IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

IRCv3

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Mobile access and the need for bouncers/offline message handling
- “Yes, but compared to 'modern' apps IRC is very rudimentary and you would not get messages if you 'close the app'. You always have to run some secondary infrastructure like a bouncer to get offline messages or see what happened while you were away.” — dewey
- “Which is never if the person you messaged did not have a bouncer or their bouncer crashed.” — jeltz
- “You can use a bouncer on IRC to retain messages while you were offline. In reality, it's the same with every other network: you need a server which receives and retains messages while you're offline.” — WhyNotHugo
- “Mobile devices are different devices with different constraints. The main blockers are intermittent connectivity and the need to save battery life.” — cowlevel

2. IRC’s simplicity/ephemeral nature as a feature (or limitation)
- “I never worry about presence in any form of chat. I don't care if people are there when I message them; it's up to them to pick up my messages at their convenience.” — mgaunard
- “I agree. Part of the beauty is the limitations, the simplicity and transient nature of it.” — smokeyfish
- “Chatting, by design, is ephemeral and text only.” — AnonymousPlanet
- “I can only follow the conversation when I am online and there, and when I leave there is nothing to catch up to.” — pkal

3. IRCv3 extensions and modern servers/clients addressing shortcomings
- “It is the protocol's fault, and there is a solution at the protocol level: https://ircv3.net/specs/extensions/chathistory . So now, you can get messages while offline when using a modern server (eg. https://ergo.chat/) with a modern client (eg. https://codeberg.org/emersion/goguma).” — progval
- “IRCv3 gives you all of that, and I'm working on an ircd that has builtin support for multi-device access & chat history (which covers mobile between the two).” — DarkUranium
- “IRCv3 are the consensus‑based standards body for modern IRC and has ratified the WebSocket spec.” — SaberUK
- “I've set up an ergo^1 server for experimenting. Channel history is currently in draft stage; and maybe it will be forever.” — basilikum

4. Comparison with Discord/Matrix (usability, features, network effect)
- “Very bad is pretty harsh for the possibly least bad chat app that I have used. I don't like the centralization on Discord but the reason it is popular is because their app is better than the competition.” — jeltz
- “imo Telegram is the least bad chat app that I've used. Discord has a lot of UX and performance issues.” — OccamsMirror
- “Slack is a very bad that is super slow no matter what time of day I use it. It completely locks up on a spotty network. Discord works way better and their voice chat is several leagues above.” — Javier2
- “Some never left. Notoriously, some bigtech companies have an internal IRC network for tech discussions because that's one communication system that you can rely on to stay up even during catastrophic outages.” — Balinares
- “That's exactly what my tech teams did during outages of other channels. Spin up an ircd and carry on.” — smokeyfish

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

IRCCloud Lite – Hosted Bouncer with Push

Summary

  • Provides a managed IRC bouncer service that stores chat history and delivers push notifications to mobile clients, eliminating the need for users to run their own bouncer or VPS.
  • Core value proposition: seamless mobile IRC experience with offline message sync and instant alerts, preserving IRC’s lightweight protocol while adding modern convenience.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience IRC users who want mobile access and persistent chat history without self‑hosting a bouncer
Core Feature Hosted bouncer with encrypted chat history, push notifications (via Firebase/APNs), and multi‑device sync
Tech Stack Go (bouncer backend), Redis (history store), Docker/Kubernetes, Firebase Cloud Messaging / Apple Push Notification service, TLS
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: $4.99/mo per connected user (tiered plans for teams)

Notes

  • HN commenters lamented the need for a bouncer to get offline messages and push notifications (dewey: “You always have to run some secondary infrastructure like a bouncer to get offline messages”).
  • A hosted service would remove friction and could attract users who currently avoid IRC due to mobile limitations.

MediaShare for IRC – IPFS‑backed File/Image Sharing

Summary

  • Enables IRC clients to share images, videos, and files via IPFS links directly in chat, with optional client‑side previews and end‑to‑end encryption.
  • Core value proposition: brings Discord‑like media sharing to IRC while keeping the protocol text‑based and decentralized, avoiding reliance on central file hosts.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience IRC users who want to share media (screenshots, memes, logs) without leaving the channel or using external services
Core Feature Automatic IPFS upload of dragged‑dropped files, returns a short link; clients can render previews; encryption option via libsodium
Tech Stack JavaScript/TypeScript (client plugin), Go IPFS daemon, libsodium for encryption, WebExtension for popular clients (WeeChat, Irssi, Goguma)
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Users complained that IRC lacks image/video support and that sharing media forces them to move to Discord (AlienRobot: “It's weird that to share a screenshot I need a chat platform that also support VOIP when I just want to paste an image”).
  • MediaShare would let IRC stay the preferred chat for technical communities while handling media gracefully.

FedIRC – Federated IRCv3 Network Platform

Summary

  • A one‑click deployable server stack that implements IRCv3 core extensions (metadata, chat history, avatars) and enables federation between independent servers, giving a Slack‑/Discord‑like multi‑server experience on a pure IRC base.
  • Core value proposition: empowers communities to run their own federated IRC network with modern UI features (avatars, rich metadata) without dealing with complex protocol extensions manually.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Tech communities, open‑source projects, and small teams seeking a self‑hosted, federated chat alternative to Discord/Slack
Core Feature Pre‑configured ergo.chat‑based ircd with federation hooks, metadata support, admin UI, and Docker Compose deployment
Tech Stack ergo.chat (Go), PostgreSQL, Docker, React admin UI, Traefik for TLS, optional Coturn for TURN
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: $9/mo per server (hosted offering) or free self‑hosted open‑source version

Notes

  • Commenters praised projects like Parley/Ahoy that add federation and Discord‑like UI while staying IRCv3 compatible (prologic: “we've managed to create a federated decentralized IRC chat experience”).
  • FedIRC lowers the barrier to run such a network, addressing the desire for “IRC with a Discord/Slack-esque feel” without leaving the protocol.

VoiceIRC – WebRTC Voice Chat Extension for IRC

Summary

  • Provides a lightweight WebRTC‑based voice chat bot/bridge that users can invoke in any IRC channel to start ad‑hoc voice calls, with optional recording and push‑to‑talk modes.
  • Core value proposition: adds simple, optional voice communication to IRC without requiring a separate VoIP platform, preserving IRC’s text‑first nature while enabling real‑time talk when needed.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience IRC users who occasionally need voice chat (e.g., debugging, pair programming) but dislike heavyweight solutions like Discord or Mumble
Core Feature /voice command that spawns a temporary WebRTC room; participants join via a browser link; bot manages room lifecycle and optional audio recording
Tech Stack Node.js (bot using irc-client library), simple‑peer WebRTC wrapper, Express for signaling server, Redis for room state
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Several users expressed a desire for simple voice chat in IRC (javier2: “really need the simple voice chat for me to use it”) while rejecting heavy implementations (VoIRC called a joke).
  • VoiceIRC offers a low‑friction, opt‑in voice option that fits the IRC ethos and could be discussed favorably on HN.

Read Later