SkipIRC - An Independent IRC Network for the SCP Community
About
SkipIRC was set up in 2020 by pxdnbluesoul. When bluesoul no longer had the time to run it, he and all then-active admins agreed to give
Kufat ownership of the network. Kufat is the head admin of the network and runs it in cooperation with the SCP Wiki.
SkipIRC's home page includes a staff list, network rules, and news.
Architecture
SkipIRC currently has two main servers: setting.nj.us.irc.scpwiki.com and plot.jp.irc.scpwiki.com. In the near future, IRC services will be moved to conflict.irc.scpwiki.com.
We also run two instances of The Lounge. The regular, public instance is lounge.hexick.com and may be used by anyone irrespective of whether they have a registered IRC nickname. A more full-featured instance is available at viplounge.hexick.com but it currently requires manual account creation. (See this page for more information.) Automated web-based signup support is in progress.
The legacy servers hosted by pxdnbluesoul are still in use but are being phased out. (All new connections to irc.scpwiki.com will be directed to one of the new servers.) We expect to leave them online until September, since they're prepaid up until that point.
New Features
These are some of the features supported by SkipIRC over and above the typical IRC features:
- Integrated pronoun and gender support. (See the Chat Guide for details.)
- Support for all current IRCv3 draft specs, including reactions, threaded replies, account tags, message history/server-side backscroll, message delivery confirmation, and some nerdier ones that smarter people than I will turn into neat things in future IRC clients. Your IRC client needs to support these to take full advantage. The Lounge is one such client.
- SASL support for pre-authentication, with valid SSL certificates. This is a common request in #help and one that's been totally out of my hands to implement.
- HSTS support for secure clients that want certificate pinning, to ensure there's no risk of connecting to a man in the middle. (in dev)
- Websockets support allowing us to use a new generation of web-based clients.
- Timed bans without need of a bot, available for all users with ability to ban in a channel via /tban #channel 1y2w3d4h5m6s [banmask] to set a ban for an example time of 1 year, 2 weeks, 3 days, 4 hours, 5 minutes, and 6 seconds. Any combination of time is valid, like 1y1d or just 90m.
- A new "allowinvite" channel mode +A, to allow all users within a channel to /invite others in. You can carve out an exception with an extended ban, allowing all users to do this except one, if you want.
- A new anti-CAPSLOCK channel mode +B, used like /MODE #channel +B kick:5:75 to kick someone who has a message longer than 5 characters which is 75% caps or more. Other alternatives to kick are ban|block|mute|kick|kickban.
- A new "auditorium" channel mode +u, where non-ops can only see ops in a channel, but ops can see all users. This is useful in conjunction with moderated (+m) mode to hold large meetings, where regular users can't see each other.
- A new auto-op listmode +w, allowing for things like /mode #channel +w o:*!uid123456@*.irccloud.com to auto-op anyone connecting that matches that mask.
- A new ban exception listmode +e, allowing to ban an entire large mask and carve out an exception. E.g., /mode #channel +b *!*@*.irccloud.com plus /mode #channel +e *!sid345678@*.irccloud.com
- A new ban redirect flag that can be added to a standard ban, used as +b nick!ident@host#site17 allowing users that are banned to instead be sent to a channel to appeal. This is optional.
- A new "caller id" usermode +g, which blocks all private messages unless you /ACCEPT the nickname.
- A new "channel history" channel mode +H, set as /mode #channel +H 50:300 where when a new user joins, the channel will give them the last 50 lines, or less if fewer than 50 lines have been said in the last 300 seconds. This currently has a hard limit of 50 lines as the server has to track all of it, but we'll see how it goes and if that needs to be bumped up.
- A new "common channels" user mode +c, which requires that a user attempting to message or /notice you must have a channel in common with you to do so.
- A new command /cycle #channel, used to leave and rejoin a channel while bypassing some restrictions on modes like +i, +k, and +l.
- A new "delay" channel mode +d, set as /mode #channel +d 10 to require a user be in the channel for at least 10 seconds before sending a message.
- Two new realname-based extended ban options, +a, and +r, if you also wish to ban only on a realname value provided by the client. Not advised, but available. Check /helpop ?chmodes for info on this one.
- A new "hide channels" user mode +I, allowing you to restrict all users except network operators from seeing what channels you are in.
- A new "bypass invites" listmode +I, allowing that hostmask to join a chmode +i or +k channel without being invited.
- A new "no parts" extban +p, matching users will not have their part messages displayed.
- A new "mute" extban m, used as /mode #channel +b m:nick!user@host to prevent that user from speaking, without having to kick them or throw the channel in +m. Matching users will not be told they've been blocked from speaking.
- A new hop-level command /remove, used as a peaceful alternative to /kick, wherein the user is forcefully parted from the channel. The syntax is /remove [user] #channel.
- A new "block repeating lines" channel mode +E, allowing users to block, kick, or ban users for repeating the same or an operator-specified level of similar to previous lines. The default usage is /mode #channel +E 3:5 to kick the user for 3 identical lines within 5 seconds, but this one is highly customizable. Check /helpop ?chmodes for more info on this one.
- New services bot GameServ, with a few little tools to help you decide things.
- New services bot GroupServ, allowing you to create and join arbitrary user groups and have those be valid targets for listmodes and receiving messages.
- New services bot HelpServ, used to submit tickets to ircops.
- New services bot InfoServ, used to disseminate messages to users.
- New services bot StatServ, used for nerdish info on servers and channels.
Timeline
By end of June, 2023:
- Move network services to conflict.irc.scpwiki.com
- Latest version of atheme services, modified with our pronoun support and other added features
- Move VIP Lounge to viplounge.irc.scpwiki.com
Q3:
- Integrated sign-up and registration verification in VIP Lounge
- IRC crit relaunch
Questions
I can be reached on SkipIRC (Kufat), at kufat@kufat.net, or on the official and staff Discords as Kufat.
- Kufat
Links:
SkipIRC - Home Page
SkipIRC - Oper Guide
SkipIRC - Channel Operator Guide
SkipIRC - User Guide
SkipIRC - FAQ
History:
- V1.0 (9/10/20): First draft.
- V1.1 (9/12/20): Changed some of the desired topology as it relates to hubs.
- V1.2 (9/13/20): Removed section re: custom prefixes for wiki staff.
- V2.0 (6/18/23): Major overhaul to reflect ownership change and new servers.