Awesome IRC

A curated list of awesome IRC resources.

A list of tools, software & other resources related to the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) protocol.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is an open source protocol that can be used for multi-user text based communication through channels.

Contents

• Clients
• Bouncers
  • Hosted
  • Self-hosted
• Daemons
• Services
• Bots
• Frameworks
  • Bridges
• Channels
  • Discovery
  • Platforms
  • Programming
• Networks
• Articles
• Guides
• Protocol
• Miscellaneous

Clients

You use these to connect to IRC.

• Textual - Very customizable, ZNC integration, iCloud sync ($4.99). (source) macOS
• LimeChat - One window for multiple servers, keyboard shortcuts, fast & stable. (source) macOS iOS
• HexChat - Based on XChat, easy to use, spell check & multiple languages. (source) Windows macOS Linux
• gamja - A simple IRC web client. (source) Web
• Kiwi IRC - Powerful modern IRC messenger for the web. (source, demo) Web
• CIRC - Uses the chrome.sockets APIs to connect directly to IRC servers without needing a proxy. (source) Chrome
• Quassel - Distributed (clients can attach to and detach from a central core that stays permanently online. (source) Linux macOS Windows
• Yaaic - Multi-server/channel support, SASL support, Smooth channel scrolling / swiping. (source) Android
• relay.js - Focuses on making IRC less intimidating and easier to use. Web
• Circe - For use in Emacs, sane defaults. Emacs
• Smuxi - User-friendly, based on GNOME / GTK+. (source) Linux Windows macOS
• KvIRC - Free, portable, based on Qt GUI toolkit. (source) Linux macOS Windows
• Konversation - User-friendly client built on the KDE Platform. (source) Linux
• sic - Simple IRC client - a terminal client in less than 250 lines of C. Linux
• irssi - Terminal client, multi-protocol friendly for module authors, GPLv2. Linux macOS Cygwin BSD
• Revolution IRC - Feature-full, actively maintained Android IRC client. Android
• AdiIRC - Never has a client offered such granular settings for every aspect of the IRC experience. (features, screenshots) Windows WINE
• IRC for Android™ - Android/Chrome OS client for power users, with ZNC built-ins, notification logic, reliable DCC, keybinds for hardware keyboards, etc. Android ChromeOS
• Iridium - Friendly IRC client built in Vala and GTK, designed for elementary OS. (source) Linux
• Goguma - An IRC client for mobile devices, from the creator of soju. Android Linux

More? Clients that include bouncers are found below.

Bouncers

Useful for disconnecting and reconnecting without losing the chat session.

Hosted

• IRCCloud - Group chat for teams, friends, and communities. stay connected, chat from anywhere, and never miss a message (+client) (£0-£3.50/month).
  • iOS App - Official. Objective-C
  • Android App - Official. Java
  • Nimbus - Standalone client. macOS Objective-C

Self-hosted

• Convos - Always online web IRC client. (source) Perl JavaScript Web
• ZNC - Most popular. many different plugins. (source) C++
• BIP IRC Proxy - Always online, lightweight and secure Open Source IRC proxying with backlogging. (source) C
• TheLounge - Responsive, self-hosted & support for multiple users. (source, demo) JavaScript Node.js Web
• WeeChat - A fast, light and extensible chat client. (source) Linux macOS Windows
• soju - A user-friendly IRC bouncer. Go
• sms-webhook - A simple webhook to receive SMS messages on IRC. Go

Daemons

Used for running your own IRC server or network.

• ircd.js - Server will allow clients to connect, join channels, change topics; basic stuff.
• InspIRCd - Modular, stable, written from scratch. (source)
• miniircd - Very simple and limited.
• ngIRCd - Portable and lightweight for small or private networks. (source)
• Ergo - Modern server that's portable and designed around specifications (bleeding-edge IRCv3 support).
• RobustIRC - IRC server without netsplits. (source)

Services

Used to provide user accounts and bots like NickServ/ChanServ to your network.

• Atheme - Designed for large networks with high scalability requirements. (source)
• anope - Designed for flexibility and ease of use. (source)

Bots

IRC users which provide services for humans, e.g. integrations or information.

