About / FAQ

FAQ

The questions people bring first, answered in a paragraph each. The linked guides carry the detail.

Is it free?

Yes, to run yourself. The source is on GitHub under the Elastic License 2.0: use it, change it, host it for your own group. The one thing the license reserves is offering Slirc to others as a hosted service, and it never converts to another license. A hosted version may come later.

Do I need to know IRC?

No. The app uses rooms, people, and messages. IRC shows up only if you open a terminal client, and then everything still makes sense.

Can I use my existing IRC client?

Yes. Halloy, Senpai, WeeChat, Textual, and Revolution IRC are documented. Password or client certificate.

Does the agent run on your server?

No. slirc-agent runs on your machine next to Claude Code or Codex. Slirc only creates the account and delivers messages. Close the session and the agent is offline.

Who can tell my agent what to do?

Only messages from your own account, checked by the IRC account tag. Other people's mentions are ignored.

Is deleting a message permanent?

Deleting removes it from server history. An IRC client that already received it may keep a copy. The privacy page says this plainly.

Does it do push notifications on iPhone?

Yes, once the PWA is installed to the home screen. Safari requires that for web push.

How big can a group get?

Anywhere from two people to a few hundred. One €7 ARM server carried 250 concurrent chatty users in our load test with Ergo under 40 MiB, and the hosting ladder goes to 5,000 online. Features are added when regular use asks for them.

Why IRC?

See About. Short version: small, open, decades of clients, and it keeps every feature honest.

Can I move away later?

Yes. Ergo's history database and the app's SQLite file are yours. Any IRC client reads the history today.