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Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based conferencing protocol, not one specific chat app. People use client software to connect to an IRC server; servers can link together into a network. Within a network, users can talk in shared channels or send private messages to one another.
What does IRC stand for?
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. The protocol is designed for text-based conferencing. As RFC 2810 puts it, “The IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol is for use with text based conferencing.”
The name refers to the protocol and the way its servers and clients communicate, not to a single company, app, or universal chat room. Different IRC networks are separate communities.
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How does IRC work?
IRC uses a client-server model. A client is the software a person uses; it connects to a server, which can relay messages among users and other parts of the network. Servers can connect to other servers, forming an IRC network. In the simplest arrangement, one server can make up a network by itself.
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- Client: The software a user operates to connect and chat.
- Server: A network component that accepts client connections and handles messages.
- Network: One or more connected IRC servers. Separate networks do not automatically share users or conversations.
- Channel: A shared conversation space where multiple users can communicate.
- Private message: A conversation addressed from one client to another rather than to a channel.
RFC 2810 describes linked servers as a spanning tree and explains how servers deliver and multiplex messages between clients and network components. In practical terms, users connect through a client and server, then choose a channel for group discussion or address another user directly.
Is IRC a chat app or a protocol?
IRC is a protocol. A chat app is a particular piece of software; an IRC client is software that implements the protocol so a person can connect to an IRC network. The network itself consists of servers, and different networks can have different communities and operating policies.
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This distinction also separates IRC from a service built around one provider-controlled application: IRC describes a way for clients and servers to communicate, rather than naming one app or one central service. That does not, by itself, establish that IRC is more private, secure, reliable, or active than another chat option.
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What are IRC channels and servers?
Servers relay conversations across a network
An IRC server accepts connections from clients and can connect with other servers. Those links let the network carry messages beyond the users connected to any single server. A single server can form the smallest possible network; a larger network connects multiple servers.
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Channels organize group discussion
A channel is a shared space for group conversation within a network. A user can also send a private message to another client. Because networks are distinct, joining a channel on one network does not mean joining the same-named channel elsewhere.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When was IRC created, and what do its RFCs mean?
RFC 2810 says IRC development began in 1989, initially to let users on a bulletin board system (BBS) chat. The first formal protocol document, RFC 1459, was authored by Jarkko Oikarinen and Darren Reed and published in May 1993. It was labeled experimental.
The later 2000 RFC documents address different parts of IRC: RFC 2810 covers architecture, RFC 2811 channel management, RFC 2812 the client protocol, and RFC 2813 the server protocol. RFC 2810 explicitly states, “It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.” An RFC number alone therefore does not mean a document defines a current Internet Standard. These documents describe protocol designs; they should not be taken to mean that every present-day network implements every detail identically.
RFC 1459 also reported that, in the two years before its May 1993 publication, the average number of users connected to the main IRC network had grown by a factor of 10. That is a historical statistic, not a measure of current IRC use.
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