Commands.txt: Streamline references to IRC+ protocol

[ngircd-alex.git] / doc / Commands.txt

                     ngIRCd - Next Generation IRC Server
                           http://ngircd.barton.de/

               (c)2001-2013 Alexander Barton and Contributors.
               ngIRCd is free software and published under the
                   terms of the GNU General Public License.

                              -- Commands.txt --


This file lists all commands available on ngIRCd. It is written in a format
that is human readable as well as machine parseable and therefore can be used
as "help text file" of the daemon.

In short, the daemon reads this file on startup and parses it as following
when an user issues a "HELP <cmd>" command:

 1. Search the file for a line "- <cmd>",
 2. Output all subsequent lines that start with a TAB (ASCII 9) character
    to the client using NOTICE commands, treat lines containing a single "."
    after the TAB as empty lines.
 3. Break at the first line not starting with a TAB character.

This format allows to have information to each command stored in this file
which will not be sent to an IRC user requesting help which enables us to
have additional annotations stored here which further describe the origin,
implementation details, or limits of the specific command which are not
relevant to an end-user but administrators and developers.

A special "Intro" block is returned to the user when the HELP command is
used without a command name:


- Intro
        This is ngIRCd, a server software for Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
        networks. You can find more information about ngIRCd on its homepage:
                <http://ngircd.barton.de>
        .
        Use "HELP COMMANDS" to get a list of all available commands and
        "HELP <command-name>" to get help for a specific IRC command, for
        example "HELP quit" or "HELP privmsg".


Connection Handling Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- CAP
        CAP LS
        CAP LIST
        CAP REQ <capabilities>
        CAP ACK <capabilities>
        CAP NAK <capabilities>
        CAP CLEAR
        CAP END
        .
        List, request, and clear "IRC Capabilities".
        .
        Using this command, an IRC client can request additional "IRC
        capabilities" during login or later on, which influences the
        communication between server and client. Normally, these commands
        aren't directly used by humans, but automatically by their client
        software. And please note that issuing such commands manually can
        irritate the client software used, because of the "non-standard"
        behavior of the server!
        .
        - CAP LS: list all available capabilities.
        - CAP LIST: list active capabilities of this connection.
        - CAP REQ: Request particular capabilities.
        - CAP ACK: Acknowledge a set of capabilities to be enabled/disabled.
        - CAP NAK: Reject a set of capabilities.
        - CAP CLEAR: Clear all set capabilities.
        - CAP END: Indicate end of capability negotiation during login,
          ignored in an fully registered session.

        Please note that the <capabilities> must be given in a single
        parameter but whitespace separated, therefore a command could look
        like this: "CAP REQ :capability1 capability2 capability3" for example.

        References:
         - <http://ircv3.atheme.org/specification/capability-negotiation-3.1>
         - <http://ngircd.barton.de/doc/Capabilities.txt>
         - doc/Capabilities.txt

- CHARCONV
        CHARCONV <client-charset>
        .
        Set client character set encoding to <client-charset>.
        .
        After receiving such a command, the server translates all message
        data received from the client using the set <client-charset> to the
        server encoding (UTF-8), and all message data which is to be sent to
        the client from the server encoding (UTF-8) to <client-charset>.
        .
        This enables older clients and clients using "strange" character sets
        to transparently participate in channels and direct messages to
        clients using UTF-8, which should be the default today.

        References:
         - IRC+, <http://ngircd.barton.de/doc/Protocol.txt>
         - IRC+, doc/Protocol.txt

- NICK
        NICK <nickname>
        NICK <nickname> [<hops>]
        NICK <nickname> <hops> <username> <host> <servertoken> <usermodes> <realname>
        .
        Set or change the <nickname> of a client (first form) and register
        remote clients (second and third form; servers only).

        References:
         - RFC 1459, 4.1.2 "Nick message" (old client and server protocol)
         - RFC 2812, 3.1.2 "Nick message" (client protocol)
         - RFC 2813, 4.1.3 "Nick" (server protocol)

- PASS
        PASS <password>
        PASS <password> <version> <flags> [<options>]
        .
        Set a connection <password>. This command must be the first command
        sent to the server, even before the NICK/USER or SERVER commands.
        .
        The first form is used by user sessions or (old) RFC 1459 servers,
        the second form is used by RFC 2812 or IRC+ compliant servers and
        enables the server to indicate its version and supported protocol
        features.

