409px, An IRC bot performing a simple task.An IRC bot is a set of scripts or an independent

program Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

that connects to

Internet Relay Chat IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for Many-to-many, group communication in discussion forums, called ''#Channels, channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via instant mess ...

as a

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...

, and so appears to other IRC users as another user. An IRC bot differs from a regular client in that instead of providing interactive access to IRC for a human user, it performs automated functions.

Function

Often, an IRC bot is deployed as a detached program running from a stable host. It sits on an

IRC channel IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat a ...

to keep it open and prevents malicious users from taking over the channel. It can be configured to give channel operator status to privileged users when they join the channel, and can provide a unified channel operator list. Many of these features require that the bot be a channel operator. Thus, most IRC bots are run from computers which have long

uptime Uptime is a Measurement, measure of system reliability, expressed as the period of system time, time a machine, typically a computer, has been continuously working and available. Uptime is the opposite of downtime. It is often used as a measure ...

s (generally running a

BSD The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), also known as Berkeley Unix or BSD Unix, is a discontinued Unix operating system developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley, beginni ...

derivative or

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

) and a fast, stable

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

connection. As IRC has become popular with many

dial-up Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

users as well,

shell account A shell account is a user account on a remote server, typically running under Unix or Linux operating systems. The account gives access to a text-based command-line interface in a shell, via a terminal emulator. The user typically communicates w ...

s at

shell provider A shell account is a user account on a remote server, typically running under Unix or Linux operating systems. The account gives access to a text-based command-line interface in a shell, via a terminal emulator. The user typically communicates wi ...

s have become popular as a stable Linux server with a decent connection to run a bot from. Aside from managing channel permissions, a bot can also perform functions such as logging what is posted to an IRC channel, giving out information on demand (very popular in IRC channels dealing with user support), creating

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

tracking the channel's top posters and longest-lived

lurker In Internet culture, a lurker is typically a member of an online community who observes, but does not participate by posting or commenting. The exact definition depends on context. Lurkers make up a large proportion of all users in online commu ...

s, or hosting

trivia Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. Modern usage of the term ''trivia'' dates to the 1960s, when college students introduced question-and-answer contests to their universities. A board game, ''Trivial Purs ...

, Uno and other games. These functions are usually provided by scripts, often written in a

scripting programming language In computing, a script is a relatively short and simple set of instructions that typically automate an otherwise manual process. The act of writing a script is called scripting. A scripting language or script language is a programming language t ...

such as

Tcl TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company ** TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited ...

Perl Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Though Perl is not officially an acronym, there are various backronyms in use, including "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language". Perl was developed ...

by the bot's users. Channels dedicated to

file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include ...

often use

XDCC XDCC (Xabi DCC or eXtended DCC) is a computer file sharing method which uses the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network as a host service. History Limitations in the original Direct Client-to-Client, DCC protocol prevented the transfers of very la ...

bots to distribute their files. IRC bots are particularly useful on

IRC network IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for Many-to-many, group communication in discussion forums, called ''#Channels, channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via instant mess ...

s such as

EFnet EFnet or Eris-Free network is a major Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network, with more than 35,000 users. It is the modern-day descendant of the original IRC network. History Initially, most IRC servers formed a single IRC network, to which new se ...

and

IRCnet IRCnet is currently one of the largest IRC networks. , it has around 25,000 users using it daily. An early 2005 record had approximately 123,110 users simultaneously connected to the network. History Between May and July 1996 IRCnet was formed a ...

without channel registration services, and on networks like

Undernet The Undernet is the third largest publicly monitored Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network, c. 2022, with about 36 client servers serving 47,444 users in ~6000 channels at any given time. IRC clients can connect to Undernet via the global round ro ...

QuakeNet QuakeNet is an Internet Relay Chat IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for Many-to-many, group communication in discussion forums, called ''#Channels, channels'', but also allows on ...

that require conditions to be met (minimum user count, etc.) before a channel may be registered. Where bots are used for administrative functions such as this, they may need more access than a normal client connection allows. Some versions of IRC have a "Service" protocol that allows clients with these extra powers. Such server-sanctioned bots are called

IRC services IRC services is a set of features implemented on many Internet Relay Chat networks. Services are automated bots with special status which are generally used to provide users with access with certain privileges and protection. They usually impleme ...

. Bots are not always welcome. Some IRC networks forbid the usage of bots. One of the reasons for doing so is that each

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

connected to the network increases the size of the network

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

which is being kept in

sync Sync and synch are abbreviations of synchrony, or synchronization, the coordination of events to keep them in time. The opposite of synchrony is asynchrony. Sync or synch may also refer to: Computing and technology *Sync (Unix), a command and a ...

across all servers. Allowing for bots in large networks can cause a relevant amount of

network traffic Network traffic or data traffic is the amount of data moving across a network at a given point of time. Network data in computer networks is mostly encapsulated in network packets, which provide the load in the network. Network traffic is the main ...

overhead which needs to be financed and may even lead to

netsplit In computer networking, specifically Internet Relay Chat (IRC), netsplit is a disconnection between two servers. A split between any two servers splits the entire network into two pieces. Cause and effects Consider the graph to the right, which ...

Comparison

In popular culture

Basshunter Jonas Erik Altberg (; born 22 December 1984), known professionally as Basshunter, is a Swedish singer, record producer, songwriter and DJ. As indicated by his stage name, Basshunter is known for bass-heavy Eurodance music. Born and raised in Ha ...

's 2006 song,

Boten Anna "Boten Anna" ("Anna the Bot") is a song by Swedish musician Basshunter, from his first studio album, ''LOL''. Following the single's release in 2006, Basshunter gained popularity in his native Sweden, as well as Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, ...

, is about a female IRC user mistaken for an IRC bot

References

External links

{{IRC topics Bot, Internet Relay Chat

Function

Comparison

In popular culture

See also

References

External links