Mini IRC Simulation

Python implementation of a lightweight IRC stack for local experimentation. The repo contains two server variants, a simple CLI client, and two bots for scripted interactions.

Project Layout

• server.py – Threaded IPv6 server that handles core IRC flow (NICK, USER, JOIN, PART, PRIVMSG, PING/PONG) with heartbeat checks and dynamic channel management.
• server_asyncio.py – Asyncio server with broader RFC 1459 coverage (QUIT, LIST, NAMES, WHO, WHOIS, MODE, CAP, etc.), idle tracking, and safer concurrency via async locks.
• client.py – Minimal CLI client. Runs in interactive user mode or a lightweight bot mode (--role robot) that replies to a few commands.
• bot.py – Featureful bot that replies to !hello, !slap, !list, !whois, and can send random facts or private replies.
• facts.txt – Fact snippets used by bot.py.

Requirements

• Python 3.10+.
• psutil is required only for server_asyncio.py:

  pip install psutil

Quick Start (local loopback)

1. (Optional) Create a virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt  # if you add one, otherwise install psutil manually

2. Start a server (default host ::, port 6667):

python server_asyncio.py
# or: python server.py

3. Start a test client against the server:

python client.py --host ::1 --port 6667 --name alice --channel #hello

• Type messages and press Enter to broadcast to the joined channel.
• Use /quit to exit cleanly.
• To try the built-in lightweight bot mode instead: python client.py --role robot --host ::1 --port 6667 --name miniBot --channel #hello.

4. Run the richer bot that uses facts.txt:

python bot.py --host ::1 --port 6667 --name SuperBot --channel hello

Note: pass the channel without #; the script adds it when needed.

Supported Commands (server highlight)

• NICK / USER – registration
• JOIN / PART – channel membership
• PRIVMSG – channel or direct messaging
• PING / PONG – heartbeat handling
• Extras in server_asyncio.py: QUIT, LIST, NAMES, WHO, WHOIS, MODE, CAP

Tips

• The code listens on IPv6 by default (AF_INET6). Use ::1 for local testing. If your IRC client prefers IPv4, update the socket family in the server/client or use an IPv6-capable client.
• Align client port flags with the server port (both servers default to 6667; client.py defaults to 6666, so override with --port 6667).
• No TLS is implemented; traffic is plain TCP.

Known Limitations

• Not a full RFC-compliant implementation; edge cases and additional numerics are still missing.
• No SSL/TLS support.
• IPv6-only sockets by default; adjust if your environment needs IPv4.