     [file docstyle.texi not included]
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ERC
***

This manual is for ERC 5.4.1 as distributed with Emacs EMACSVER.

Copyright © 2005--2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual,'' and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.

     (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual.''

     All Emacs Lisp code contained in this document may be used, distributed, and modified without restriction.

Introduction
************

ERC is a powerful, modular, and extensible IRC client for Emacs. It is distributed with Emacs since version 22.1.

IRC is short for Internet Relay Chat.  When using IRC, you can communicate with other users on the same IRC network.  There are many different networks---if you search for ``IRC networks'' in your favorite search engine, you will find up-to-date lists of IRC networks catering to various interests and topics.

To use IRC, you need an IRC client such as ERC.  Using the client, you connect to an IRC server.  Once you've done that, you will have access to all available channels on that server's network.  A channel is basically a chat room, and what you type in a channel will be shown to all other users in that channel.  You can be in several channels at the same time---ERC will show each channel in its own buffer.

IRC channel names always begin with a # character.  For example, the Emacs channel on Libera.Chat is #emacs, and the ERC channel is #erc.  Do not confuse them with the hashtags used on many social media platforms.

You can also send private messages to other IRC users on the same network, even if they are not in the same channels as you.

ERC comes with the following capabilities enabled by default.

  * Flood control

  * Timestamps

  * Join channels automatically

  * Buttonize URLs, nicknames, and other text

  * Wrap long lines

  * Highlight or remove IRC control characters

  * Highlight pals, fools, and other keywords

  * Detect netsplits

  * Complete nicknames and commands in a programmable fashion

  * Make displayed lines read-only

  * Input history

  * Track channel activity in the mode-line

Getting Started
***************

The command M-x erc will start ERC and prompt for the server to connect to.  If you're unsure of which server or network to connect to, we suggest starting with ``irc.libera.chat''.  There you will find the #emacs channels where you can chat with other Emacs users, and if you're having trouble with ERC, you can join the #erc channel and ask for help there.

If you want to place ERC settings in their own file, you can place them in ~/.emacs.d/.ercrc.el, creating it if necessary.

If you would rather use the Customize interface to change how ERC works, do M-x customize-group RET erc RET.  In particular, ERC comes with lots of modules that may be enabled or disabled; to select which ones you want, do M-x customize-variable RET erc-modules RET.

Sample Session
==============

This is an example ERC session which shows how to connect to the #emacs channel on Libera.Chat.  Another IRC channel on Libera.Chat that may be of interest is #erc, which is a channel where ERC users and developers hang out.  These channels used to live on the Freenode IRC network until June 2021, when they---along with the official IRC channels of the GNU Project, the Free Software Foundation, and many other free software communities---relocated to the Libera.Chat network in the aftermath of changes in governance and policies of Freenode in May and June 2021.  GNU and FSF's announcements about this are at https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2021-06/msg00005.html, https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2021-06/msg00007.html, and https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu-emacs/2021-06/msg00000.html.

  * Connect to Libera.Chat

     Run M-x erc.  Use ``irc.libera.chat'' as the IRC server, ``6667'' as the port, and choose a nickname.

  * Get used to the interface

     Switch to the ``irc.libera.chat:6667'' buffer, if you're not already there.  You will see first some messages about checking for ident, and then a bunch of other messages that describe the current IRC server.

  * Join the #emacs channel

     In that buffer, type ``/join SPC #emacs'' and hit RET.  Depending on how you've set up ERC, either a new buffer for ``#emacs'' will be displayed, or a new buffer called ``#emacs'' will be created in the background.  If the latter, switch to the ``#emacs'' buffer.  You will see the channel topic and a list of the people who are currently on the channel.

  * Register your nickname with Libera.Chat

     If you would like to be able to talk with people privately on the Libera.Chat network, you will have to ``register'' your nickname. To do so, switch to the ``irc.libera.chat:6667'' buffer and type ``/msg NickServ register <password>'', replacing ``<password>'' with your desired password.  It should tell you that the operation was successful.

