🔗 lnk — LinkedIn from the terminal

Search jobs, view profiles, apply — all from your shell. Built on LinkedIn's Voyager API, reverse-engineered from the Android APK.

This uses a private, unofficial API. Automated access can violate LinkedIn's rules and lead to account restrictions or closure. Request controls reduce accidental load; they do not authorize automation or provide a safe threshold or ban immunity. Read request controls and compatibility before use. Applications, saved-job/alert writes, credential changes and logout require explicit owner consent for the exact action. Discovery is not consent to apply.

Install

Homebrew (recommended):

brew install yashiels/tap/lnk

Go install:

go install github.com/yashiels/linkedin-cli/cmd/lnk@latest

Pre-built binaries:

Download from the Releases page (macOS arm64/amd64, Linux arm64/amd64).

Quickstart

lnk auth login                    # paste your li_at cookie
lnk search "software engineer" --location "Cape Town" --easy-apply
lnk job 4414623196                # view full job details
lnk job 4414623196 --check-apply  # verify the current application route
lnk apply 4414623196 --dry-run    # preview Easy Apply
lnk profile johndoe               # view any profile
lnk feed --limit 10               # recommended jobs

Commands

auth

Manage LinkedIn session credentials.

lnk auth login     Store li_at and JSESSIONID cookies (interactive prompt)
lnk auth status    Show current authentication state
lnk auth logout    Remove stored credentials

Credentials are stored in ~/.config/lnk/credentials.json with 0600 permissions. You can also supply them via environment variables — see Configuration.

---

search

Search job postings with powerful filters.

lnk search <keywords> [flags]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--location	-l		Location name or geo URN
--type	-t		Comma-separated job types: full-time, part-time, contract, temporary, volunteer, internship
--experience	-e		Comma-separated levels: entry, associate, mid-senior, director, executive
--easy-apply		false	Filter for Easy Apply jobs only
--remote		false	Filter for remote jobs
--sort		relevant	Sort order: recent or relevant
--limit	-n	25	Maximum results to return
--posted			Posted within: 24h, week, month

Examples:

lnk search "backend engineer" --location "London" --type full-time --easy-apply
lnk search "product manager" --remote --posted week --sort recent
lnk search "data scientist" --experience entry,mid-senior --limit 50 --json

---

job

View full details for a specific job posting.

lnk job <job-id> [flags]

Flag	Description
--open	Open the job URL in your default browser
--check-apply	Verify the current application route; may make bounded anonymous GETs to a supported employer ATS URL

Example:

lnk job 4414623196
lnk job 4414623196 --open
lnk job 4414623196 --check-apply --json

Job details include an application object while preserving the existing JSON fields. Its status is deliberately conservative:

Status	Meaning
accepting	LinkedIn returned LISTED, onsiteApply: true, and the exact Easy Apply CTA; or supported employer proof was verified
closed	LinkedIn returns CLOSED/SUSPENDED, or Workday JSON returns jobPostingInfo.canApply: false
unverified	No supported proof was available, including missing controls, unsupported ATS destinations, network failures, and login or challenge pages

expired: false, jobState: LISTED, an HTTP 200 response, description text that says “Apply,” or the presence of an employer URL does not mean a job is accepting applications. listingUrl is the LinkedIn listing; application.applyUrl is an employer application URL observed in LinkedIn data. They are never interchangeable. For the same URL, blank ATS metadata does not replace a real provider. Conflicting non-empty ATS names remain unverified. When LinkedIn returns multiple employer URLs, one deterministic observed URL is retained without choosing a provider.

--check-apply supports narrow proof checks for Lever and Workday. Lever must return the identified posting's POST application form with an active submission control inside that form. The control and its ancestors must also be visible by the supported HTML signals: hidden, aria-hidden=true, a hidden class, or inline display:none/visibility:hidden. This is not a complete CSS layout engine. Workday must return JSON containing a boolean jobPostingInfo.canApply; a normal Workday HTML landing page alone remains unverified. Other ATS destinations remain unverified and retain their observed URL for manual review. Employer checks require HTTPS, use an anonymous client that does not send LinkedIn credentials, reject non-public destinations and unsafe or cross-posting redirects, allow at most three redirects, read at most 1 MiB, and time out after eight seconds.

Lever text such as “deadline passed” or “no longer accepting” is not structured closure proof. Without a valid active form, Lever remains unverified; agents must check dated deadlines separately in the current description.

---

apply

Apply to a job via Easy Apply. Known-closed jobs are rejected before the Easy Apply flow. If Easy Apply is unavailable, lnk reports an observed employer URL as unverified or reports that none was observed; it does not generate an employer URL from the LinkedIn listing.

lnk apply <job-id> [flags]

Flag	Description
--dry-run	Show what would be submitted without actually applying
--confirm	Skip the confirmation prompt and apply immediately

Dry-run is explicit, not the default, and still makes quota-counted live reads. The default prompts before submission. --no-input or a missing TTY without --confirm fails instead of prompting. Agents must preview with --dry-run first; never add --confirm automatically or submit without exact owner authorization.

Examples (submission only with exact owner consent):

lnk apply 4414623196 --dry-run    # preview the submission
lnk apply 4414623196              # apply with confirmation prompt
lnk apply 4414623196 --confirm    # apply without prompt

Read-only job verification workflow

For job discovery or a daily scout:

1. Deduplicate search results by the stable job id, not title or URL.
2. Run lnk job <job-id> --check-apply --json for each candidate.
3. Re-read any closing date in the current description and treat a passed or ambiguous deadline as not apply-now, regardless of status.
4. Put only application.status == "accepting" jobs in an apply-now shortlist; keep unverified jobs in a separate manual-review list.
5. Assess suitability separately and state qualification or experience gaps explicitly. Application proof says nothing about candidate fit.

