Internet Relay Chat Protocol
Status of This Memo
This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
community. Discussion and suggestions for improvement
are requested.
Please refer to the current edition of the "IAB Official
Protocol
Standards" for the standardization state and status of
this protocol.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
The IRC protocol was developed over the last 4 years since
it was
first implemented as a means for users on a BBS to chat
amongst
themselves. Now it supports a world-wide network
of servers and
clients, and is stringing to cope with growth. Over the
past 2 years,
the average number of users connected to the main IRC
network has
grown by a factor of 10.
The IRC protocol is a text-based protocol, with the simplest
client
being any socket program capable of connecting to the
server.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................
4
1.1 Servers ................................................
4
1.2 Clients ................................................
5
1.2.1 Operators ..........................................
5
1.3 Channels ................................................
5
1.3.1 Channel Operators ....................................
6
2. THE IRC SPECIFICATION .......................................
7
2.1 Overview ................................................
7
2.2 Character codes .........................................
7
2.3 Messages ................................................
7
2.3.1 Message
format in 'pseudo' BNF .................... 8
2.4 Numeric replies .........................................
10
3. IRC Concepts ................................................
10
3.1 One-to-one communication ................................
10
3.2 One-to-many .............................................
11
3.2.1 To a list ..........................................
11
3.2.2 To a group (channel)
............................... 11
3.2.3 To a host/server
mask .............................. 12
3.3 One to all ..............................................
12
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May 1993
3.3.1 Client to Client
................................... 12
3.3.2 Clients to Server
.................................. 12
3.3.3 Server to Server
................................... 12
4. MESSAGE DETAILS .............................................
13
4.1 Connection Registration .................................
13
4.1.1 Password message
................................... 14
4.1.2 Nickname message
................................... 14
4.1.3 User message
....................................... 15
4.1.4 Server message
..................................... 16
4.1.5 Operator message
................................... 17
4.1.6 Quit message
....................................... 17
4.1.7 Server Quit
message ................................ 18
4.2 Channel operations ......................................
19
4.2.1 Join message
....................................... 19
4.2.2 Part message
....................................... 20
4.2.3 Mode message
....................................... 21
4.2.3.1 Channel modes ................................. 21
4.2.3.2 User modes .................................... 22
4.2.4 Topic message
...................................... 23
4.2.5 Names message
...................................... 24
4.2.6 List message
....................................... 24
4.2.7 Invite message
..................................... 25
4.2.8 Kick message
....................................... 25
4.3 Server queries and commands .............................
26
4.3.1 Version message
.................................... 26
4.3.2 Stats message
...................................... 27
4.3.3 Links message
...................................... 28
4.3.4 Time message
....................................... 29
4.3.5 Connect message
.................................... 29
4.3.6 Trace message
...................................... 30
4.3.7 Admin message
...................................... 31
4.3.8 Info message
....................................... 31
4.4 Sending messages ........................................
32
4.4.1 Private messages
................................... 32
4.4.2 Notice messages
.................................... 33
4.5 User-based queries ......................................
33
4.5.1 Who query ..........................................
33
4.5.2 Whois query
........................................ 34
4.5.3 Whowas message
..................................... 35
4.6 Miscellaneous messages ..................................
35
4.6.1 Kill message
....................................... 36
4.6.2 Ping message
....................................... 37
4.6.3 Pong message
....................................... 37
4.6.4 Error message
...................................... 38
5. OPTIONAL MESSAGES ...........................................
38
5.1 Away message ............................................
38
5.2 Rehash command ..........................................
39
5.3 Restart command .........................................
39
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5.4 Summon message ..........................................
40
5.5 Users message ...........................................
40
5.6 Operwall command ........................................
41
5.7 Userhost message ........................................
42
5.8 Ison message ............................................
42
6. REPLIES .....................................................
43
6.1 Error Replies ...........................................
43
6.2 Command responses .......................................
48
6.3 Reserved numerics .......................................
56
7. Client and server authentication ............................
56
8. Current Implementations Details .............................
56
8.1 Network protocol: TCP ...................................
57
8.1.1 Support of Unix
sockets ............................ 57
8.2 Command Parsing .........................................
57
8.3 Message delivery ........................................
57
8.4 Connection 'Liveness' ...................................
58
8.5 Establishing a server-client connection
................. 58
8.6 Establishing a server-server connection
................. 58
8.6.1 State information
exchange when connecting ......... 59
8.7 Terminating server-client connections
................... 59
8.8 Terminating server-server connections
................... 59
8.9 Tracking nickname changes ...............................
60
8.10 Flood control of clients ...............................
60
8.11 Non-blocking lookups ...................................
61
8.11.1 Hostname (DNS)
lookups ............................ 61
8.11.2 Username (Ident)
lookups .......................... 61
8.12 Configuration file .....................................
61
8.12.1 Allowing clients
to connect ....................... 62
8.12.2 Operators .........................................
62
8.12.3 Allowing servers
to connect ....................... 62
8.12.4 Administrivia
..................................... 63
8.13 Channel membership .....................................
63
9. Current problems ............................................
63
9.1 Scalability .............................................
63
9.2 Labels ..................................................
63
9.2.1 Nicknames ..........................................
63
9.2.2 Channels ...........................................
64
9.2.3 Servers ............................................
64
9.3 Algorithms ..............................................
64
10. Support and availability ...................................
64
11. Security Considerations ....................................
65
12. Authors' Addresses .........................................
65
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1. INTRODUCTION
The IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol has been designed
over a
number of years for use with text based conferencing.
This document
describes the current IRC protocol.
The IRC protocol has been developed on systems using the
TCP/IP
network protocol, although there is no requirement that
this remain
the only sphere in which it operates.
IRC itself is a teleconferencing system, which (through
the use of
the client-server model) is well-suited to running on
many machines
in a distributed fashion. A typical setup involves
a single process
(the server) forming a central point for clients (or other
servers)
to connect to, performing the required message delivery/multiplexing
and other functions.