  * Talk to people in the channel

     If you switch back to the ``#emacs'' buffer, you can type a message, and everyone on the channel will see it.

  * Open a query buffer to talk to someone

     If you want to talk with someone in private (this should usually not be done for technical help, only for personal questions), type ``/query <nick>'', replacing ``<nick>'' with the nickname of the person you would like to talk to.  Depending on how ERC is set up, you will either see a new buffer with the name of the person, or such a buffer will be created in the background and you will have to switch to it.  Begin typing messages, and you will be able to have a conversation.

     Note that if the other person is not registered, you will not be able to talk with them.

Special Features
================

ERC has some features that distinguish it from some IRC clients.

  * multiple channels and multiple servers

     Every channel is put in a separate buffer.  Several IRC servers may be connected to at the same time.

  * private message separation

     Private conversations are treated as channels, and are put into separate buffers in Emacs.  We call these ``query buffers''.

  * highlighting

     Some occurrences of words can be highlighted, which makes it easier to track different kinds of conversations.

  * notification

     ERC can notify you that certain users are online.

  * channel tracking

     Channels can be hidden and conversation continue in the background.  You are notified when something is said in such a channel that is not currently visible.  This makes it easy to get Real Work done while still maintaining an IRC presence.

  * nick completion

     ERC can complete words upon hitting TAB, which eases the writing of nicknames in messages.

  * history

     Past actions are kept in history rings for future use.  To navigate a history ring, hit M-p to go backwards and M-n to go forwards.

  * multiple languages

     Different channels and servers may have different language encodings.

     multiple languages.  Please contact the Emacs developers if you are interested in helping with the translation effort.

  * user scripting

     Users can load scripts (e.g., auto greeting scripts) when ERC starts up.

     It is also possible to make custom IRC commands, if you know a little Emacs Lisp.  Just make an Emacs Lisp function and call it erc-cmd-NEWCOMMAND, where NEWCOMMAND is the name of the new command in capital letters.

  * auto reconnect

     If the connection goes away at some point, ERC will try to reconnect automatically.  If it fails to reconnect, and you want to try to manually reestablish the connection at some later point, switch to an ERC buffer and run the /RECONNECT command.

Keys Used in ERC
****************

This is a summary of keystrokes available in every ERC buffer.

C-a or <home> (erc-bol)
     Go to beginning of line or end of prompt.

RET (erc-send-current-line)
     Send the current line

TAB (completion-at-point or erc-button-next)
     If at prompt, complete the current word. Otherwise, move to the next link or button.

M-TAB (ispell-complete-word)
     Complete the given word, using ispell.

C-c C-a (erc-bol)
     Go to beginning of line or end of prompt.

C-c C-b (erc-switch-to-buffer)
     Use read-buffer to prompt for a ERC buffer to switch to.

C-c C-c (erc-toggle-interpret-controls)
     Toggle interpretation of control sequences in messages.

C-c C-d (erc-input-action)
     Interactively input a user action and send it to IRC.

C-c C-e (erc-toggle-ctcp-autoresponse)
     Toggle automatic CTCP replies (like VERSION and PING).

C-c C-f (erc-toggle-flood-control)
     Toggle use of flood control on sent messages.

C-c TAB (erc-invite-only-mode)
     Turn on the invite only mode (+i) for the current channel.

C-c C-j (erc-join-channel)
     Join channel.  If point is at the beginning of a channel name, use that as default.

C-c C-k (erc-go-to-log-matches-buffer)
     Interactively open an erc-log-matches buffer

C-c C-l (erc-save-buffer-in-logs)
     Append buffer contents to the log file, if logging is enabled.

C-c C-n (erc-channel-names)
     Run "/names #channel" in the current channel.

C-c C-o (erc-get-channel-mode-from-keypress)
     Read a key sequence and call the corresponding channel mode function. After doing C-c C-o, type in a channel mode letter.

     C-g means quit. RET lets you type more than one mode at a time. If l is pressed, erc-set-channel-limit gets called. If k is pressed, erc-set-channel-key gets called. Anything else will be sent to erc-toggle-channel-mode.

