to handle authentication and uploads, which requires an interactive terminal for the initial login process and uses its own cookie storage mechanism separate from the other platforms' JSON files.

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