        References:
         - RFC 1459, 4.1.1 "Password message" (old client and server protocol)
         - RFC 2812, 3.1.1 "Password message" (client protocol)
         - RFC 2813, 4.1.1 "Password message" (server protocol)
         - IRC+, <http://ngircd.barton.de/doc/Protocol.txt>
         - IRC+, doc/Protocol.txt

- PING
        PING <token> [<target>]
        .
        Tests the presence of a connection to a client or server.
        .
        If no <target> has been given, the local server is used. User clients
        can only use other servers as <target>, no user clients.
        .
        A PING message results in a PONG reply containing the <token>, which
        can be arbitrary text.

        Please note:
        The RFCs state that the <token> parameter is used to specify the
        origin of the PING command when forwared in the network, but this
        is not the case: the sender is specified using the prefix as usual,
        and the parameter is used to identify the PONG reply in practice.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.7.2 "Ping message"

- PONG
        PONG <target> [<token>]
        .
        Reply to a "PING" command, indicate that the connection is alive.
        .
        The <token> is the arbitrary text received in the "PING" command and
        can be used to identify the correct PONG sent as answer.
        .
        When the "PONG" command is received from a user session, the <target>
        parameter is ignored; otherwise the PONG is forwarded to this client.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.7.3 "Pong message"

- QUIT
        QUIT [<quit-message>]
        .
        Terminate a user session.
        .
        When received from a user, the server acknowledges this by sending
        an "ERROR" message back to the client and terminates the connection.
        .
        When a <quit-message> has been given, it is sent to all the channels
        that the client is a member of when leaving.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.1.7 "Quit"
         - RFC 2813, 4.1.5 "Quit"

- USER
        USER <username> <hostname> <unused> <realname>
        .
        Register (and authenticate) a new user session with a short <username>
        and a human-readable <realname>.
        .
        The parameter <hostname> is only used when received by an other server
        and ignored otherwise; and the parameter <unused> is always ignored.
        But both parameters are required on each invocation by the protocol
        and can be set to arbitrary characters/text when not used.
        .
        If <username> contains an "@" character, the full <username> is used
        for authentication, but only the first part up to this character is
        set as "user name" for this session.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.1.3 "User message"

- WEBIRC
        WEBIRC <password> <username> <hostname> <ip-address>
        .
        Allow Web-to-IRC gateway software (for example) to set the correct
        user name and host name of users instead of their own.
        .
        It must be the very first command sent to the server, even before
        USER and NICK commands!
        .
        The <password> must be set in the server configuration file to prevent
        unauthorized clients to fake their identity; it is an arbitrary string.

        References:
         - IRC+, <http://ngircd.barton.de/doc/Protocol.txt>
         - IRC+, doc/Protocol.txt


General Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- AWAY
        AWAY [<message>]
        .
        Provides the server with a message to automatically send in reply to a
        PRIVMSG directed at the user, but not to a channel they are on.
        .
        If <message> is omitted, the away status is removed.

- HELP
        HELP [<command>]
        .
        Show help information for a specific IRC <command>. The <command> name
        is case-insensitive.
        .
        Use the command "HELP Commands" to get a list of all available commands.

        The HELP command isn't specified by any RFC but implemented by most
        daemons. If no help text could be read in, ngIRCd outputs a list of all
        implemented commands when receiving a plain "HELP" command as well as
        on "HELP Commands".

        ngIRCd replies using "NOTICE" commands like ircd 2.10/2.11; other
        implementations are using numerics 704, 705, and 706.


- MODE
        MODE <nickname> <flags> (user)
        MODE <channel> <flags> [<args>]
        .
        The MODE command is dual-purpose. It can be used to set both (user) and
        <channel> modes.
        .
        See doc/Modes.txt for more information.

- NOTICE
        NOTICE <target>[,<target>[,...]] <message>
        .
        Send a <message> to a given <target>, which can be a user or a
        channel, but DON'T report any error.
        .
        The "NOTICE" command exactly behaves like the "PRIVMSG" command, but
        doesn't report any errors it encounters (like an unknown <target>).
        Please see the help text of the "PRIVMSG" command for a detailed
        description of the parameters!