1.1 Servers
The server forms the backbone of IRC, providing a point
to which
clients may connect to to talk to each other, and a point
for other
servers to connect to, forming an IRC network. The
only network
configuration allowed for IRC servers is that of a spanning
tree [see
Fig. 1] where each server acts as a central node for the
rest of the
net it sees.
[ Server 15 ] [ Server 13 ] [ Server 14]
/
\ /
/
\ /
[ Server 11 ] ------ [ Server
1 ] [ Server 12]
/ \
/
/ \
/
[ Server 2 ] [ Server
3 ]
/ \
\
/ \
\
[ Server
4 ] [ Server 5 ]
[ Server 6 ]
/ | \
/
/
| \
/
/
| \____
/
/
| \
/
[ Server 7 ] [ Server 8 ] [ Server 9 ] [ Server 10
]
:
[ etc. ]
:
[ Fig. 1. Format of IRC server network ]
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1.2 Clients
A client is anything connecting to a server that is not
another
server. Each client is distinguished from other
clients by a unique
nickname having a maximum length of nine (9) characters.
See the
protocol grammar rules for what may and may not be used
in a
nickname. In addition to the nickname, all servers
must have the
following information about all clients: the real name
of the host
that the client is running on, the username of the client
on that
host, and the server to which the client is connected.
1.2.1 Operators
To allow a reasonable amount of order to be kept within
the IRC
network, a special class of clients (operators) is allowed
to perform
general maintenance functions on the network. Although
the powers
granted to an operator can be considered as 'dangerous',
they are
nonetheless required. Operators should be able to
perform basic
network tasks such as disconnecting and reconnecting servers
as
needed to prevent long-term use of bad network routing.
In
recognition of this need, the protocol discussed herein
provides for
operators only to be able to perform such functions.
See sections
4.1.7 (SQUIT) and 4.3.5 (CONNECT).
A more controversial power of operators is the ability
to remove a
user from the connected network by 'force',
i.e. operators are able
to close the connection between any client and server.
The
justification for this is delicate since its
abuse is both
destructive and annoying. For further details on
this type of
action, see section 4.6.1 (KILL).
1.3 Channels
A channel is a named group of one or more clients which
will all
receive messages addressed to that channel. The
channel is created
implicitly when the first client joins it, and the channel
ceases to
exist when the last client leaves it. While channel
exists, any
client can reference the channel using the name of the
channel.
Channels names are strings (beginning with a '&' or
'#' character) of
length up to 200 characters. Apart from the the
requirement that the
first character being either '&' or '#'; the only
restriction on a
channel name is that it may not contain any spaces ('
'), a control G
(^G or ASCII 7), or a comma (',' which is used as a list
item
separator by the protocol).
There are two types of channels allowed by this protocol.
One is a
distributed channel which is known to all the servers
that are
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connected to the network. These channels are marked by
the first
character being a only clients on the server where it
exists may join
it. These are distinguished by a leading '&'
character. On top of
these two types, there are the various channel modes available
to
alter the characteristics of individual channels.
See section 4.2.3
(MODE command) for more details on this.
To create a new channel or become part of an existing channel,
a user
is required to JOIN the channel. If the channel
doesn't exist prior
to joining, the channel is created and the creating user
becomes a
channel operator. If the channel already exists,
whether or not your
request to JOIN that channel is honoured depends on the
current modes
of the channel. For example, if the channel is invite-only,
(+i),
then you may only join if invited. As part of the
protocol, a user
may be a part of several channels at once, but a limit
of ten (10)
channels is recommended as being ample for both experienced
and
novice users. See section 8.13 for more information
on this.
If the IRC network becomes disjoint because of a split
between two
servers, the channel on each side is only composed of
those clients
which are connected to servers on the respective sides
of the split,
possibly ceasing to exist on one side of the split.
When the split
is healed, the connecting servers announce to each other
who they
think is in each channel and the mode of that channel.
If the
channel exists on both sides, the JOINs and MODEs are
interpreted in
an inclusive manner so that both sides of the new connection
will
agree about which clients are in the channel and what
modes the
channel has.
1.3.1 Channel Operators
The channel operator (also referred to as a "chop" or "chanop")
on a
given channel is considered to 'own' that channel.
In recognition of
this status, channel operators are endowed with certain
powers which
enable them to keep control and some sort of sanity in
their channel.
As an owner of a channel, a channel operator is not required
to have
reasons for their actions, although if their actions are
generally
antisocial or otherwise abusive, it might be reasonable
to ask an IRC
operator to intervene, or for the usersjust leave and
go elsewhere
and form their own channel.
The commands which may only be used by channel operators are:
KICK -
Eject a client from the channel
MODE -
Change the channel's mode
INVITE - Invite a
client to an invite-only channel (mode +i)
TOPIC - Change
the channel topic in a mode +t channel
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A channel operator is identified by the '@' symbol next
to their
nickname whenever it is associated with a channel (ie
replies to the
NAMES, WHO and WHOIS commands).
2. The IRC Specification
2.1 Overview
The protocol as described herein is for use both with server
to
server and client to server connections. There are,
however, more
restrictions on client connections (which are considered
to be
untrustworthy) than on server connections.
2.2 Character codes
No specific character set is specified. The protocol is
based on a a
set of codes which are composed of eight (8) bits, making
up an
octet. Each message may be composed of any number
of these octets;
however, some octet values are used for control codes
which act as
message delimiters.
Regardless of being an 8-bit protocol, the delimiters and
keywords
are such that protocol is mostly usable from USASCII terminal
and a
telnet connection.
Because of IRC's scandanavian origin, the characters {}|
are
considered to be the lower case equivalents of the characters
[]\,
respectively. This is a critical issue when determining
the
equivalence of two nicknames.
2.3 Messages
Servers and clients send eachother messages which may or
may not
generate a reply. If the message contains a valid
command, as
described in later sections, the client should expect
a reply as
specified but it is not advised to wait forever for the
reply; client
to server and server to server communication is essentially
asynchronous in nature.
