Channels

Channels in ferrixd behave the way IRC veterans expect — #-prefixed, op/voice prefixes, the classic mode set — with two modern additions: account extbans and channel registration with persistence.

Basics

JOIN #forge
TOPIC #forge :welcome to the forge
NAMES #forge
PART #forge :goodbye

New channels are created on first join; the first member gets +o. Channels default to +nt (no external messages, topic locked to ops). A client can be in at most max_channels channels (default 50; opers exempt).

Names are case-folded with the network's casemapping (ascii or rfc1459), max length 50.

Channel modes

Set and query with MODE:

MODE #forge +m           # moderated
MODE #forge +k hunter2   # key (password) required to join
MODE #forge +l 100       # member limit
MODE #forge +o alice     # give ops
MODE #forge -o+v alice   # …swap for voice

Mode	Type	Meaning
o	member	channel operator (@ prefix)
v	member	voice — may speak under +m (+ prefix)
i	flag	invite-only — join requires INVITE or a +I match
m	flag	moderated — only +o/+v may speak
n	flag	no external messages (default on)
s	flag	secret — hidden from LIST and WHOIS of non-members
t	flag	topic settable by ops only (default on)
k	param	join key
l	param	member limit
b	list	ban list
e	list	ban exceptions
I	list	invite exceptions (bypass +i)

Up to 6 mode changes are accepted per MODE command (MODES=6). The machine-readable summary clients get is CHANMODES=beI,k,l,imnst — see Modes & ISUPPORT.

Bans, exceptions, invite lists

The three list modes share syntax and a 100-entries-per-list cap:

MODE #forge +b *!*@*.spam.example     # ban a host mask
MODE #forge +e *!*@friend.example     # …but exempt this one
MODE #forge +I *!*@*.trusted.example  # may join through +i
MODE #forge +b                        # view the ban list (367/368)

Masks are nick!user@host globs. Bare words are normalized: a bare host becomes *!*@host, a bare nick becomes nick!*@*.

Account extbans: ~a:

A mask starting with ~a: matches the user's logged-in account instead of their mask:

MODE #forge +b ~a:mallory      # ban the account, not the hostname
MODE #forge +e ~a:alice        # exempt alice regardless of where she connects
MODE #forge +I ~a:staff*       # any account matching staff* joins through +i

Account extbans survive IP changes, cloaks, and nick changes — they follow the identity. They work in all three lists (+b/+e/+I). The support is advertised to clients as EXTBAN=~,a in RPL_ISUPPORT (005).

Enforcement

• Bans are enforced on JOIN (banned users can't join unless a +e exception matches).
• A user matching +I may join an invite-only channel without an INVITE.
• INVITE from a channel op bypasses +i for the invitee; with the invite-notify capability, other ops see who invited whom.

Moderation inside a channel

KICK #forge mallory :Enough
MODE #forge +b ~a:mallory
TOPIC #forge :New topic

KICK, topic changes under +t, mode changes, and INVITE into a +i channel all require channel-operator status. Everything propagates across federation links with the acting user attributed.

Channel registration

A logged-in channel operator can register the channel to their account:

REGISTER #forge

Registration records the caller's account as the channel founder and — with [persistence] enabled — persists the channel's topic, modes, key and limit to SQLite. From then on:

• the channel's topic and modes are restored after a server restart, even if the channel was empty;
• the founder is auto-opped on join — identity-based, via their account.

Requirements: you must be logged in (any SASL mechanism) and hold +o in the channel. Failure cases arrive as standard-replies (FAIL REGISTER ACCOUNT_REQUIRED, FAIL REGISTER CHANOPRIVSNEEDED, …).

Registration + extbans = services, without services

Founder auto-op, account bans (~a:), and persisted modes cover most of what ChanServ historically did — with no second daemon, no services split, and no password-over-PRIVMSG folklore.

Listing and visibility

• LIST shows channels with their member counts and topics; +s channels are hidden unless you're a member. SAFELIST is advertised — the server won't flood you off for listing.
• NAMES shows prefixes; with multi-prefix, all of them (@+nick); with userhost-in-names, full nick!user@host.
• WHO #forge supports classic replies and WHOX (WHO #forge %tcuihsnfar) for field-selected queries, network-wide.

History

Channels get server-side history automatically — `CHATHISTORY LATEST #forge

• 50` replays into a batch, membership required. Retention and persistence are the operator's call: Message History.