TCP, TLS, WebSocket, or iroh QUIC. Use any standard IRC client — irssi, WeeChat, Hexchat, mIRC — or the built-in web client. No special software required for guests.
Connection guide →Sign in with your AT Protocol identity via SASL. Your DID owns your nick, persists across reconnects, and works across federated servers. Private keys never leave your device.
Protocol details →Rust SDK with a bot framework, E2EE, media uploads, and P2P encrypted DMs. The (ClientHandle, Receiver<Event>) pattern makes it easy to build anything.
| ✓ | AT Protocol SASL authentication — your Bluesky DID is your IRC identity |
| ✓ | DID-based nick ownership, channel ops, bans, and invites |
| ✓ | End-to-end encrypted channels (AES-256-GCM) and DID-based group encryption |
| ✓ | Peer-to-peer encrypted DMs via iroh QUIC — no server in the middle |
| ✓ | Server-to-server federation with CRDT state convergence |
| ✓ | IRCv3 capabilities: message-tags, server-time, batch, chathistory, account-notify |
| ✓ | Plugin system for custom server behavior |
| ✓ | 100% backward compatible — standard IRC clients connect as guests |