Each IRC message may consist of up to three main parts:
the prefix
(optional), the command, and the command parameters (of
which there
may be up to 15). The prefix, command, and all parameters
are
separated by one (or more) ASCII space character(s) (0x20).
The presence of a prefix is indicated with a single leading
ASCII
colon character (':', 0x3b), which must be the first character
of the
message itself. There must be no gap (whitespace)
between the colon
and the prefix. The prefix is used by servers to
indicate the true
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origin of the message. If the prefix is missing from
the message, it
is assumed to have originated from the connection from
which it was
received. Clients should not use prefix when sending
a message from
themselves; if they use a prefix, the only valid prefix
is the
registered nickname associated with the client.
If the source
identified by the prefix cannot be found from the server's
internal
database, or if the source is registered from a different
link than
from which the message arrived, the server must ignore
the message
silently.
The command must either be a valid IRC command or a three
(3) digit
number represented in ASCII text.
IRC messages are always lines of characters terminated
with a CR-LF
(Carriage Return - Line Feed) pair, and these messages
shall not
exceed 512 characters in length, counting all characters
including
the trailing CR-LF. Thus, there are 510 characters maximum
allowed
for the command and its parameters. There is no
provision for
continuation message lines. See section 7 for more
details about
current implementations.
2.3.1 Message format in 'pseudo' BNF
The protocol messages must be extracted from the contiguous
stream of
octets. The current solution is to designate two
characters, CR and
LF, as message separators. Empty messages
are silently ignored,
which permits use of the sequence
CR-LF between messages
without extra problems.
The extracted message is parsed into the components <prefix>,
<command> and list of parameters matched either by
<middle> or
<trailing> components.
The BNF representation for this is:
<message> ::= [':' <prefix> <SPACE> ] <command> <params>
<crlf>
<prefix> ::= <servername> | <nick> [ '!' <user>
] [ '@' <host> ]
<command> ::= <letter> { <letter> } | <number> <number>
<number>
<SPACE> ::= ' ' { ' ' }
<params> ::= <SPACE> [ ':' <trailing> | <middle>
<params> ]
<middle> ::= <Any *non-empty* sequence of octets not
including SPACE
or NUL or CR or LF, the first of which may not be ':'>
<trailing> ::= <Any, possibly *empty*, sequence of octets not
including
NUL or CR or LF>
<crlf> ::= CR LF
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NOTES:
1) <SPACE> is consists only of SPACE character(s)
(0x20).
Specially notice that TABULATION,
and all other control
characters are considered
NON-WHITE-SPACE.
2) After extracting the parameter list, all
parameters are equal,
whether matched by <middle>
or <trailing>. <Trailing> is just
a syntactic trick to allow
SPACE within parameter.
3) The fact that CR and LF cannot appear in
parameter strings is
just artifact of the message
framing. This might change later.
4) The NUL character is not special in message
framing, and
basically could end up inside
a parameter, but as it would
cause extra complexities
in normal C string handling. Therefore
NUL is not allowed within
messages.
5) The last parameter may be an empty string.
6) Use of the extended prefix (['!' <user>
] ['@' <host> ]) must
not be used in server to
server communications and is only
intended for server to client
messages in order to provide
clients with more useful
information about who a message is
from without the need for
additional queries.
Most protocol messages specify additional semantics and
syntax for
the extracted parameter strings dictated by their position
in the
list. For example, many server commands will assume
that the first
parameter after the command is the list of targets, which
can be
described with:
<target> ::= <to> [ "," <target>
]
<to>
::= <channel> | <user> '@' <servername> | <nick> | <mask>
<channel> ::= ('#' | '&') <chstring>
<servername> ::= <host>
<host> ::= see
RFC 952 [DNS:4] for details on allowed hostnames
<nick> ::= <letter>
{ <letter> | <number> | <special> }
<mask> ::= ('#'
| '$') <chstring>
<chstring> ::= <any 8bit code except
SPACE, BELL, NUL, CR, LF and
comma (',')>
Other parameter syntaxes are:
<user> ::= <nonwhite>
{ <nonwhite> }
<letter> ::= 'a' ... 'z' |
'A' ... 'Z'
<number> ::= '0' ... '9'
<special> ::= '-' | '[' | ']' | '\'
| '`' | '^' | '{' | '}'
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<nonwhite> ::= <any 8bit code except
SPACE (0x20), NUL (0x0), CR
(0xd), and LF (0xa)>
2.4 Numeric replies
Most of the messages sent to the server generate a reply
of some
sort. The most common reply is the numeric reply,
used for both
errors and normal replies. The numeric reply must
be sent as one
message consisting of the sender prefix, the three digit
numeric, and
the target of the reply. A numeric reply is not
allowed to originate
from a client; any such messages received by a server
are silently
dropped. In all other respects, a numeric reply is just
like a normal
message, except that the keyword is made up of 3 numeric
digits
rather than a string of letters. A list of different
replies is
supplied in section 6.
3. IRC Concepts.
This section is devoted to describing the actual concepts
behind the
organization of the IRC protocol
and how the current
implementations deliver different classes of messages.
1--\
A D---4
2--/ \ /
B----C
/ \
3 E
Servers: A, B, C, D, E Clients: 1, 2, 3, 4
[ Fig. 2. Sample small IRC network ]
3.1 One-to-one communication
Communication on a one-to-one basis is usually only performed
by
clients, since most server-server traffic is not a result
of servers
talking only to each other. To provide a secure
means for clients to
talk to each other, it is required that all servers be
able to send a
message in exactly one direction along the spanning tree
in order to
reach any client. The path of a message being delivered
is the
shortest path between any two points on the spanning tree.
The following examples all refer to Figure 2 above.
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Example 1:
A message between clients 1 and 2 is only
seen by server A, which
sends it straight to client 2.
