IRC Protocol resources

IRC servers have diverged significantly since the original and updated RFCs. A wide range of extensions to the IRC protocol have been both proposed and implemented to cater to the specific needs and political climate of various IRC networks.

Still, the client-server protocol remains mostly compatible with the original RFCs, and a client from 20 years ago will likely still connect and be able to join channels.

The RFCs

The original RFC for the IRC protocol, and the set of RFCs released to update it were the first real attempts to codify the IRC protocol as a standard.

Other Specifications

Timestamp protocol

The timestamp protocol provides for a more sensible way of resolving nickname and channel collisions when two detached (“split”) parts of the network are rejoined.

IRCv3

The IRCv3 working group is a consortium of client and server developers working on the standardization of IRC protocol extensions.

Many of the of the IRCv3 extensions concern better integration between IRC Services and clients, but the group has also been working to improve integration between clients and IRC bouncers, away notifications, and other quality of life improvements.

Important IRCv3 specifications include:

Server interoperability

Interoperability between servers has declined significantly, with the server-server protocols being highly customized in forks of the IRCD for the needs of each network, and servers not compatible with the features in use on a given network necessarily excluded to prevent desync and broken command propagation. As such, most ircds are only compatible with recent versions of the same ircd, and most networks specify a policy on which versions are acceptable.

In order to scale tens or even hundreds of thousands of users, some networks have even adopted a binary protocol, which is more network efficient than the plaintext protocol originally specified by the RFCs.

Common Extensions affecting Clients

CAP

The IRCv3 capabilities extension allows clients to negotiate protocol extensions with the server, so that new features in the protocol can be implemented in a backwards-compatible way. It is complementary in some ways to RPL_ISUPPORT, but happens much earlier in the registration process, and unlike RPL_ISUPPORT, actually provides the means for clients to request the features they can support.

RPL_ISUPPORT (005)

The 005 (RPL_ISUPPORT) numeric allows servers to communicate which extensions are in use on a given server or network. It is presented as a tokenized list, and allows a client to determine which features are supported, what limits are in place, which modes are in use, which of those modes can appear multiple times with arguments, and which of those modes can appear a single time with arguments.

Nickname length (NICKLEN)

By far, the most common protocol extension is the relaxation of nickname length limits from the original 9 character limit to 12, 30, or even longer limits.

SILENCE

Silence was one of the first extensions, originally popularized on Undernet. It is a server-side ignore mechanism by which a client can block messages, similar to the client /ignore command, but instead of the client needing to filter the messages, the messages are simply discarded by the server.

CALLERID

CALLERID, also known as usermode g, is another server-side ignore mechanism, via which ALL private messages or notices are blocked unless the user specifically unblocked them through an ACCEPT command. Unlike SILENCE, messages to channels are completely unaffected.

CALLERID first appeared in ircd-hybrid, which was then widely used on EFNet, but has been adopted by many other IRCDs, including those not based on ircd-hybrid.

WATCH

WATCH is an extension designed to implement client /notify lists without the need for the client to poll via ISON. When supported by the server, a compatible client will recognize that WATCH is available and use it in place of ISON to stay updated of the status of users on the client’s /notify list.

The advantages of this are lowered overhead for the server and more rapid detection of users on the notify list than would be possible via polling.

Banquiet

The banquiet extension is fairly common. When the extension is in place on a server, users who are banned from a channel, but have not yet been kicked, are unable to speak and may also be unable to change nicknames. Depending on the implementation, voice (+v), or other channel modes may override the quieting, and allow an affected user to speak anyway.

Invite-through-ban

Invite through ban is another extension to ban mechanics - when this extension is in place, a channel operator can invite a banned user into a channel, and they can then join normally. This allows channel operators a way to manage “collateral damage” from overly broad channel bans, and permit desiered users into the channel in spite of the ban.

Ban Exempt (+e)

Ban exemption (EXEMPT) provides another way to manage collateral damage from bans, by specifying masks which are exempt from banning. An user matching a ban exemption can therefore join no matter what bans they match.

Invite Exemption (+I)

Invite exemption (INVEX) provides a way to have a standing invite, by specifying masks which are allowed to join in spite of the channel being invite-only.

Quiet (+q)

Quiet mode decouples the quieting function of the banquiet extension from the banning function, therefore allowing a disruptive user to be prevented from speaking on a channel while still being able to join it. In effect, this functions as a moderated status just for particular hostmasks, and is typically implemented so that voice (+v) or other privileged status on the channel overrules the quieting.

External Resources

A number of other sites contain extensive documentation of the IRC protocol which may be of interest.