C-c C-p (erc-part-from-channel)
     Part from the current channel and prompt for a reason.

C-c C-q (erc-quit-server)
     Disconnect from current server after prompting for reason.

C-c C-r (erc-remove-text-properties-region)
     Clears the region (start,end) in object from all colors, etc.

C-c C-t (erc-set-topic)
     Prompt for a topic for the current channel.

C-c C-u (erc-kill-input)
     Kill current input line using erc-bol followed by kill-line.

Modules
*******

One way to add functionality to ERC is to customize which of its many modules are loaded.

There is a spiffy customize interface, which may be reached by typing M-x customize-option RET erc-modules RET. When removing a module outside of the Custom ecosystem, you may wish to ensure it's disabled by invoking its associated minor-mode toggle, such as M-x erc-spelling-mode RET.  Note that, these days, calling erc-update-modules in an init file is typically unnecessary.

The following is a list of available modules.

autoaway
     Set away status automatically

autojoin
     Join channels automatically

bbdb
     Integrate with the Big Brother Database

button
     Buttonize URLs, nicknames, and other text

capab-identify
     Mark unidentified users on freenode and other servers supporting CAPAB.

completion (aka pcomplete)
     Complete nicknames and commands (programmable)

fill
     Wrap long lines

identd
     Launch an identd server on port 8113

irccontrols
     Highlight or remove IRC control characters

log
     Save buffers in logs

match
     Highlight pals, fools, and other keywords

menu
     Display a menu in ERC buffers

netsplit
     Detect netsplits

noncommands
     Don't display non-IRC commands after evaluation

notify
     Notify when the online status of certain users changes

notifications
     Send you a notification when you get a private message, or your nickname is mentioned

page
     Process CTCP PAGE requests from IRC

readonly
     Make displayed lines read-only

replace
     Replace text in messages

ring
     Enable an input history

scrolltobottom
     Scroll to the bottom of the buffer

services
     Identify to Nickserv (IRC Services) automatically

smiley
     Convert smileys to pretty icons

sound
     Play sounds when you receive CTCP SOUND requests

spelling
     Check spelling of messages

stamp
     Add timestamps to messages

track
     Track channel activity in the mode-line

truncate
     Truncate buffers to a certain size

unmorse
     Translate morse code in messages

Local Modules
-------------

All modules operate as minor modes under the hood, and some newer ones may be defined as buffer-local.  These so-called ``local modules'' are a work in progress and their behavior and interface are subject to change.  As of ERC 5.5, the only practical differences are

 1. ``Control variables,'' like erc-sasl-mode, are stateful across IRC sessions and override erc-module membership when influencing module activation in new sessions.

 2. Removing a local module from erc-modules via Customize not only disables its mode but also kills its control variable in all ERC buffers.

 3. ``Mode toggles,'' like erc-sasl-mode and erc-sasl-enable, behave differently relative to each other and to their global counterparts.  (More on this just below.)

By default, all local-mode toggles, like erc-sasl-mode, only affect the current buffer, but their ``non-mode'' variants, such as erc-sasl-enable, operate on all buffers belonging to a connection when called interactively.  Keep in mind that whether enabled or not, a module may effectively be ``inert'' in certain types of buffers, such as queries and channels.  Whatever the case, a local toggle never mutates erc-modules.

Advanced Usage
**************

Connecting to an IRC Server
===========================

The easiest way to connect to an IRC server is to call M-x erc. If you want to assign this function to a keystroke, the following will help you figure out its parameters.

 -- Function: erc
     Select connection parameters and run ERC. Non-interactively, it takes the following keyword arguments.

       * SERVER

       * PORT

       * NICK

       * USER

       * PASSWORD

       * FULL-NAME

       * ID

     For example, calling the command like so

          (erc :server "irc.libera.chat" :full-name "J. Random Hacker")

     sets SERVER and FULL-NAME directly while leaving the rest up to functions like erc-compute-port.  Note that some arguments can't be specified interactively.  ID, in particular, is rarely needed (see Network Identifier).

