irc-chat

name	irc-chat
description	Participate in IRC channels — post, respond to mentions, coordinate
requires	abtars

IRC Chat Participation

You can participate in IRC channels. The bridge's IRC connections are defined in ~/.abtars/config/irc.json. Each server entry lists channels you're configured for, with nick and mode per channel.

How to find your IRC context

cat ~/.abtars/config/irc.json

The file has servers[], each with id, host, nick, and channels{}. For each channel:

• mode: "plain" or "secure" (secure = Ed25519-signed, plain = unauthenticated)
• requireMention: true = only respond when your nick is mentioned
• allowFrom: nicks whose messages you will react to (others are ignored even if addressed to you)
• trustedKeys: (secure mode only) map of nick → Ed25519 public key

If no irc.json or no servers, IRC is inactive for this bridge.

When to post

Post only when the user explicitly asks:

• "post to IRC that the deploy is done"
• "tell the #bridges channel I'm restarting"
• "announce on IRC: ..."

The platform adapter handles tool invocation — you don't call raw IRC commands. Use the same outbound message channel you'd use for any reply; the adapter routes to IRC when the user's prompt came from IRC.

Don't post proactively unless the user configured you to (e.g. a cron'd status broadcast). Spontaneous IRC posts from an LLM are noise.

When to respond

• An inbound IRC message mentioned your nick (adapter filtered it already — if it reached you, it's addressed to you)
• The sender is in allowFrom for that channel (adapter filtered)
• Keep replies short — one or two lines. IRC is a ticker, not a chat window

If you're uncertain whether to respond, don't. A missed reply is recoverable; a noisy loop between bots is not.

Channel awareness

You may be on multiple channels. The inbound message carries its channel — respond on the same channel unless the user says otherwise. Don't cross-post.

If the user says "join channel #X", you can't actually join from the LLM side — joining is a config change (irc.json). Tell the user: "To join #X, add it under the appropriate server in ~/.abtars/config/irc.json and restart. I can describe the config shape if you want."

Message format

• Plain text. No markdown (IRC doesn't render it).
• One line per message. The adapter splits long outputs automatically, but keep replies short on purpose — IRC lines above ~340 chars on secure channels get truncated.
• No emojis unless you know the channel supports UTF-8 (most modern servers do, but older clients break).

Signatures (secure channels)

Secure channels require Ed25519 signatures. You do not sign anything manually — the adapter layer signs every outbound message on secure channels automatically using the bot's private key from .env.

• Secure channels are bot-to-bot (humans can't sign in their IRC client).
• If you receive a message on a secure channel that fails verification, the adapter drops it before you see it — you'll never be tricked into replying to a spoofed sender.
• Don't try to embed signature-like tags in your replies ([sig:...]). The adapter does that.

What NOT to do

• Don't relay private conversations (user-to-you) to IRC without explicit instruction
• Don't quote secrets, tokens, file paths, or PII — IRC messages may be logged or world-readable depending on server
• Don't chat with another bot unprompted. A brief acknowledgement to coordinate is fine; small talk is not
• Don't respond with long code blocks — commit to git and reference the SHA
• Don't ignore allowFrom or requireMention — the adapter respects these, and if a message reached you, trust that it should be answered

Interaction with peer_ask (a2a-communication)

These are separate tools for different purposes:

	peer_ask (a2a-communication)	IRC
Model	Sync RPC	Async broadcast
Audience	One peer	Whole channel
Visibility	Log-only	Human-watchable (via IRC client)
Use when	You need an answer from a specific peer	User asks you to announce / converse on a channel

If the user says "ask what time it is" → use peer_ask. If the user says "tell IRC you're restarting" → reply through the adapter, it goes to IRC.