Example 2:
A message between clients 1 and 3 is seen
by servers A & B, and
client 3. No other clients or servers
are allowed see the message.
Example 3:
A message between clients 2 and 4 is seen
by servers A, B, C & D
and client 4 only.
3.2 One-to-many
The main goal of IRC is to provide a forum
which allows easy and
efficient conferencing (one to many conversations).
IRC offers
several means to achieve this, each serving its own purpose.
3.2.1 To a list
The least efficient style of one-to-many conversation is
through
clients talking to a 'list' of users. How this is
done is almost
self explanatory: the client gives a list of destinations
to which
the message is to be delivered and the server breaks it
up and
dispatches a separate copy of the message to each given
destination.
This isn't as efficient as using a group since the destination
list
is broken up and the dispatch sent without checking to
make sure
duplicates aren't sent down each path.
3.2.2 To a group (channel)
In IRC the channel has a role equivalent to that of the
multicast
group; their existence is dynamic (coming and going as
people join
and leave channels) and the actual conversation carried
out on a
channel is only sent to servers which are supporting users
on a given
channel. If there are multiple users on a server
in the same
channel, the message text is sent only once to that server
and then
sent to each client on the channel. This action
is then repeated for
each client-server combination until the original message
has fanned
out and reached each member of the channel.
The following examples all refer to Figure 2.
Example 4:
Any channel with 1 client in it. Messages
to the channel go to the
server and then nowhere else.
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Example 5:
2 clients in a channel. All messages traverse
a path as if they
were private messages between the two clients
outside a channel.
Example 6:
Clients 1, 2 and 3 in a channel. All
messages to the channel are
sent to all clients and only those servers
which must be traversed
by the message if it were a private message
to a single client. If
client 1 sends a message, it goes back to
client 2 and then via
server B to client 3.
3.2.3 To a host/server mask
To provide IRC operators with some mechanism to send
messages to a
large body of related users, host and server mask messages
are
provided. These messages are sent to users whose
host or server
information match that of the mask.
The messages are only sent to
locations where users are, in a fashion similar to that
of channels.
3.3 One-to-all
The one-to-all type of message is better described as a
broadcast
message, sent to all clients or servers or both.
On a large network
of users and servers, a single message can result in a
lot of traffic
being sent over the network in an effort to reach all
of the desired
destinations.
For some messages, there is no option but to broadcast
it to all
servers so that the state information held by each server
is
reasonably consistent between servers.
3.3.1 Client-to-Client
There is no class of message which, from a single message,
results in
a message being sent to every other client.
3.3.2 Client-to-Server
Most of the commands which result in a change of state
information
(such as channel membership, channel mode, user status,
etc) must be
sent to all servers by default, and this distribution
may not be
changed by the client.
3.3.3 Server-to-Server.
While most messages between servers are distributed to
all 'other'
servers, this is only required for any message that affects
either a
user, channel or server. Since these are the basic
items found in
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IRC, nearly all messages originating from a server are
broadcast to
all other connected servers.
4. Message details
On the following pages are descriptions of each message
recognized by
the IRC server and client. All commands described
in this section
must be implemented by any server for this protocol.
Where the reply ERR_NOSUCHSERVER is listed, it means that
the
<server> parameter could not be found. The server
must not send any
other replies after this for that command.
The server to which a client is connected is required to
parse the
complete message, returning any appropriate errors.
If the server
encounters a fatal error while parsing a message, an error
must be
sent back to the client and the parsing terminated.
A fatal error
may be considered to be incorrect command, a destination
which is
otherwise unknown to the server (server, nick or channel
names fit
this category), not enough parameters or incorrect privileges.
If a full set of parameters is presented, then each must
be checked
for validity and appropriate responses sent back to the
client. In
the case of messages which use parameter lists using the
comma as an
item separator, a reply must be sent for each item.
In the examples below, some messages appear using the full format:
:Name COMMAND parameter list
Such examples represent a message from "Name" in transit
between
servers, where it is essential to include the name of
the original
sender of the message so remote servers may send back
a reply along
the correct path.
4.1 Connection Registration
The commands described here are used to register a connection
with an
IRC server as either a user or a server as well as correctly
disconnect.
A "PASS" command is not required for either client or server
connection to be registered, but it must precede the server
message
or the latter of the NICK/USER combination. It is
strongly
recommended that all server connections have a password
in order to
give some level of security to the actual connections.
The
recommended order for a client to register is as follows:
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1. Pass
message
2. Nick
message
3. User
message
4.1.1 Password message
Command: PASS
Parameters: <password>
The PASS command is used to set a 'connection password'.
The
password can and must be set before any attempt to register
the
connection is made. Currently this requires that
clients send a PASS
command before sending the NICK/USER combination and servers
*must*
send a PASS command before any SERVER command. The
password supplied
must match the one contained in the C/N lines (for servers)
or I
lines (for clients). It is possible to send multiple
PASS commands
before registering but only the last one sent is used
for
verification and it may not be changed once registered.
Numeric
Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS ERR_ALREADYREGISTRED
Example:
PASS secretpasswordhere
4.1.2 Nick message
Command: NICK
Parameters: <nickname> [ <hopcount> ]
NICK message is used to give user a nickname or change
the previous
one. The <hopcount> parameter is only used by
servers to indicate
how far away a nick is from its home server. A local
connection has
a hopcount of 0. If supplied by a client, it must
be ignored.
If a NICK message arrives at a server which already knows
about an
identical nickname for another client, a nickname collision
occurs.
As a result of a nickname collision, all instances of
the nickname
are removed from the server's database, and a KILL command
is issued
to remove the nickname from all other server's database.
If the NICK
message causing the collision was a nickname change, then
the
original (old) nick must be removed as well.
If the server recieves an identical NICK from a client
which is
directly connected, it may issue an ERR_NICKCOLLISION
to the local
client, drop the NICK command, and not generate any kills.