To connect securely over an encrypted TLS connection, use M-x erc-tls.

 -- Function: erc-tls
     Select connection parameters and run ERC over TLS. Non-interactively, it takes the following keyword arguments.

       * SERVER

       * PORT

       * NICK

       * USER

       * PASSWORD

       * FULL-NAME

       * ID

       * CLIENT-CERTIFICATE

     That is, if called in the following manner

          (erc-tls :server "irc.libera.chat" :full-name "J. Random Hacker")

     the command will set SERVER and FULL-NAME accordingly, while helpers, like erc-compute-nick, will determine other parameters, and some, like client-certificate, will just be nil.

     To use a certificate with erc-tls, specify the optional CLIENT-CERTIFICATE keyword argument, whose value should be as described in the documentation of open-network-stream: if non-nil, it should either be a list where the first element is the file name of the private key corresponding to a client certificate and the second element is the file name of the client certificate itself to use when connecting over TLS, or t, which means that auth-source will be queried for the private key and the certificate.  Authenticating using a TLS client certificate is also referred to as ``CertFP'' (Certificate Fingerprint) authentication by various IRC networks.

     Examples of use:

          (erc-tls :server "irc.libera.chat" :port 6697
                   :client-certificate
                   '("/home/bandali/my-cert.key"
                     "/home/bandali/my-cert.crt"))

          (erc-tls :server "irc.libera.chat" :port 6697
                   :client-certificate
                   `(,(expand-file-name "~/cert-libera.key")
                     ,(expand-file-name "~/cert-libera.crt")))

          (erc-tls :server "irc.libera.chat" :port 6697
                   :client-certificate t)

     In the case of :client-certificate t, you will need to add a line like the following to your authinfo file (e.g. ~/.authinfo.gpg):

          machine irc.libera.chat key /home/bandali/my-cert.key cert /home/bandali/my-cert.crt

     See Help for users (Emacs auth-source Library), for more on the .authinfo/.netrc backend of auth-source.

Server
------

 -- Function: erc-compute-server &optional server
     Return an IRC server name.

     This tries a number of increasingly more default methods until a non-nil value is found.

       * SERVER (the argument passed to this function)

       * The erc-server option

       * The value of the IRCSERVER environment variable

       * The erc-default-server variable

 -- User Option: erc-server
     IRC server to use if one is not provided.

Port
----

 -- Function: erc-compute-port &optional port
     Return a port for an IRC server.

     This tries a number of increasingly more default methods until a non-nil value is found.

       * PORT (the argument passed to this function)

       * The erc-port option

       * The erc-default-port variable

 -- User Option: erc-port
     IRC port to use if not specified.

     This can be either a string or a number.

Nick
----

 -- Function: erc-compute-nick &optional nick
     Return user's IRC nick.

     This tries a number of increasingly more default methods until a non-nil value is found.

       * NICK (the argument passed to this function)

       * The erc-nick option

       * The value of the IRCNICK environment variable

       * The result from the user-login-name function

 -- User Option: erc-nick
     Nickname to use if one is not provided.

     This can be either a string, or a list of strings. In the latter case, if the first nick in the list is already in use, other nicks are tried in the list order.

 -- User Option: erc-format-nick-function
     A function to format a nickname for message display

     You can set this to erc-format-@nick to display user mode prefix

     (setq erc-format-nick-function 'erc-format-@nick)

 -- User Option: erc-nick-uniquifier
     The string to append to the nick if it is already in use.

 -- User Option: erc-try-new-nick-p
     If the nickname you chose isn't available, and this option is non-nil, ERC should automatically attempt to connect with another nickname.

     You can manually set another nickname with the /NICK command.

User
----

 -- Function: erc-compute-user &optional user
     Determine a suitable value to send as the first argument of the opening USER IRC command by consulting the following sources:

       * USER, the argument passed to this function

       * The option erc-email-userid, assuming erc-anonymous-login is non-nil

       * The result of calling the function user-login-name

 -- User Option: erc-email-userid
     A permanent username value to send for all connections.  It should be a string abiding by the rules of the network.

