irssi.md

irssi IRC client

irssi is an IRC client.

Here's my cheat sheet of irssi commands which are quick and easy to learn. This document makes it easy for me to share out irssi tips.

My favorite IRC networks include:

irc.freenode.net
irc.gimp.org (for #gimp channel)
irc.rizen.net

Install irssi

On Mac

brew install irssi

On Ubuntu

sudo apt install irssi

Start and connect to a network

Start irssi from the terminal.

irssi

From within irssi, connect to a network with /connect.

/connect -tls irc.freenode.net

-tls option is important to connect securely so that passwords sent over the wire are confidential.

Common commands

IRC commands are case insensitive.

Command	Function
/quit	Exit irssi.
/nick NAME	Change your username1.
ESC N	Switch tabs2. N is a number between 1-9.
ESC 1	Brings you back to the main connect window.
/join #channel	Join a channel named #channel for chatting.
/wc	Close a channel or chat. Short for "window close".
/msg SOMEUSER	This is a direct message to a user.

Notes

1. Some usernames are restricted because they're registered and owned by someone else.
2. ALT N also works but some applications hijack the shortcut. ESC N is the most reliable way of switching windows in irssi.

Register and log into freenode

Register your account by running the following command.

/nick myusername
/msg NickServ REGISTER mypassword [email protected]

Log into your registered account after connecting to freenode.

/nick myusername
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY mypassword

See also

Freenode and other networks commonly have pseudo user services that users can interact with to manage their account, channels, and interactions with other users. For example, Freenode has ChanServ, MemoServ, and NickServ.

ChanServ help. Create and manage your own channels.

/msg chanserv help

MemoServ help. Send memos to offline registered users. They'll get them when they log back in.

/msg memoserv help

NickServ help. Manage your account with the network.

/msg nickserv help