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 2.3.1 "Message format in Augmented BNF"
         - RFC 2812, 3.3 "Sending messages"
         - RFC 2812, 3.3.2 "Notice"

- PRIVMSG
        PRIVMSG <target>[,<target>[,...]] <message>
        .
        Send a <message> to a given <target>, which can be a user or a
        channel, and report all errors.
        .
        The <target> must follow one of these syntax variants:
        .
         - <nickname>
         - <channel>
         - <user>[%<host>]@<server>
         - <user>%<host>
         - <nickname>!<user>@<host>
        .
        If the <target> is a user, a private message is sent directly to this
        user; if it resolves to a channel name, a public message is sent
        to all the members of that channel.
        .
        In addition, IRC Ops can use these two forms to specify the <target>:
        .
         - #<hostmask>
         - #<servermask>
        .
        The <mask> can contain the wildcard characters "*" and "?", but must
        contain at least one dot (".") and no wildcard after the last one.
        Then, the <message> is sent to all users matching this <mask>.
        .
        All warnings and errors are reported back to the initiator using
        numeric status codes, which is the only difference to the "NOTICE"
        command, which doesn't report back any errors or warnings at all.
        .
        Please note that clients often use "MSG" as an alias to PRIVMSG, and
        a command "QUERY <nick> [<message>]" to initiate private chats. Both
        are command extensions of the client and never sent to the server.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 2.3.1 "Message format in Augmented BNF"
         - RFC 2812, 3.3 "Sending messages"
         - RFC 2812, 3.3.1 "Private messages"

Status and Informational Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- ADMIN
        ADMIN [<target>]
        .
        Show administrative information about an IRC server in the network.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.9 "Admin command"

- INFO
        INFO [<target>]
        .
        Show the version, birth & online time of an IRC server in the network.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.10 "Info command"

- ISON
        ISON <nickname> [<nickname> [...]]
        .
        Query online status of a list of nicknames. The server replies with
        a list only containing nicknames actually connected to a server in
        the network. If no nicknames of the given list are online, an empty
        list is returned to the client requesting the information.

        Please note that "all" IRC daemons even parse separate nicknames in
        a single parameter (like ":nick1 nick2"), and therefore ngIRCd
        implements this behaviour, too.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 4.9 "Ison message"

- LINKS
        LINKS [[<target>] [<mask>]
        .
        List all servers currently registered in the network matching <mask>,
        or all servers if <mask> has been omitted, as seen by the server
        specified by <target> or the local server when <target> is omitted.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.5 "Links message"

- LUSERS
        LUSERS [<mask> [<target>]]
        .
        Return statistics about the number of clients (users, servers,
        services, ...) in the network as seen by the server <target>.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        Please note that ngIRCd ignores the <mask> parameter entirely: it
        is not possible to get information for a part of the network only.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.2 "Lusers message"

- MOTD
        MOTD [<target>]
        .
        Show the "Message of the Day" (MOTD) of an IRC server in the network.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.1 "Motd message"

- NAMES
        NAMES [<channel>[,<channel>[,...]] [<target>]]
        .
        Show the list of users that are members of a particular <channel>
        (and that are visible for the client requesting this information) as
        seen by the server <target>. More than one <channel> can be given
        separated by "," (but not whitespaces!).
        .
        If <channel> has been omitted, all visible users are shown, grouped
        by channel name, and all visible users not being members of at least
        one channel are shown as members of the pseudo channel "*".
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.2.5 "Names message"

- STATS
        STATS [<query> [<target>]]
        .
        Show statistics and other information of type <query> of a particular
        IRC server in the network.
        .
        The following <query> types are supported (case-insensitive):
        .
         - g  Network-wide bans ("G-Lines").
         - k  Server-local bans ("K-Lines").
         - l  Link status (parent server and own link only).
         - m  Command usage count.
         - u  Server uptime.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.4 "Stats message"

- TIME
        TIME [<target>]
        .
        Show the local time of an IRC server in the network.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.6 "Time message"

- TRACE
        TRACE [<server>]
        .
        Trace a path across the IRC network of the current server, or if given
        of a specific <server>, in a similar method to traceroute.

- USERHOST
        USERHOST <nickname> [<nickname> [...]]
        .
        Show flags and the hostmasks (<user>@<host>) of the <nickname>s,
        separated by spaces. The following flags are used:
        .
         - "-"  The client is "away" (the mode "+a" is set on this client).
         - "+"  Client seems to be available, at least it isn't marked "away".
         - "*"  The client is an IRC operator (the mode "+o" is set).

