EmacsWiki: rcirc

rcirc is an IRC client. It blends seamlessly with Emacs and has sane defaults.

rcirc is part of GNU Emacs since release 22.0.

Quickstart

Add a server in your InitFile, then Start rcirc with M-x irc:

(global-set-key (kbd "C-c I") 'irc)

(setq rcirc-server-alist
      '(("irc.libera.chat" ; Hostname
       :port 6697          ; Standard port for secure IRC
       :nick "linen"       ; Your nickname
       :encryption tls     ; Specify to use encryption
       :channels ("#rcirc" "#emacs" "#emacswiki"))))

To get started, see also:

Example Settings – Example rcirc configurations.
Auto Authentication – Make autho-auth work nicely with nickserv &c.

Using SSL

SSL comes with Emacs >= 24, but rcirc must enable it first (as we do above)

Emacs must be built with GNU TLS. On Windows, you can download GnuTLS. Make sure bin is in your PATH. Test it by running gnutls-cli from Eshell:

Welcome to the Emacs shell

~ $ gnutls-cli
No hostname specified

: If you get the following error:
: gnutls.c: [1] Note that the security level of the Diffie-Hellman key exchange has been lowered to 256 bits and this may allow decryption of the session data
: Add the following to your init file:
: (setq gnutls-min-prime-bits 1024)

Commands

Common keybindings:

C-h m – List keybindings.
C-c C-j – Join a channel
C-c RET – Send a /msg
C-c Cn – List users in channel
C-c C-r – Change nick
C-c C-b – Open URL under point.

Common IRC commands (tab-completable):

/help [command] – Describe a command.
/info – Display server info
/part – Leave channel.
/join – Join a channel.
/time – Display server’s local time.
/motd – Display the Message of the Day.
/whois – More info about a nick.
/away – Tell users you aren’t available.
/topic #guile – Display topic string

Addons

rcircColoredNicks: /color – Color each nick seperately.
rcircColoredNickClasses: Color nicks by group, like pals and bots.
rcircColors: Handle escape sequences that convey text colors.
rcircRetake: /retake – send RECOVER and RELEASE messages to !NickServ.
rcircReconnect: /reconnect – Quit and reconnect immediately (e.g. if you enter sleep mode).
rcircAutoReconnect: Automatically reconnect when disconnected from the IRC server.
rcircPounce: /pounce, /unpounce – store messages for people and send them when they’re online.
rcircSmiley: Add 😊 smilies.
rcircAll: /all – Run a command (such as /away) for all connections
rcircNoNamesOnJoin: How not to display NAMES list on channel JOIN (ugly hacks inside)
rcircShowVersion: /sv – Show version number.
rcircAwayTime: Display how long you were away from IRC
rcircBack: Cancel your AWAY state with /back (requires rcircAwayTime)
rcircServerAuth: Patch that adds server authentication (PASS).
rcircAutoAway: Go /away after Emacs is idle for a period of time.
rcircSound: Play sounds through IRC using CTCP SOUND.
rcircEncoding: Change the encoding per channel
rcircLateFix: Correct original word when ‘s/wrong/right’ messages are seen.
rcircHelp: /help – list rcirc commands and show their documentation
rcircCommandCompletion: Let TAB complete commands and nicks
rcircDimNicks: Dim the entire line for nicks in ‘rcirc-dim-nicks’.
rcircNotify: Libnotify notification popups when someone talks to you
rcircInvisible: How to make yourself invisible (+i); how to advice ‘rcirc-connect’
rcircAutoFillColumn: Have your rcirc windows dynamically set fill-column instead of always being too long or too short
rcircGroupMode: propose an rcirc-groups buffer ala gnus Group, with refresh and catchup options (and RET to follow), in order to manage notifications in rcirc
rcircJoinRestrictedChannel: how to automatically join a restricted channel
rcircOccur: /occur – find stuff in all your rcirc buffers
rcircOperator: /op, /deop, /mute, /unmute, /ban, /unban, /kickban
rcircActivities: Minimal activity tracker, open for extension. Use rcirc-activities/switch-to-buffer to see and switch to buffers with activities, using ido.

Related Stuff

rcirc for bs-show: A configuration for ‘M-x bs-show’ users
rcirc and iswitchb: Hiding IRC buffers from iswitchb
rcircNickBeep: Beep when your nick is mentioned.
rcircDing: Beep when there is activity in a hidden channel.
osx browse-url-browser-function: A browser function for OSX.
rcircUnambiguousNickCompletion: Don’t cycle-complete nicks if there is ambiguity
rcircAlwaysKickBastard: Start your session by kicking the evil bastard that’s stealing your nick
rcircPresence: Make rcirc tell something else about your presence status (I’m away!)
rcircQueryInNewFrame: I want query windows to pop up a new frame
rcircForDiscordBridge: When someone is running a Discord bridge in your channel
rcircNormalJoin: Join one channel. Normally.
rcircToDocument: A todo list for manual maintainers
rcircThinklight: Make irc blink the Thinkpad light twice when someone talks to you.
rcircDbusNotification: use the dbus bindings for notifications
rcircOthmar: replace the text of /dim user’s speech with nonsense
rcircDisplayChannels: Display all open channel buffers (or query buffers) at once
rcircRandomNames: change all the nicks to random names
rcircCloudToButt: Replace “cloud” with “butt” and other idiocy

rcirc tracking with elscreen: when using elscreen the default “switch-to-buffer” function used by rcirc-track-minor-mode can be changed. To make rcirc switch to the screen where the buffer with the last activity is located simply add to your InitFile (setq rcirc-switch-to-buffer-function 'elscreen-find-and-goto-by-buffer). This has a problem though: automatic switching after some actions (joining a channel, for example) will stop working. One possible solution is:

(defun rcirc-switch-buffer-or-screen (buffer)
  (if (elscreen-find-screen-by-buffer buffer)
      (elscreen-find-and-goto-by-buffer buffer)
    (switch-to-buffer buffer)))
		
(setq rcirc-switch-to-buffer-function 'rcirc-switch-buffer-or-screen)

rcirc can highlight the channels in the mode line only when your nick is mentioned in them. Use the following code snippet:

(rcirc-track-minor-mode 1)

(setq neale/rcirc-ignored-channels '("#emacs" "#guix" "#scheme" "#rcirc"))

(defun neale/rcirc-print-function (process sender response target text)
  (if (not (eq target nil))
      (with-current-buffer (rcirc-get-buffer process target)
        (cond
         ((and (equal sender (rcirc-nick process))
               (equal response "JOIN"))
          (rcirc-omit-mode)
          (when (member target neale/rcirc-ignored-channels)
            (setq rcirc-ignore-buffer-activity-flag t)))))))

(add-hook 'rcirc-print-functions 'neale/rcirc-print-function)

CategoryChatClient