Irssi

irssi is a powerful command line IRC client for connecting to internet relay chat (IRC) networks. Non-standard features are implemented with perl scripts, rather than in the core. Irssi can range from a functional, no-frills client to a highly-customized and automated client. Irssi can handle multiple IRC connections simultaneously, thus it is possible to be active in channels on different networks at the same time.

Emerge
Install :

To run the program, simply open up a terminal and type. Read the manual man irssi to see all available command-line options. More on using Irssi can be found in the usage section below.

Configuration
The first time is invoked by a user a configuration file will be created in  This can be modified with the  command while in the client by typing /set option value. Typing /set by itself will display available options and their current values.

For changes to remain persistent over restarts, modify the configuration file found at. See the following example:

Usage
As mentioned above is started by invoking:

While in the Irssi interface command-line options can be issued in order to have Irssi perform the desired actions.

Connect to a IRC network, here :

/connect chat.freenode.net

Set the user name to :

/nick larry

Starting using the above options with one command-line invocation:

Join the  IRC channel:

/join #gentoo

Leave the  channel:

/leave #gentoo

Save configured settings:

/save

Quit an Irssi IRC session:

/quit or /exit

Screen
is a useful tool that allows a user to manipulate multiple windows inside of a single terminal session. Each window operates independently of the others and acts like another terminal.

To install, or for more information in general, see the screen article.

If is currently open, close it using the  command and start screen by typing:

This opens a new screen session. To someone who has not used screen before it may appear that invoking the command above did nothing. This is not the case; there was something that happened by running screen, using the  option will show the user that there is now an open screen session:

Starting inside the screen session will create a helpful use case. Start again inside the  session:

While inside a session special keystrokes are used in order to provide control. + is the keystroke needed to beseech control of screen.

Detaching screen sessions
To detach a session press: + then

Attaching screen sessions
To re-attach to a running session type:

tmux
is another good way to manage sessions. Start a session for  by typing:

Once inside the session start  by typing:

+ is the keystroke needed to grab control of. To detach the session press + then the  key. If everything went properly the session should detach and the focus returned to the shell prompt.

To re-attach a session use the  argument (where   is the name used for the  session):

For more information on the details of using see the  article.

External resources

 * Official irrsi documentation
 * irssi scripts index
 * IRC protocol RFC 1459