--- title: IRC technology news from the first half of 2026 | daily.dev description: A comprehensive roundup of IRC software and protocol developments from the first half of 2026. The IRCv3 Working Group ratified several new specs including... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/irc-technology-news-from-the-first-half-of-2026-dyrk8n28c twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: IRC technology news from the first half of 2026 | daily.dev og:description: A comprehensive roundup of IRC software and protocol developments from the first half of 2026. The IRCv3 Working Group ratified several new specs including... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/irc-technology-news-from-the-first-half-of-2026-dyrk8n28c og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/dyrk8n28c.png og:image:alt: IRC technology news from the first half of 2026 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # IRC technology news from the first half of 2026 **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 13 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A comprehensive roundup of IRC software and protocol developments from the first half of 2026. The IRCv3 Working Group ratified several new specs including Account Extended Ban, no-implicit-names, and channel-context client tag, while introducing a draft oper-tag extension. Notable client updates include Halloy (Rust) gaining extensive new features, Convos porting its backend from Perl to Go, and new clients bIRC (macOS) and Mensajitos (mobile). Server-side, Ergo added PostgreSQL/SQLite history backends and HTTP API endpoints, InspIRCd added multiple IRCv3 features, and UnrealIRCd expanded security and configuration capabilities. The post also notes the IRCv3 Working Group began marking AI-assisted projects with robot icons, and Codeberg voted to prohibit vibe-coded projects from its hosting platform. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What new IRCv3 specs were ratified in early 2026? In the first half of 2026, the IRCv3 Working Group ratified Account Extended Ban, no-implicit-names extension, and channel-context client tag, and introduced a draft oper-tag extension. Earlier ratifications highlighted in a February round-up included the reply client tag and WebSockets spec. Updates were also made to the react client tag, Metadata, client-batch, and the account-registration draft spec. _Developers building IRC clients or tracking protocol changes follow IRCv3 spec progress on daily.dev._ ### What major changes were made to Convos IRC web client in 2026? Convos ported its backend from Perl to Go, dropping the Perl-coupled plugin system and CMS in the process. The rewrite added OIDC login for single sign-on, Web Push notifications for mobile clients, improved channel mode handling, and support for server-time, multi-prefix, userhost-in-names, extended-join, msgid, account, and reply message tags, plus /ignore and /unignore commands. _Teams evaluating self-hosted IRC web clients can track Convos and alternatives on daily.dev._ ### What new features were added to Halloy IRC client recently? Halloy gained a large set of features including a /connect command, transparent background support, multiple keybinds per shortcut, emoji reactions via IRCv3 react, an emoji and command picker, multi-line send, typing indicators, file uploading via soju.im/FILEHOST, channel-context support, /massmessage for Ergo/Solanum mass-messages, persistent message drafts, SVG display, nick and channel completion picker, and support for reply, draft/message-redaction, metadata, WebSockets, and bot mode. _Rust desktop app developers and IRC power users watching Halloy's progress can stay current on daily.dev._ ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 3 discussions and 9 comments across lobsters, hackernews (as of 2026-08-10). **TL;DR:** Commenters are broadly positive about ongoing IRC development activity, appreciating the protocol's continued evolution and community vitality, while raising practical questions about mobile usage patterns, missing-message anxiety, and the long-deferred lack of end-to-end encryption. **Sentiment:** 65% positive · 25% mixed · 10% skeptical **The case for** - IRC with a bouncer brings the experience much closer to modern async messaging platforms like Discord or Slack, making mobile clients more viable. - The IRC ecosystem shows genuine collective interest in improving protocols and user experience despite a smaller user base than its peak. - IRC with open archives is seen as preferable to closed gardens for OSS projects and community discussions. **The pushback** - End-to-end encryption for IRC remains unaddressed, and commenters consider further deferral irresponsible. - E2E encryption is structurally difficult to implement for IRC channels because all clients must opt in, and a single non-supporting client breaks the model. - IRC's synchronous, fast-moving single-channel culture makes it harder to participate asynchronously