nousresearch--hermes-agent/website/docs/user-guide/messaging/irc.md

IRC

The IRC adapter connects Hermes to any IRC server and relays messages between an IRC channel (or direct messages) and the agent. It speaks the IRC protocol over Python's stdlib asyncio — no external dependencies, no SDK, no daemon. It works with public networks like Libera.Chat and any self-hosted ircd.

IRC is plain text: there is no voice, image, file, thread, reaction, typing, or streaming support — replies are sent as PRIVMSG lines, with long messages split to fit the IRC line limit.

Run hermes gateway setup and pick IRC for a guided walk-through.

Prerequisites

• An IRC server to connect to (e.g. irc.libera.chat)
• A channel to join (e.g. #hermes) — comma-separate to join several
• A nickname for the bot (default: hermes-bot)
• Optional: a registered nick + NickServ password if your network requires identification

Configure Hermes

You can configure IRC two ways — environment variables (for a quick env-only setup) or the gateway block in ~/.hermes/gateway-config.yaml.

Option A — gateway-config.yaml

gateway:
  platforms:
    irc:
      enabled: true
      extra:
        server: irc.libera.chat
        port: 6697
        nickname: hermes-bot
        channel: "#hermes"
        use_tls: true
        server_password: ""       # optional server password
        nickserv_password: ""     # optional NickServ identification
        allowed_users: []         # empty = allow all, or list of nicks
        max_message_length: 450   # IRC line limit (safe default)

Option B — environment variables

Variable	Required	Description
IRC_SERVER	✅	IRC server hostname (e.g. irc.libera.chat)
IRC_CHANNEL	✅	Channel(s) to join — comma-separate for multiple
IRC_NICKNAME	✅	Bot nickname (default: hermes-bot)
IRC_PORT	—	Server port (default: 6697 with TLS, 6667 without)
IRC_USE_TLS	—	Use TLS (true/false; default true on port 6697)
IRC_SERVER_PASSWORD	—	Server password for the PASS command
IRC_NICKSERV_PASSWORD	—	NickServ password for automatic IDENTIFY on connect
IRC_ALLOWED_USERS	—	Comma-separated nicks allowed to talk to the bot
IRC_ALLOW_ALL_USERS	—	Allow anyone in the channel to talk to the bot (dev only)
IRC_HOME_CHANNEL	—	Channel for cron / notification delivery (defaults to IRC_CHANNEL)

Access control

By default, only nicks listed in allowed_users (or IRC_ALLOWED_USERS) may talk to the bot. Leave the list empty and set IRC_ALLOW_ALL_USERS=true to let anyone in the channel chat with Hermes — useful for testing, but not recommended on public networks since IRC nicks are not authenticated unless the network enforces NickServ.

If your network registers nicks, set IRC_NICKSERV_PASSWORD (or nickserv_password) so the bot identifies to NickServ on connect and keeps its registered nick.

Channels vs. DMs

• Messages in a joined channel are treated as a group conversation.
• Private messages to the bot are treated as direct messages.

Cron jobs and notifications are delivered to the home channel — IRC_HOME_CHANNEL if set, otherwise the first IRC_CHANNEL.

Run the gateway

hermes gateway start

Check status with hermes gateway status — IRC connection state is reported there, including for env-only setups.

Notes

• Long agent replies are automatically split into multiple PRIVMSG lines to stay within the IRC line limit (max_message_length, default 450 bytes after protocol overhead).
• The adapter acquires a scoped credential lock per server+nick, so two Hermes profiles won't fight over the same IRC identity.