RCIRC layer

Table of ContentsClose

1. Description
- 1.1. Features:
2. Install
3. Key bindings
4. Rcirc documentation
5. Spacemacs Layout Support

1. Description

This layer provide support for rcirc with optional support for authinfo and ZNC.

1.1. Features:

Store channel logs into ~/.emacs.d/.cache/rcirc-logs/<channel>
Support for credentials stored in ~/.authinfo.gpg (need to have gnutls)
Support ZNC support (with optional ~/.authinfo.gpg)
Colored nicknames
Real-time change when people use s/foo/bar/ in chat
Completion of Emojis using company-emoji (still needs a way of showing, either using the emoji layer or having a proper font) :clap:

2. Install

2.1. Layer

To use this configuration layer, add it to your ~/.spacemacs. You will need to add rcirc to the existing dotspacemacs-configuration-layers list in this file.

2.2. Configuring authentication

There are several ways to configure rcirc supported by the layer:

By storing your credentials in rcirc-server-alist in your dotfile (not secured)
By storing your credentials in rcirc-server-alist in your Dropbox (better but still not secured)
By storing your credentials in authinfo (secured)
By using a ZNC bouncer and storing your credentials (secured)

2.2.1. Storing the credentials in your dotfile

You can store your servers configuration along with your credentials in the dotspacemacs/user-config of your dotfile.

Important: This method is the less secured and it is not recommended since your dotfile is often stored in a public repository and is not crypted. This is convenient but not recommended.

Example:

(setq rcirc-server-alist
  '(("irc.freenode.net"
      :user-name "spacemacs_user" :encryption tls
      :port "6697"
      :password "le_passwd"
      :channels ("#emacs"))))

2.2.2. Storing the credentials in your Dropbox

You can store your servers configuration along with your credentials in your dropbox in the file ~/Dropbox/emacs/pinit-rcirc.el.

Important: This method is more secured since your file is stored in a private location but it is still not crypted on your drive. Moreover since Dropbox automatically sync your files you may have a lot of copies of the file containing your credentials. This is convenient but not recommended.

Example:

(setq rcirc-server-alist
  '(("irc.freenode.net"
      :user-name "spacemacs_user"
      :port "1337"
      :password "le_passwd"
      :channels ("#emacs"))))

2.2.3. Storing the credentials in authinfo

This method is considered secured and is the recommended way to configure rcirc.

If you want to use authinfo.gpg you have to enable the support for it by setting rcirc-enable-authinfo-support to t in your dotfile:
```
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-authinfo-support t)))
```

In your ~/.authinfo.gpg file store your credentials like this:

machine irc.freenode.net port nickserv user <user> password <passwd>

At last you need to provide your servers configuration in the dotspacemacs/user-config function of your dotfile:

(setq rcirc-server-alist
'(("irc.freenode.net"
    :user-name "spacemacs_user"
    :port "1337"
    :channels ("#emacs"))))

2.2.4. Connecting behind a ZNC bouncer and storing the credentials in authinfo

This methods is also secured since it uses authinfo but you must secure your ZNC server configuration as well!

ZNC is a popular bouncer which is easy to setup. A bouncer is a proxy that connects to your IRC channels on your behalf, instead of connecting to the IRC server you connect to your ZNC server. The ZNC server can store the discussions in a buffer while you are not connected.

Disclaimer

This assumes that you are familiar with ZNC and you have a ZNC server properly setup. If it is not the case then it is recommended to read about ZNC here. There is also an installation guide for Ubuntu here.

Note

For now authinfo is mandatory to use the ZNC configuration.

To enable ZNC support set the variable rcirc-enable-znc-support to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-znc-support t)))

In your ~/.authinfo.gpg file store your credentials like this:

machine freenode.spacemacsserver.me port irc user spacemacs_user/freenode password ZNC_PASSWORD
machine geekshed.spacemacsserver.me port irc user spacemacs_user/geekshed password ZNC_PASSWORD

Important port must be set to irc. This is a convention of the layer to retrieve the credentials for the ZNC configuration.

Then setup your servers configuration using subdomains in the dotspacemacs/user-config function of your dotfile. The :auth keyword arguments will be replaced by the credentials stored in your ~/.authinfo.gpg.

(setq rcirc-server-alist
 ;; This will replace :auth with the correct thing, see the doc for that function
 '(("freenode"
     :host "freenode.spacemacsserver.me"
     :port "1337"
     :auth "spacemacs_user/freenode"
     :channels ("#emacs"))
 ("geekshed"
     :host "geekshed.spacemacsserver.me"
     :port "1337"
     :auth "spacemacs_user/geekshed"
     :channels ("#jupiterbroadcasting"))))

2.3. Enabling `s/foo/bar/`

To configure rcirc to update buffers when people use s/foo/bar/, set the variable rcirc-enable-late-fix to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-late-fix t)))

2.4. Enabling emojify-mode

To enable emojify-mode in rcirc buffers, set the variable rcirc-enable-emojify to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-emojify t)))

2.5. Enabling erc-image

To enable erc-image for fetching and showing images when they are linked to in chat, set the variable rcirc-enable-erc-image to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-erc-image t)))

2.6. Enabling erc-tweet

To enable erc-tweet for fetching and displaying tweets when they are linked in chat, set the variable rcirc-enable-erc-tweet to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-erc-tweet t)))

2.7. Enabling erc-yt

To enable erc-yt for fetching and displaying previews for YouTube links in chat, set the variable rcirc-enable-erc-yt to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-erc-yt t)))

2.8. Enabling rcirc-styles

To enable rcirc-styles for displaying and inserting color and text attribute codes, set the variable rcirc-enable-styles to t in your dotfile:

(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (rcirc :variables rcirc-enable-styles t)))

3. Key bindings

Key binding	Description
`SPC a c i r`	Open rcirc
`SPC l o i`	Open rcirc in a custom perspective "@RICRC" (need perspectives layer enabled)
`SPC m i a`	Interactively insert a color code (if rcirc-styles is enabled)
`SPC m i c`	Interactively insert a text attribute code (if rcirc-styles is enabled)
`SPC m i p`	Toggle preview in input line (if rcirc-styles is enabled)

In normal state:

Key binding	Description
`C-j`	next item in history
`C-k`	previous item in history

4. Rcirc documentation

The rcirc documentation can be found here.

5. Spacemacs Layout Support

RCIRC buffers are added automatically to the default layout for RCIRC controlled by the variable rcirc-spacemacs-layout-name (defaults to "@RCIRC") and the default binding ("i") is controlled by rcirc-spacemacs-layout-binding

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