This workflow is read-only. Never run lnk apply, lnk saved add/remove, or lnk alerts create/delete without explicit user consent for that exact write.

---

saved

Manage your saved jobs.

lnk saved list [flags]
lnk saved add <job-id>
lnk saved remove <job-id>

Flag (list)	Default	Description
--limit	25	Maximum results to return

Examples:

lnk saved list
lnk saved list --limit 50 --json
lnk saved add 4414623196
lnk saved remove 4414623196

---

feed

Browse your personalised job recommendations.

lnk feed [flags]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--limit	-n	25	Maximum results to return

Example:

lnk feed
lnk feed --limit 10 --json

---

profile

View a LinkedIn member profile.

lnk profile [username] [flags]

Omit username to view your own profile. The username is the slug from the LinkedIn profile URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/<username>

Examples:

lnk profile                        # your own profile
lnk profile satyanadella           # another member's profile
lnk profile yashielsookdeo --json  # output as JSON

---

alerts

Manage LinkedIn job alert subscriptions.

lnk alerts list
lnk alerts create [flags]
lnk alerts delete <alert-id>

Flag (create)	Default	Description
--keywords	required	Job search keywords
--location		Location filter (city, country, or Remote)
--frequency	daily	Email frequency: daily or weekly

Examples:

lnk alerts list
lnk alerts create --keywords "software engineer" --location "Cape Town"
lnk alerts create --keywords "product manager" --location "Remote" --frequency weekly
lnk alerts delete 111222333

---

status

Show authentication state, configuration, and API connectivity. With credentials, this sends a quota-counted live Ping, then a separate /me read on success. Use lnk auth status for local auth state or lnk safety status for local policy state.

lnk status [flags]

lnk status
lnk status --json

---

completion

Generate shell completion scripts.

# Bash — source immediately
source <(lnk completion bash)

# Bash — persist across sessions
lnk completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/lnk

# Zsh
lnk completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_lnk"

# Fish
lnk completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/lnk.fish

# PowerShell
lnk completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

---

Global Flags

These flags work with every command:

Flag	Short	Description
--json		Output as JSON (machine-readable)
--plain		Output as tab-separated text (pipe-friendly)
--no-color		Disable ANSI colour codes
--quiet	-q	Suppress informational messages
--verbose		Bounded HTTP method/status diagnostics on stderr
--debug		Bounded HTTP method/status diagnostics on stderr; no bodies or URLs
--no-input		Fail instead of prompting for input
--config		Path to config file (overrides default)

Configuration

Config file: ~/.config/lnk/config.toml

[safety]
delay_seconds = 5
budget = 100

[defaults]
location = "Cape Town, South Africa"
sort     = "relevant"   # or "recent"
limit    = 25

[display]
color = true

Credentials file: ~/.config/lnk/credentials.json

Environment variables:

Variable	Description
LNK_LI_AT	LinkedIn li_at session cookie (overrides stored credentials)
LNK_CONFIG	Path to config file
LNK_CSRF_TOKEN	CSRF token after ajax: in JSESSIONID (overrides stored credentials)
NO_COLOR	Disable ANSI colour output (no-color.org)

Both session values are required. Nonempty cookie environment values override individual fields loaded from the credentials JSON; an unreadable or invalid file still fails loading. --config overrides LNK_CONFIG, which overrides the default config path; omitted TOML keys use built-ins. LNK_DEBUG is not supported.

Safety settings only permit stricter limits: integer delay_seconds >= 5 (up to 9223371916 seconds) and integer budget from 1 to 100. Unknown safety keys fail with exit 2. Larger delays remain enforced even after the 24-hour admission history expires. Config paths and cookie changes do not select a new safety namespace.

How It Works

The API reference was extracted from Android APK v4.1.1209. Requests use RestLi encoding and session cookies against GraphQL and REST paths under /voyager/api/. The client retains legacy Android-looking 4.1.1209/build 211700 compatibility headers, but runs Go net/http using browser-session cookies. It does not establish a native Android login. The duplicate tracking osVersion key is fixed; that is header consistency, not proof of current APK identity. A session labeled “Other” has an opaque UI classification, not a detection verdict.

Working query IDs remain in use. Missing literals in a newer APK audit indicate possible drift, not server removal or integration of its full catalogue. See compatibility limits.

Request controls and recovery

All LinkedIn senders share one host-user-wide in-flight request, at least five seconds between admissions, and at most 100 admissions per rolling 24 hours by default. Admissions include reads, writes and connectivity checks; one command can consume several. These are operational defaults, not LinkedIn-approved thresholds. Other hosts, apps and older binaries are outside this accounting.

There are no application-layer retries on refusal, transport or body errors. The first HTTP 429 persists a cooldown of at least 30 minutes or the server's longer Retry-After. HTTP 401/403/999 and known login/challenge redirects persist a manual stop. A resource 403, expired session, temporary restriction and permanent ban are different possibilities; the stop does not diagnose which occurred.

lnk safety status --json

This is local and does not read credentials or contact LinkedIn. It creates policy metadata on first use. After the owner reviews the official app/browser and explicitly authorizes clearing a manual stop:

lnk safety resume --confirm --json

Resume changes no credentials, cannot shorten cooldown or reset admission history, and cannot clear an overflow guard or repair corrupt state. Do not delete policy state to recover budget. State lives at ~/.local/share/lnk/safety, independent of --config and LNK_CONFIG. Read the state, JSON and recovery contract for filesystem requirements, exit codes and remaining limits.

Disclaimer

Unofficial tool. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by LinkedIn Corporation. Use at your own risk. May break if LinkedIn updates their API. For personal and research use only.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Copyright (c) 2025 Yashiel Sookdeo