• Eggdrop - Oldest IRC bot still in active development. Feature rich, uses Tcl scripting. (source) C
• Sopel - Tonnes of ready made features, tutorial, fully documented. (source) Python
• Limnoria - Robust, user friendly, developer friendly. Python
• Twitch Plays - Takes input from the chat and presses the corresponding key. Python
• Skybot - Main goals are simplicity and power. Python
• talkbackbot - Responds to configured trigger phrases with quotes from notable women. (source) Python
• lazybot - User-friendly and powerful. Clojure
• IRC-BF - Brainfuck
• geordi - Compiles and runs C++ code snippets. C++
• CloudBot - Simple, fast, expandable. Python
• yossarian-bot - Large default plugin set, Cinch-based. Ruby
• helga - Pluggable chat bot supporting multiple protocols. Python
• EveIRC - Extendable chat/channel/server-managenent service-providing bot. Using the Cinch Framework. Ruby
• BitBot - Modular, event-driven bot featuring a REST API, individual user settings and much more. (bitbot.dev) Python
• Cardinal - Python Twisted IRC bot with a focus on ease of plugin development. Python
• pyHoneybot - Python Twisted IRC bot with a focus on ease of plugin development. (source) Python
• wayback - An archiving tool with an IRC interface integrated with various archiving services.
• milla - New generation LLM-powered bot with lua scripting support. Go

Frameworks

Helpful to write bots or integrate IRC with applications.

• node-irc JavaScript
• goirc - Event-based, stateful, lacking documentation. Go
• Hubot IRC Adapter - The IRC adapter for hubot. JavaScript
• go-ircevent - Event-based. Go
• slate-irc - Plugin system, simple api, arbitrary input stream, debug support. JavaScript
• PircBotX - Event based IRC Library with a straightforward API (updated fork of PircBot). Java
• IRC::Client - Perl6 based extendable IRC client framework.
• irccd - Flexible IRC bot customizable with JavaScript. C++.

Bridges

Sends messages back and forth.

• discord-irc - Discord ↔ IRC. JavaScript
• dibridge - Discord ↔ IRC (with puppets) Python
• slack-irc - Slack ↔ IRC. JavaScript
• irc-slack - Slack ↔ IRC. Go
• BitlBee - XMPP, Jabber, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Twitter API, HipChat ↔ IRC. C
• Biboumi - IRC gateway for XMPP clients C
• teleirc - Telegram ↔ IRC. JavaScript
• toxirc - Tox ↔ IRC. C
• skyweb2irc - Skype (webclient API) ↔ IRC. Javascript
• matterbridge - IRC ↔ Mattermost ↔ Discord ↔ XMPP ↔ Gitter ↔ Slack ↔ Discord ↔ Telegram ↔ etc. Go
• Heisenbridge - Bouncer-style Matrix IRC bridge Python
• Appservice-IRC - Gateway and bridge Matrix ↔ IRC Javascript
• matterircd - Matterbridge ↔ IRC, Slack ↔ IRC, Mastodon ↔ IRC. Go

Channels

IRC channels.

Discovery

• netsplit.de Search - Searches 563 different networks.
• mibbit Search - Searches networks listed here.
• KiwiIRC Search - Searches 318 different networks.

Platforms

• #ubuntu@Libera.Chat - Official Ubuntu support channel. (rules)

Networks

A collection of IRC servers is known as a network.

• Libera.Chat - Network mostly focused on free and open source projects, run by former freenode staff.
• Snoonet - Community of redditors and subreddits. (rules)
• OFTC - Community for free and open source software communities.
• LibertaCasa - Privacy endorsing community serving as a safe and open space for the discussion of various topics.

Articles

Articles and blog posts about IRC.

• Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects - Drew DeVault's Blog.
• IRC Networks Under Systematic Attack From Governments - QuakeNet.
• IRC is dead, long live IRC - Pingdom.
• IRC Has Lost 60% Of Its Users Since 2003, But Life As A Robot Is Just Beginning - Alex Williams (TechCrunch).

Guides

How-to's, documentation and books.

• #irchelp - A vast amount of reasonably up-to-date information.

Protocol

Information and resources about the IRC protocol itself.

• IRCv3 Working Group - A group of IRC software authors working to enhance, improve, maintain and standardize the IRC protocol. (source)
• Modern IRC Documents - An attempt to write an update to the original IRC protocol. documentation (source)
• IRC Definition Files - Lists of numerics, modes, ISUPPORT tokens and other protocol details. (source)
• grawity's IRC docs - Collection of misc IRC protocol documentation.
• Protocol Statistics - Statistics around the server software in use on networks today. (source)
• IRC Parser Tests - A CC0 set of test suites, to ensure IRC message parsers are consistent.
• DareNET Archives - IRC Archives for old hard to find IRC related software.

Miscellaneous

Items that belong on the list but defy classification.

• superseriousstats - Fast and efficient program to create statistics out of various types of chat logs. PHP Web
• img2src - Convert images to halfblock ANSI or IRC, with a bunch of post-processing filters. Rust

Use

The best ways to use this list are:

• By browsing the contents
• By using command + F to search the contents

This list also uses tags to help when searching the contents:

• Language - Python, Java, C++, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, C etc.
• Platform - Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, Chrome etc.

Credits

By Craig Davison and contributors.