Take a peek

Here's a quick look at what the world's most modern, user-oriented, browser-based IRC client looks like. We're sure you're going to love it!

Download

Step 1: Install Node.js

aIRChat is built on top of the Node.js platform, so you will have to install the version for your operating system first. On Windows, make sure Node.js is installed into "C:\Program Files (x86)", the default location.

Step 2: Download aIRChat

aIRChat is packaged in a zip file that you can save anywhere. Once extracted, you'll have an aIRChat folder containing files that will start everything up for you to begin using it.

Step 3: Run aIRChat

Windows

After installing Node.js, you can simply run the airchatWin.bat file in the aIRChat folder extracted from the zip file you downloaded to start the aIRChat server and then enter "localhost:3000" (without quotation marks) into the address bar of your browser. You should be able to simply double-click the file to run it.

OS X and Linux

The first thing you have to do after extracting aIRChat is run the install script. Open a terminal (Terminal.app on OS X) and enter the following two commands (assuming you extracted aIRChat into Downloads):

cd ~/Downloads/aIRChat
sudo ./install

You can now start the aIRChat server by running the airchatNix file. Double-clicking the file should work fine now! You can now use aIRChat by entering "localhost:3000" into the address bar of your browser.

Get Started

This page provides a short introduction to IRC that you can quickly read to learn everything you need to know to start using aIRChat effectively, although plenty of help is offered in the app itself. If you would like to know more about the details, the Wikipedia article on the subject should tell you everything you could ever want to know!

What is IRC?

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a mature internet communication system that has been around for a long time. When people talk about IRC, the phrase is often used to encompass all of the client programs that people use to chat with one another, servers that handle commands and messages, and the protocol itself that defines how clients and servers can talk to each other in a meaningful way. IRC is very simple, but it is likely somewhat different to other chat applications you may have used before, but there are only a few key terms you need to be familiar with you get started!

Definitions

Server
A server runs software that handles commands and messages from users, making changes to various settings, and relaying messages to other users.
Channel
A channel is basically a chat room. Users gather in channels to talk about their shared interests. Anyone can create a channel simply by joining it. If the channel you want to join doesn't exist, it will be created!
User
A user is anyone present in a channel. Users can send messages to each other privately or to anyone in a channel, and they can also create new channels. Users are identified on a server by their "nick" (short for nickname).
Operators
IRC allows for individual users in a channel to be provided with special privileges that give them the ability to kick, ban, and invite other users among other things. When you create a new channel, you are automatically made its operator.
Highlighting
When a user writes a message containing another user's nick, that user's IRC client will often display a special kind of notification informing them that somone is trying to contact them directly. aIRChat keeps a count in a red box next to the name of the channel of the number of times you have been highlighted since reading the messages in that channel, and by tinting message bubbles containing your nick red.

Contributing

aIRChat is an open source project independantly developed by Zack Mullaly, A.K.A. redwire.

All of the source material is hosted on Github, and contributions of all kinds are welcome!

Donating

aIRChat is a personal project, something I am developing on my own time. If you really like aIRChat and would like to donate some Bitcoin to me, so that I can dedicate more time to its development, you can send donations to the following address:
199euqg2NwUzPTDhhtwQ54vnWjbQ34ABTR