Password
--------

 -- User Option: erc-prompt-for-password
     If non-nil (the default), M-x erc and M-x erc-tls prompt for a server password.  This only affects interactive invocations of erc and erc-tls.

If you prefer, you can set this option to nil and use the auth-source mechanism to store your password.  For instance, if the option auth-sources contains ~/.authinfo, put something like the following in that file:

     machine irc.example.net login mynick password sEcReT

For server passwords, that is, passwords sent for the IRC PASS command, the host field (machine irc.example.net in the above example) corresponds to the SERVER parameter used by erc and erc-tls.  Unfortunately, specifying a network, like Libera.Chat, or a specific network server, like platinum.libera.chat, won't normally work for looking up a server password because such information isn't available during opening introductions.  (Actually, ERC can find entries with arbitrary host values for any context, including server passwords, but that requires customizing the more advanced options below.)

If ERC can't find a suitable server password, it will just skip the IRC PASS command altogether, something users may want when using CertFP or engaging NickServ via ERC's ``services'' module.  If that is what you'd like to do, you can also customize the option erc-auth-source-server-function to nil to skip server-password lookup for all servers.  Note that some networks and IRCds may accept account-services authentication via server password using the nonstandard mynick:sEcReT convention.

As just mentioned, you can also use auth-source to authenticate to account services the traditional way, through a bot called NickServ.  To tell ERC to do that, set erc-use-auth-source-for-nickserv-password to t.  For these and most other queries, entries featuring custom identifiers and networks are matched first, followed by network-specific servers and dialed endpoints (typically, the SERVER argument passed to erc). The following netrc-style entries appear in order of precedence:

     machine Libera/cellphone login MyNick password sEcReT
     machine Libera.Chat login MyNick password sEcReT
     machine zirconium.libera.chat login MyNick password sEcReT
     machine irc.libera.chat login MyNick password sEcReT

Remember that field labels vary per backend, so machine (in netrc's case) maps to auth-source's generalized notion of a host, hence the :host keyword property.  Also, be sure to mind the syntax of your chosen backend medium.  For example, always quote channel names in a netrc file.

If this all seems overly nuanced or just plain doesn't appeal to you, see options erc-auth-source-services-function and friends, described below.  These let you query auth-source your way.  Most users can simply ignore the passed-in arguments and get by with something like the following:

     (defun my-fancy-auth-source-func (&rest _)
       (let* ((host (read-string "host: " nil nil "default"))
              (pass (auth-source-pick-first-password :host host)))
         (if (and pass (string-search "libera" host))
             (concat "MyNick:" pass)
           pass)))

Lastly, ERC also consults auth-source to find ``keys'' that may be required by certain channels you join.  When modifying a traditional auth-source entry for this purpose, put the channel name in the user field (for example, login "#fsf", in netrc's case).  The actual key goes in the password (or secret) field.

For details, see auth-source (Emacs auth-source Library).

 -- User Option: erc-auth-source-server-function

 -- User Option: erc-auth-source-services-function

 -- User Option: erc-auth-source-join-function

     ERC calls these functions with keyword arguments recognized by auth-source-search, namely, those deemed most relevant to the current context, if any.  For example, with NickServ queries, :user is the ``desired'' nickname rather than the current one. Generalized names, like :user and :host, are always used over back-end specific ones, like :login or :machine. ERC expects a string to use as the secret or nil, if the search fails.

     The default value for all three options is the function erc-auth-source-search.  It tries to merge relevant contextual parameters with those provided or discovered from the logical connection or the underlying transport.  Some auth-source back ends may not be compatible; netrc, plstore, json, secrets, and pass are currently supported.

Full name
---------

 -- Function: erc-compute-full-name &optional full-name
     Return user's full name.

     This tries a number of increasingly more default methods until a non-nil value is found.

       * FULL-NAME (the argument passed to this function)

       * The erc-user-full-name option

       * The value of the IRCNAME environment variable

       * The result from the user-full-name function

 -- User Option: erc-user-full-name
     User full name.