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Numeric Replies:
ERR_NONICKNAMEGIVEN
ERR_ERRONEUSNICKNAME
ERR_NICKNAMEINUSE
ERR_NICKCOLLISION
Example:
NICK Wiz ; Introducing new nick "Wiz".
:WiZ NICK Kilroy ; WiZ changed his nickname to Kilroy.
4.1.3 User message
Command: USER
Parameters: <username> <hostname> <servername>
<realname>
The USER message is used at the beginning of connection
to specify
the username, hostname, servername and realname of s new
user. It is
also used in communication between servers to indicate
new user
arriving on IRC, since only after both USER and NICK have
been
received from a client does a user become registered.
Between servers USER must to be prefixed with client's
NICKname.
Note that hostname and servername are normally ignored
by the IRC
server when the USER command comes from a directly connected
client
(for security reasons), but they are used in server to
server
communication. This means that a NICK must always
be sent to a
remote server when a new user is being introduced to the
rest of the
network before the accompanying USER is sent.
It must be noted that realname parameter must be the last
parameter,
because it may contain space characters and must be prefixed
with a
colon (':') to make sure this is recognised as such.
Since it is easy for a client to lie about its username
by relying
solely on the USER message, the use of an "Identity Server"
is
recommended. If the host which a user connects from
has such a
server enabled the username is set to that as in the reply
from the
"Identity Server".
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS ERR_ALREADYREGISTRED
Examples:
USER guest tolmoon tolsun :Ronnie Reagan
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; User registering themselves with a
username of "guest" and real name
"Ronnie Reagan".
:testnick USER guest tolmoon tolsun :Ronnie Reagan
; message between servers with the
nickname for which the USER command
belongs to
4.1.4 Server message
Command: SERVER
Parameters: <servername> <hopcount> <info>
The server message is used to tell a server that the other
end of a
new connection is a server. This message is also used
to pass server
data over whole net. When a new server is connected
to net,
information about it be broadcast to the whole network.
<hopcount>
is used to give all servers some internal information
on how far away
all servers are. With a full server list, it would
be possible to
construct a map of the entire server tree, but hostmasks
prevent this
from being done.
The SERVER message must only be accepted from either (a)
a connection
which is yet to be registered and is attempting to register
as a
server, or (b) an existing connection to another server,
in which
case the SERVER message is introducing a new server behind
that
server.
Most errors that occur with the receipt of a SERVER command
result in
the connection being terminated by the destination host
(target
SERVER). Error replies are usually sent using the
"ERROR" command
rather than the numeric since the ERROR command has several
useful
properties which make it useful here.
If a SERVER message is parsed and attempts to introduce
a server
which is already known to the receiving server, the connection
from
which that message must be closed (following the correct
procedures),
since a duplicate route to a server has formed and the
acyclic nature
of the IRC tree broken.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_ALREADYREGISTRED
Example:
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SERVER test.oulu.fi 1 :[tolsun.oulu.fi] Experimental server
; New server test.oulu.fi introducing
itself and attempting to register. The
name in []'s is the hostname for the
host running test.oulu.fi.
:tolsun.oulu.fi SERVER csd.bu.edu 5 :BU Central Server
; Server tolsun.oulu.fi is our uplink
for csd.bu.edu which is 5 hops away.
4.1.5 Oper
Command: OPER
Parameters: <user> <password>
OPER message is used by a normal user to obtain operator
privileges.
The combination of <user> and <password> are required
to gain
Operator privileges.
If the client sending the OPER command supplies the correct
password
for the given user, the server then informs the rest of
the network
of the new operator by issuing a "MODE +o" for the clients
nickname.
The OPER message is client-server only.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
RPL_YOUREOPER
ERR_NOOPERHOST
ERR_PASSWDMISMATCH
Example:
OPER foo bar
; Attempt to register as an operator
using a username of "foo" and "bar" as
the password.
4.1.6 Quit
Command: QUIT
Parameters: [<Quit message>]
A client session is ended with a quit message. The
server must close
the connection to a client which sends a QUIT message.
If a "Quit
Message" is given, this will be sent instead of the default
message,
the nickname.
When netsplits (disconnecting of two servers) occur, the
quit message
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is composed of the names of two servers involved, separated
by a
space. The first name is that of the server which
is still connected
and the second name is that of the server that has become
disconnected.
If, for some other reason, a client connection is closed
without the
client issuing a QUIT command
(e.g. client dies and EOF occurs
on socket), the server is required to fill in the quit
message with
some sort of message reflecting the
nature of the event which
caused it to happen.
Numeric Replies:
None.
Examples:
QUIT :Gone to have lunch ; Preferred message format.
4.1.7 Server quit message
Command: SQUIT
Parameters: <server> <comment>
The SQUIT message is needed to tell about quitting or dead
servers.
If a server wishes to break the connection to another
server it must
send a SQUIT message to the other server, using the the
name of the
other server as the server parameter, which then closes
its
connection to the quitting server.
This command is also available operators to help keep a
network of
IRC servers connected in an orderly fashion. Operators
may also
issue an SQUIT message for a remote server connection.
In this case,
the SQUIT must be parsed by each server inbetween the
operator and
the remote server, updating the view of the network held
by each
server as explained below.
The <comment> should be supplied by all operators who
execute a SQUIT
for a remote server (that is not connected to the server
they are
currently on) so that other operators are aware for the
reason of
this action. The <comment> is also filled in
by servers which may
place an error or similar message here.
Both of the servers which are on either side of the connection
being
closed are required to to send out a SQUIT message (to
all its other
server connections) for all other servers which are considered
to be
behind that link.
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Similarly, a QUIT message must be sent to the other connected
servers
rest of the network on behalf of all clients behind that
link. In
addition to this, all channel members of a channel which
lost a
member due to the split must be sent a QUIT message.
If a server connection is terminated prematurely (e.g.
the server on
the other end of the link
died), the server which detects
this disconnection is required to inform the rest of
the network
that the connection has closed
and fill in the comment field
with something appropriate.