compared to platforms like Discord. **By community** - lobsters (positive): Discussion is lively and largely enthusiastic, with nuanced takes on mobile IRC, async messaging culture, bouncer usage, and a pointed call for E2E encryption. - hackernews (positive): Minimal engagement, but the one substantive comment favors IRC's open-archive model over closed platforms for OSS communities. **Hottest debate:** Whether IRC should prioritize end-to-end encryption and whether it is even technically feasible for multi-client chatrooms. **Open questions** - Will any IRCv3 working group effort ever tackle end-to-end encryption for group channels in a practical way? - Can IRC mobile clients with bouncers truly replicate the async experience of Discord/Slack for mainstream users? **Highlights** > Many of the newer clients that use IRCv3 features are particularly well suited for running with a bouncer, and on mobile in particular it's almost certainly what you'd want to do. IRC with a bouncer is a lot closer to Discord or Slack usage-wise, where you're always "online" but mostly idle, and can check for new messages whenever you like (or even get push notifications in some cases). > — [jfred on lobsters · 2 points](https://lobste.rs/s/u0ks1k/irc_technology_news_from_first_half_2026#c_zbh8vd) > Lots of cute ircv3 extensions, indeed... But where's the e2e extension that IRC deserves? Based on omemo, ideally. Further deferring encryption is just irresponsible. > — [prez on lobsters · 1 points, 1 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/u0ks1k/irc_technology_news_from_first_half_2026#c_xhga31) > It is difficult to implement E2E when every IRCv3 feature is opt-in by clients. If even a single client in a chat room doesn't support it the message would have to be sent over the wire normally, defeating the purpose of encryption. It's a different story for private messages, which has wrinkles, but it's more doable. Since chatrooms are the most common use of IRC I think it makes sense it's not a priority. > — [himawari on lobsters · 1 points](https://lobste.rs/s/u0ks1k/irc_technology_news_from_first_half_2026#c_wxk3od) > It's interesting to see all those IRC mobile clients! The concept actually never crossed my mind before, because IRC has such a strong desktop feel to me: it has to be constantly online and running, or else you'll miss messages. Maybe this is also influenced by how I used to use IRC: signing on in the evenings, when my friends were likely to be on. It was intentional. Contrast with Discord or Slack, which are a very different kind of constantly on: despite being on my person 16 hours a day, they're much more asynchronous. It's okay to temporarily have poor signal, or to close the app, or to get back to someone half a day later. I think the nested format of multiple channels per space helps encourage an async workflow. When I was on IRC, my friends mostly congregated in one channel, and the conversation flew by too quickly for future participants to join in later. Whereas those same friends are now on Discord, and the conversation is spread out among 8-10 channels. (Also, we have boring adult lives and responsibilities now, which slows down the conversation a bit.) > — [bitshift on lobsters · 1 points, 2 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/u0ks1k/irc_technology_news_from_first_half_2026#c_xvvqt0) **Source threads** - [lobsters](https://lobste.rs/s/u0ks1k/irc_technology_news_from_first_half_2026) · 40 points · 7 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49235367) · 7 points · 2 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49187323) · 6 points · 0 comments ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [IRCv3](https://daily.dev/posts/ircv3-ud4afixvn) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [New And Upcoming IRCv3 Features](https://daily.dev/posts/new-and-upcoming-ircv3-features-fz4e4ctuo) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Infrastructure Team 2026 Q1 Recap and Q2 Plan](https://daily.dev/posts/infrastructure-team-2026-q1-recap-and-q2-plan-rhj0pgbtz) · Inside Rust Blog · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Self-Host Weekly \(6 March 2026\)](https://daily.dev/posts/self-host-weekly-6-march-2026--6qg4e0znt) · selfh.st · 13 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking), [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/irc-technology-news-from-the-first-half-of-2026-dyrk8n28c) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"IRC technology news from the first half of 2026","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/irc-technology-news-from-the-first-half-of-2026-dyrk8n28c","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/irc-technology-news-from-the-first-half-of-2026-dyrk8n28c"},"datePublished":"2026-08-09T21:14:43.851Z","dateModified":"2026-10-15T02:23:41.156Z","description":"A comprehensive roundup of IRC software and protocol developments from the first half of 2026. 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