     This can be either a string or a function to call.

ID
--

ERC uses an abstract designation, called network context identifier, for referring to a connection internally.  While normally derived from a combination of logical and physical connection parameters, an ID can also be explicitly provided via an entry-point command (like erc-tls).  Use this in rare situations where ERC would otherwise have trouble discerning between connections.

One such situation might arise when using multiple connections to the same network with the same nick but different (nonstandard) device identifiers, which some bouncers may support.  Another might be when mimicking the experience offered by popular standalone clients, which normally offer ``named'' persistent configurations with server buffers reflecting those names.  Yet another use case might involve third-party code needing to identify a connection unequivocally, but in a human-friendly way suitable for UI components.

When providing an ID as an entry-point argument, strings and symbols make the most sense, but any reasonably printable object is acceptable.

Sample Configuration
====================

Here is an example of configuration settings for ERC.  This can go into your Emacs configuration file.  Everything after the (require 'erc) command can optionally go into ~/.emacs.d/.ercrc.el.

     ;;; Sample ERC configuration

     ;; Load authentication info from an external source.  Put sensitive
     ;; passwords and the like in here.
     (load "~/.emacs.d/.erc-auth")

     ;; This is an example of how to make a new command.  Type "/uptime" to
     ;; use it.
     (defun erc-cmd-UPTIME (&rest ignore)
       "Display the uptime of the system, as well as some load-related
     stuff, to the current ERC buffer."
       (let ((uname-output
              (replace-regexp-in-string
               ", load average: " "] {Load average} ["
               ;; Collapse spaces, remove
               (replace-regexp-in-string
                " +" " "
                ;; Remove beginning and trailing whitespace
                (replace-regexp-in-string
                 "^ +\\|[ \n]+$" ""
                 (shell-command-to-string "uptime"))))))
         (erc-send-message
          (concat "{Uptime} [" uname-output "]"))))

     ;; This causes ERC to connect to the Libera.Chat network upon hitting
     ;; C-c e f.  Replace MYNICK with your IRC nick.
     (global-set-key "\C-cef" (lambda () (interactive)
                                (erc :server "irc.libera.chat" :port "6667"
                                     :nick "MYNICK")))

     ;; This causes ERC to connect to the IRC server on your own machine (if
     ;; you have one) upon hitting C-c e b.  Replace MYNICK with your IRC
     ;; nick.  Often, people like to run bitlbee (https://bitlbee.org/) as an
     ;; AIM/Jabber/MSN to IRC gateway, so that they can use ERC to chat with
     ;; people on those networks.
     (global-set-key "\C-ceb" (lambda () (interactive)
                                (erc :server "localhost" :port "6667"
                                     :nick "MYNICK")))

     ;; Make C-c RET (or C-c C-RET) send messages instead of RET.  This has
     ;; been commented out to avoid confusing new users.
     ;; (define-key erc-mode-map (kbd "RET") nil)
     ;; (define-key erc-mode-map (kbd "C-c RET") 'erc-send-current-line)
     ;; (define-key erc-mode-map (kbd "C-c C-RET") 'erc-send-current-line)

     ;;; Options

     ;; Join the #emacs and #erc channels whenever connecting to
     ;; Libera.Chat.
     (setq erc-autojoin-channels-alist
           '(("Libera.Chat" "#emacs" "#erc")))

     ;; Interpret mIRC-style color commands in IRC chats
     (setq erc-interpret-mirc-color t)

     ;; The following are commented out by default, but users of other
     ;; non-Emacs IRC clients might find them useful.
     ;; Kill buffers for channels after /part
     ;; (setq erc-kill-buffer-on-part t)
     ;; Kill buffers for private queries after quitting the server
     ;; (setq erc-kill-queries-on-quit t)
     ;; Kill buffers for server messages after quitting the server
     ;; (setq erc-kill-server-buffer-on-quit t)

Integrations
============

URL
---

For anything to work, you'll want to set url-irc-function to url-irc-erc.  As a rule of thumb, libraries relying directly on url-retrieve should be fine out the box from Emacs 29.1 onward. On older versions of Emacs, you may need to (require 'erc) beforehand. see Retrieving URLs (URL).