Numeric replies:
ERR_NOPRIVILEGES ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
Example:
SQUIT tolsun.oulu.fi :Bad Link ? ; the server link tolson.oulu.fi
has
been terminated because of "Bad Link".
:Trillian SQUIT cm22.eng.umd.edu :Server out of control
; message from Trillian to disconnect
"cm22.eng.umd.edu" from the net
because "Server out of control".
4.2 Channel operations
This group of messages is concerned with manipulating channels,
their
properties (channel modes), and their contents (typically
clients).
In implementing these, a number of race conditions are
inevitable
when clients at opposing ends of a network send commands
which will
ultimately clash. It is also required that servers
keep a nickname
history to ensure that wherever a <nick> parameter
is given, the
server check its history in case it has recently been
changed.
4.2.1 Join message
Command: JOIN
Parameters: <channel>{,<channel>} [<key>{,<key>}]
The JOIN command is used by client to start listening a
specific
channel. Whether or not a client is allowed to join a
channel is
checked only by the server the client is connected to;
all other
servers automatically add the user to the channel when
it is received
from other servers. The conditions which affect
this are as follows:
1.
the user must be invited if the channel is invite-only;
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2.
the user's nick/username/hostname must not match any
active bans;
3. the correct key (password) must be given if it is set.
These are discussed in more detail under the MODE command
(see
section 4.2.3 for more details).
Once a user has joined a channel, they receive notice about
all
commands their server receives which affect the channel.
This
includes MODE, KICK, PART, QUIT and of course PRIVMSG/NOTICE.
The
JOIN command needs to be broadcast to all servers so that
each server
knows where to find the users who are on the channel.
This allows
optimal delivery of PRIVMSG/NOTICE messages to the channel.
If a JOIN is successful, the user is then sent the channel's
topic
(using RPL_TOPIC) and the list of users who are on the
channel (using
RPL_NAMREPLY), which must include the user joining.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
ERR_BANNEDFROMCHAN
ERR_INVITEONLYCHAN
ERR_BADCHANNELKEY
ERR_CHANNELISFULL
ERR_BADCHANMASK
ERR_NOSUCHCHANNEL
ERR_TOOMANYCHANNELS
RPL_TOPIC
Examples:
JOIN #foobar ; join channel #foobar.
JOIN &foo fubar ; join channel &foo using key "fubar".
JOIN #foo,&bar fubar
; join channel #foo using key "fubar"
and &bar using no key.
JOIN #foo,#bar fubar,foobar ; join
channel #foo using key "fubar".
and channel #bar using key "foobar".
JOIN #foo,#bar ; join channels #foo and #bar.
:WiZ JOIN #Twilight_zone ; JOIN message from WiZ
4.2.2 Part message
Command: PART
Parameters: <channel>{,<channel>}
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The PART message causes the client sending the message
to be removed
from the list of active users for all given channels listed
in the
parameter string.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
ERR_NOSUCHCHANNEL
ERR_NOTONCHANNEL
Examples:
PART #twilight_zone ; leave channel "#twilight_zone"
PART #oz-ops,&group5
; leave both channels "&group5" and
"#oz-ops".
4.2.3 Mode message
Command: MODE
The MODE command is a dual-purpose command in IRC.
It allows both
usernames and channels to have their mode changed.
The rationale for
this choice is that one day nicknames will be obsolete
and the
equivalent property will be the channel.
When parsing MODE messages, it is recommended that the
entire message
be parsed first and then the changes which resulted then
passed on.
4.2.3.1 Channel modes
Parameters: <channel> {[+|-]|o|p|s|i|t|n|b|v} [<limit>]
[<user>]
[<ban mask>]
The MODE command is provided so that channel operators
may change the
characteristics of `their' channel. It is also required
that servers
be able to change channel modes so that channel operators
may be
created.
The various modes available for channels are as follows:
o - give/take
channel operator privileges;
p - private
channel flag;
s - secret
channel flag;
i - invite-only
channel flag;
t - topic
settable by channel operator only flag;
n - no
messages to channel from clients on the outside;
m - moderated
channel;
l - set
the user limit to channel;
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b - set
a ban mask to keep users out;
v - give/take
the ability to speak on a moderated channel;
k - set
a channel key (password).
When using the 'o' and 'b' options, a restriction on a
total of three
per mode command has been imposed. That is, any
combination of 'o'
and
4.2.3.2 User modes
Parameters: <nickname> {[+|-]|i|w|s|o}
The user MODEs are typically changes which affect either
how the
client is seen by others or what 'extra' messages the
client is sent.
A user MODE command may only be accepted if both the sender
of the
message and the nickname given as a parameter are both
the same.
The available modes are as follows:
i - marks
a users as invisible;
s - marks
a user for receipt of server notices;
w - user
receives wallops;
o - operator
flag.
Additional modes may be available later on.
If a user attempts to make themselves an operator using
the "+o"
flag, the attempt should be ignored. There is no
restriction,
however, on anyone `deopping' themselves (using "-o").
Numeric
Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
RPL_CHANNELMODEIS
ERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED
ERR_NOSUCHNICK
ERR_NOTONCHANNEL
ERR_KEYSET
RPL_BANLIST
RPL_ENDOFBANLIST
ERR_UNKNOWNMODE
ERR_NOSUCHCHANNEL
ERR_USERSDONTMATCH
RPL_UMODEIS
ERR_UMODEUNKNOWNFLAG
Examples:
Use of Channel Modes:
MODE #Finnish +im
; Makes #Finnish channel moderated and
'invite-only'.
MODE #Finnish +o Kilroy
; Gives 'chanop' privileges to Kilroy on
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channel #Finnish.
MODE #Finnish +v Wiz ; Allow WiZ to speak on #Finnish.
MODE #Fins -s
; Removes 'secret' flag from channel
#Fins.
MODE #42 +k oulu ; Set the channel key to "oulu".
MODE #eu-opers +l 10
; Set the limit for the number of users
on channel to 10.
