[sundruid]

What changed

• adds [I]RC to the persistent letter menu and a responsive IRC-style TUI
  with channels, nick list, scrollback, /list, /join, /me, /clear,
  /settings, /help, and /quit
• adds seeded #lobby, #tech, and #after-dark channels plus validated
  named-channel creation
• adds per-user settings for 25–500 history lines (500 by default),
  timestamps, member-list visibility, and mention alerts
• stores only a rolling 500 lines that each user was present to see; chat does
  not accumulate while that user is outside IRC and their seen history
  auto-loads on return
• wraps long lines at word boundaries with hanging indentation under the
  timestamp and nickname
• audits IRC enter/list/refresh/join/send/settings/leave actions without
  logging chat bodies
• moves Transfer Center image-display settings to [A]ppearance so [I]RC
  remains globally consistent
• hardens cursor setup for terminals that do not implement curs_set
• updates release version and operator/security documentation to 1.2.0

Why

CataclysmBBS needed private live chat with the familiar flow of classic IRC
while preserving its OS-account authentication boundary and first-letter
keyboard navigation. Seen-only history avoids turning chat into an offline
inbox: users reload what they personally saw, not traffic sent while they were
absent.

Validation

• macOS development suite: 19 tests pass, with the Linux-only SO_PEERCRED
  test skipped
• Raspberry Pi ARM64/Linux suite: all 19 tests pass, including real Unix peer
  authentication and a 505-line retention stress test
• live Pi migration verified irc_channels, irc_messages, irc_presence,
  and irc_history; ken defaults to 500 lines
• live SSH PTY verified /list, long-line entry and wrapping, settings,
  leave/re-enter, and automatic seen-history reload
• live audit journal verified attributed IRC actions with no chat text
• pre-upgrade backup:
  /var/backups/cataclysmbbs-1.2.0-pre/cataclysmbbs-20260730-150328.tar.gz
• deployed service is active and healthy on version 1.2.0