For other apps and libraries, such as those relying on the higher-level browse-url, you'll oftentimes be asked to specify a pattern, sometimes paired with a function that accepts a string URL as a first argument.  For example, with EWW, you may need to tack something like "\\|\\`irc6?s?:" onto the end of eww-use-browse-url.  But with gnus-button-alist, you'll need a function as well:

       '("\\birc6?s?://[][a-z0-9.,@_:+%?&/#-]+" 0 t browse-url-irc 0)

Users on Emacs 28 and below may need to use browse-url instead.

Options
=======

This section is extremely incomplete.  For now, the easiest way to check out all the available options for ERC is to do M-x customize-group RET erc RET.

 -- User Option: erc-hide-list
     If non, nil, this is a list of IRC message types to hide, e.g.:

          (setq erc-hide-list '("JOIN" "PART" "QUIT"))

 -- User Option: erc-network-hide-list
     If non, nil, this is a list of IRC networks and message types to hide, e.g.:

          (setq erc-network-hide-list (("Libera.Chat" "JOIN" "PART" "QUIT")
          ("OFTC" "JOIN" "PART""))

 -- User Option: erc-channel-hide-list
     If non, nil, this is a list of IRC channels and message types to hide, e.g.:

          (setq erc-channel-hide-list (("#erc" "JOIN" "PART" "QUIT")
          ("#emacs" "NICK"))

 -- User Option: erc-lurker-hide-list
     Like erc-hide-list, but only applies to messages sent by lurkers.  The function erc-lurker-p determines whether a given nickname is considered a lurker.

Getting Help and Reporting Bugs
*******************************

After you have read this guide, if you still have questions about ERC, or if you have bugs to report, there are several places you can go.

  * https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ERC is the emacswiki.org page for ERC.  Anyone may add tips, hints, etc. to it.

  * You can ask questions about using ERC on the Emacs mailing list, https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-emacs.

  * You can visit the IRC Libera.Chat channel #emacs.  Many of the contributors are frequently around and willing to answer your questions.

  * To report a bug in ERC, use M-x erc-bug.

History
*******

ERC was originally written by Alexander L. Belikoff and Sergey Berezin. They stopped development around December 1999.  Their last released version was ERC 2.0.

P.S.: If one of the original developers of ERC reads this, we'd like to receive additional information for this file and hear comments in general.

  * 2001

     In June 2001, Mario Lang and Alex Schroeder took over development and created a ERC Project at https://sourceforge.net/projects/erc.

     In reaction to a mail about the new ERC development effort, Sergey Berezin said, ``First of all, I'm glad that my version of ERC is being used out there.  The thing is, I do not have free time and enough incentive anymore to work on ERC, so I would be happy if you guys take over the project entirely.''

     So we happily hacked away on ERC, and soon after (September 2001) released the next "stable" version, 2.1.

     Most of the development of the new ERC happened on #emacs on irc.openprojects.net.  Over time, many people contributed code, ideas, bugfixes, and a lot of alpha/beta/gamma testing.

     See the CREDITS file for a list of contributors.

  * 2003

     ERC 3.0 was released.

  * 2004

     ERC 4.0 was released.

  * 2005

     ERC 5.0 was released.  Michael Olson became the release manager and eventually the maintainer.

     After some discussion between him and the Emacs developers, it was decided to include ERC in Emacs.

  * 2006

     ERC 5.1 was released.  It was subsequently included in Emacs 22.

     ERC became an official GNU project, and development moved to https://sv.gnu.org/projects/erc.  We switched to using GNU Arch as our revision control system.  Our mailing list address changed as well.

  * 2007

     We switched to using git for our version control system.

  * 2009+

     Since about 2009, ERC is no longer developed as a separate project, but is maintained as part of Emacs.

GNU Free Documentation License
******************************

     [file doclicense.texi not included]