MODE &oulu +b ; list ban masks set for channel.
MODE &oulu +b *!*@* ; prevent all users from joining.
MODE &oulu +b *!*@*.edu
; prevent any user from a hostname
matching *.edu from joining.
Use of user Modes:
:MODE WiZ -w
; turns reception of WALLOPS messages
off for WiZ.
:Angel MODE Angel +i
; Message from Angel to make themselves
invisible.
MODE WiZ -o
; WiZ 'deopping' (removing operator
status). The plain reverse of this
command ("MODE WiZ +o") must not be
allowed from users since would bypass
the OPER command.
4.2.4 Topic message
Command: TOPIC
Parameters: <channel> [<topic>]
The TOPIC message is used to change or view the topic of
a channel.
The topic for channel <channel> is returned if there
is no <topic>
given. If the <topic> parameter is present, the
topic for that
channel will be changed, if the channel modes permit this
action.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
ERR_NOTONCHANNEL
RPL_NOTOPIC
RPL_TOPIC
ERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED
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Examples:
:Wiz TOPIC #test :New topic ;User Wiz setting the topic.
TOPIC #test :another topic
;set the topic on #test to "another
topic".
TOPIC #test ; check the topic for #test.
4.2.5 Names message
Command: NAMES
Parameters: [<channel>{,<channel>}]
By using the NAMES command, a user can list all nicknames
that are
visible to them on any channel that they can see.
Channel names
which they can see are those which aren't private (+p)
or secret (+s)
or those which they are actually on. The <channel>
parameter
specifies which channel(s) to return information about
if valid.
There is no error reply for bad channel names.
If no <channel> parameter is given, a list of all channels
and their
occupants is returned. At the end of this list,
a list of users who
are visible but either not on any channel or not on a
visible channel
are listed as being on `channel' "*".
Numerics:
RPL_NAMREPLY RPL_ENDOFNAMES
Examples:
NAMES #twilight_zone,#42
; list visible users on #twilight_zone
and #42 if the channels are visible to
you.
NAMES ; list all visible channels and users
4.2.6 List message
Command: LIST
Parameters: [<channel>{,<channel>} [<server>]]
The list message is used to list channels and their topics.
If the
<channel> parameter is used,
only the status of that channel
is displayed. Private channels are
listed (without their
topics) as channel "Prv" unless the client generating
the query is
actually on that channel. Likewise, secret channels
are not listed
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at all unless the client is a member of the channel in question.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
RPL_LISTSTART
RPL_LIST
RPL_LISTEND
Examples:
LIST ; List all channels.
LIST #twilight_zone,#42 ; List channels #twilight_zone and #42
4.2.7 Invite message
Command: INVITE
Parameters: <nickname> <channel>
The INVITE message is used to invite users to a channel.
The
parameter <nickname> is the nickname of the person
to be invited to
the target channel <channel>. There is no requirement
that the
channel the target user is being invited to must exist
or be a valid
channel. To invite a user to a channel which is
invite only (MODE
+i), the client sending the invite must be recognised
as being a
channel operator on the given channel.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
ERR_NOSUCHNICK
ERR_NOTONCHANNEL
ERR_USERONCHANNEL
ERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED
RPL_INVITING
RPL_AWAY
Examples:
:Angel INVITE Wiz #Dust
; User Angel inviting WiZ to channel
#Dust
INVITE Wiz #Twilight_Zone
; Command to invite WiZ to
#Twilight_zone
4.2.8 Kick command
Command: KICK
Parameters: <channel> <user> [<comment>]
The KICK command can be used to forcibly
remove a user from a
channel. It 'kicks them
out' of the channel (forced PART).
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Only a channel operator may kick another user out of a
channel.
Each server that receives a KICK message
checks that it is valid
(ie the sender is actually a channel operator)
before removing
the victim from the channel.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
ERR_NOSUCHCHANNEL
ERR_BADCHANMASK
ERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED
ERR_NOTONCHANNEL
Examples:
KICK &Melbourne Matthew ; Kick Matthew from &Melbourne
KICK #Finnish John :Speaking English
; Kick John from #Finnish using
"Speaking English" as the reason
(comment).
:WiZ KICK #Finnish John
; KICK message from WiZ to remove John
from channel #Finnish
NOTE:
It is possible to extend the KICK command
parameters to the
following:
<channel>{,<channel>} <user>{,<user>} [<comment>]
4.3 Server queries and commands
The server query group of commands has been designed to
return
information about any server which is connected to the
network. All
servers connected must respond to these queries and respond
correctly. Any invalid response (or lack thereof)
must be considered
a sign of a broken server and it must be disconnected/disabled
as
soon as possible until the situation is remedied.
In these queries, where a parameter appears as "<server>",
it will
usually mean it can be a nickname or a server or a wildcard
name of
some sort. For each parameter, however, only one
query and set of
replies is to be generated.
4.3.1 Version message
Command: VERSION
Parameters: [<server>]
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The VERSION message is used to query
the version of the server
program. An optional parameter <server> is used
to query the version
of the server program which a client is not directly connected
to.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER RPL_VERSION
Examples:
:Wiz VERSION *.se
; message from Wiz to check the version
of a server matching "*.se"
VERSION tolsun.oulu.fi
; check the version of server
"tolsun.oulu.fi".
4.3.2 Stats message
Command: STATS
Parameters: [<query> [<server>]]
The stats message is used to query statistics of certain
server. If
<server> parameter is omitted, only the end of stats
reply is sent
back. The implementation of this command is highly
dependent on the
server which replies, although the server must be able
to supply
information as described by the queries below (or similar).
A query may be given by any single letter which is only
checked by
the destination server (if given as the <server> parameter)
and is
otherwise passed on by intermediate servers, ignored and
unaltered.
The following queries are those found in the current IRC
implementation and provide a large portion of the setup
information
for that server. Although these may not be supported
in the same way
by other versions, all servers should be able to supply
a valid reply
to a STATS query which is consistent with the reply formats
currently
used and the purpose of the query.
