History & Bouncers

IRC has no native message history. Connect, miss messages while offline.

Bouncers (BNCs):

• A persistent connection to IRC, on YOUR behalf.
• Stays connected; buffers messages while you're disconnected.
• You connect to the BNC; it relays your buffered messages.
• Examples: ZNC, soju, gamja, weechat-relay.

You ←→ Phone IRC client ←┐
                          ├→ ZNC ←→ Libera.Chat
You ←→ Desktop client    ←┘

ZNC features:

• Persistent connection per network.
• Per-user accounts.
• Modules: chat history, log search, password storage.
• Web admin interface.

IRCv3 message history:

• chathistory capability (newer): client requests history range from server.
• Servers like Ergo and soju implement.
• Backed by SQLite or external store.
• Client sends CHATHISTORY LATEST #channel timestamp=2024-01-01T00:00:00Z 50 → 50 messages.

External archives:

• Bots that log channels (logbot).
• Indexed via Elasticsearch / SQLite.
• Searchable web archives (e.g. logs.libera.chat).

Matrix bridges:

• Matrix (homeserver) ↔ IRC (network).
• Matrix has message history natively.
• Bridge translates messages bidirectionally.
• Many open-source projects use Matrix as primary, IRC as legacy access.

Mobile / async:

• Old IRC was bound to "always-on" expectation.
• Modern apps (Quassel, IRCCloud) embraced bouncer-style — server-side state, mobile clients pull current view.
• IRCCloud is a SaaS bouncer.

Tab completion + UX:

• Modern clients auto-complete nicks, channel names.
• Highlight on mention.
• Per-channel notification settings.

Clients:

• HexChat (cross-platform GUI).
• WeeChat (TUI).
• irssi (TUI, mature).
• Quassel (split client+core, bouncer-included).
• IRCCloud (web/mobile, paid).
• Konversation, mIRC (legacy).

For most users today: Matrix is what IRC would have evolved to.