The currently supported queries are:
c - returns
a list of servers which the server may connect
to or allow connections from;
h - returns
a list of servers which are either forced to be
treated as leaves or allowed to act as hubs;
i - returns
a list of hosts which the server allows a client
to connect from;
k - returns
a list of banned username/hostname combinations
for that server;
l - returns
a list of the server's connections, showing how
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long each connection has been established and the traffic
over that connection in bytes and messages for each
direction;
m - returns
a list of commands supported by the server and
the usage count for each if the usage count is non zero;
o - returns
a list of hosts from which normal clients may
become operators;
y - show
Y (Class) lines from server's configuration file;
u - returns
a string showing how long the server has been up.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
RPL_STATSCLINE
RPL_STATSNLINE
RPL_STATSILINE
RPL_STATSKLINE
RPL_STATSQLINE
RPL_STATSLLINE
RPL_STATSLINKINFO
RPL_STATSUPTIME
RPL_STATSCOMMANDS
RPL_STATSOLINE
RPL_STATSHLINE
RPL_ENDOFSTATS
Examples:
STATS m
; check the command usage for the server
you are connected to
:Wiz STATS c eff.org
; request by WiZ for C/N line
information from server eff.org
4.3.3 Links message
Command: LINKS
Parameters: [[<remote server>] <server mask>]
With LINKS, a user can list all servers which are known
by the server
answering the query. The returned list of servers
must match the
mask, or if no mask is given, the full list is returned.
If <remote server> is given in addition to <server
mask>, the LINKS
command is forwarded to the first server found that matches
that name
(if any), and that server is then required to answer the
query.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
RPL_LINKS
RPL_ENDOFLINKS
Examples:
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LINKS *.au
; list all servers which have a name
that matches *.au;
:WiZ LINKS *.bu.edu *.edu ; LINKS
message from WiZ to the first
server matching *.edu for a list of
servers matching *.bu.edu.
4.3.4 Time message
Command: TIME
Parameters: [<server>]
The time message is used to query local time from the specified
server. If the server parameter is not given, the server
handling the
command must reply to the query.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER RPL_TIME
Examples:
TIME tolsun.oulu.fi
; check the time on the server
"tolson.oulu.fi"
Angel TIME *.au
; user angel checking the time on a
server matching "*.au"
4.3.5 Connect message
Command: CONNECT
Parameters: <target server> [<port> [<remote
server>]]
The CONNECT command can be used to force a server to try
to establish
a new connection to another server immediately.
CONNECT is a
privileged command and is to be available only to IRC
Operators. If
a remote server is given then the CONNECT attempt is made
by that
server to <target server> and <port>.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
ERR_NOPRIVILEGES
ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
Examples:
CONNECT tolsun.oulu.fi
; Attempt to connect a server to
tolsun.oulu.fi
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:WiZ CONNECT eff.org 6667 csd.bu.edu
; CONNECT attempt by WiZ to get servers
eff.org and csd.bu.edu connected on port
6667.
4.3.6 Trace message
Command: TRACE
Parameters: [<server>]
TRACE command is used to find the route to specific server.
Each
server that processes this message must tell the sender
about it by
sending a reply indicating it is a pass-through link,
forming a chain
of replies similar to that gained from using "traceroute".
After
sending this reply back, it must then send the TRACE message
to the
next server until given server is reached. If the
<server> parameter
is omitted, it is recommended that TRACE command send
a message to
the sender telling which servers the current server has
direct
connection to.
If the destination given by "<server>" is an actual
server, then the
destination server is required to report all servers and
users which
are connected to it, although only operators are permitted
to see
users present. If the destination given by <server>
is a nickname,
they only a reply for that nickname is given.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
If the TRACE message is destined for another server, all
intermediate
servers must return a RPL_TRACELINK reply to indicate
that the TRACE
passed through it and where its going next.
RPL_TRACELINK
A TRACE reply may be composed of any number of the following
numeric
replies.
RPL_TRACECONNECTING
RPL_TRACEHANDSHAKE
RPL_TRACEUNKNOWN
RPL_TRACEOPERATOR
RPL_TRACEUSER
RPL_TRACESERVER
RPL_TRACESERVICE
RPL_TRACENEWTYPE
RPL_TRACECLASS
Examples:
TRACE *.oulu.fi
; TRACE to a server matching *.oulu.fi
Oikarinen & Reed
[Page 30]
RFC 1459
Internet Relay Chat Protocol
May 1993
:WiZ TRACE AngelDust ; TRACE issued by WiZ to nick AngelDust
4.3.7 Admin command
Command: ADMIN
Parameters: [<server>]
The admin message is used to find the name of the administrator
of
the given server, or current server if <server> parameter
is omitted.
Each server must have the ability to forward ADMIN messages
to other
servers.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
RPL_ADMINME
RPL_ADMINLOC1
RPL_ADMINLOC2
RPL_ADMINEMAIL
Examples:
ADMIN tolsun.oulu.fi
; request an ADMIN reply from
tolsun.oulu.fi
:WiZ ADMIN *.edu
; ADMIN request from WiZ for first
server found to match *.edu.
4.3.8 Info command
Command: INFO
Parameters: [<server>]
The INFO command is required to return information which
describes
the server: its version, when it was compiled, the patchlevel,
when
it was started, and any other miscellaneous information
which may be
considered to be relevant.
Numeric Replies:
ERR_NOSUCHSERVER
RPL_INFO
RPL_ENDOFINFO
Examples:
INFO csd.bu.edu
; request an INFO reply from
csd.bu.edu
:Avalon INFO *.fi
; INFO request from Avalon for first
server found to match *.fi.
Oikarinen & Reed
[Page 31]
RFC 1459
Internet Relay Chat Protocol
May 1993
INFO Angel
; request info from the server that
Angel is connected to.
4.4 Sending messages
The main purpose of the IRC protocol is to provide a base
for clients