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 4.8 "Userhost message"

- VERSION
        VERSION [<target>]
        .
        Show version information about a particular IRC server in the network.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to
        a specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network.
        The server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.
        .
        Please note: in normal operation, the version number ends in a dot
        (".", for example "ngIRCd-20.1."). If it ends in ".1" (for example
        "ngIRCd-20.1.1", same version than before!), the server is running in
        debug-mode; and if it ends in ".2", the "network sniffer" is active!
        Keep your privacy in mind ...

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.4.3 "Version message"

- WHO
        WHO [<mask> ["o"]]
        .
        Show a list of users who match the <mask>, or all visible users when
        the <mask> has been omitted. (Special case: the <mask> "0" is
        equivalent to "*")
        .
        If the flag "o" is given, the server will only return information about
        IRC Operators.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.6.1 "Who query"

- WHOIS
        WHOIS [<target>] <mask>[,<mask>[,...]]
        .
        Query information about users matching the <mask> parameter(s) as seen
        by the server <target>; up to 3 <masks> are supported.
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to a
        specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network. The
        server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.6.2 "Whois query"

- WHOWAS
        WHOWAS <nickname>[,<nickname>[,...]] [<count> [<target>]]
        .
        Query information about nicknames no longer in use in the network,
        either because of nickname changes or disconnects. The history is
        searched backwards, returning the most recent entry first. If there
        are multiple entries, up to <count> entries will be shown (or all of
        them, if no <count> has been given).
        .
        <target> can be a server name, the nickname of a client connected to a
        specific server, or a mask matching a server name in the network. The
        server of the current connection is used when <target> is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.6.3 "Whowas"


Channel Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- INVITE
        INVITE <nickname> <channel>
        .
        Invite <nickname> to join channel <channel>.
        .
        <channel> does not have to exist, but if it does, only members of the
        channel are allowed to invite other users. If the channel mode "+i"
        is set, only channel "half-ops" (and above) may invite other clients,
        and if channel mode "+V" is set, nobody can invite other users.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.2.7 "Invite message"

- JOIN
        JOIN <channels> [<channel-keys>]
        .
        Makes the client join the <channels> (comma-separated list), specifying
        the passwords, if needed, in the comma-separated <channel-keys> list.
        A <channel-key> is only needed, if the <channel> mode "+k" is set.
        .
        If the channel(s) do not exist, then they will be created.

- KICK
        KICK <channel>[,<channel>[,...]] <nickname>[,<nickname>[,...]] [<reason>]
        .
        Remove users(s) with <nickname>(s) from <channel>(s).
        .
        There must be either exactly one <channel> parameter and multiple
        <nickname> parameters, or as many <channel> parameters as there are
        <nickname> parameters. The <reason> is shown to the users being
        kicked, and the nickname of the current user is used when <reason>
        is omitted.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.2.8 "Kick command"

- LIST
        LIST [<channels> [<server>]]
        .
        List all visible <channels> (comma-seperated list) on the current
        server.
        If <server> is given, the command will be forwarded to <server> for
        evaluation.

- PART
        PART <channels> [<part-message>]
        .
        Leave <channels> (comma-separated list), optional with a
        <part-message>.

- TOPIC
        TOPIC <channel> <topic>
        .
        Set a <topic> for <channel>.
        .
        Only <channel> operators are able to set a <topic>.


Administrative Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- CONNECT
        CONNECT <target server> [<port> [<remote server> [<mypwd> <peerpwd>]]]
        .
        Instructs the current server, or <remote server> if specified,
        to connect to <target server>.
        .
        To connect <remote server> you need to have remote oper status.
        If <port> is omitted, it uses the server port of the configuration.
        If <mypwd> and <peerpwd> is given, it uses those passwords instead
        of the ones in the configuration.

- DIE
        DIE
        .
        Instructs the server to shut down.

- DISCONNECT
        DISCONNECT [<remote server>]
        .
        Disconnects the current server, or <remote server> if specified.
        To disconnect a <remote server> you need to have remote oper status.

- GLINE
        GLINE <nick!user@hostmask> <seconds> :<reason>
        .
        This command provides timed G-Lines (Network-wide bans).
        If a client matches a G-Line, it cannot connect to any server on
        the IRC network. If you put 0 as <seconds>, it makes the G-Line
        permanent.
        .
        To remove a G-Line, type "GLINE <nick!user@hostmask>".
        To list the G-Lines, type "STATS g".

- KILL
        KILL <nickname> <reason>
        .
        Forcibly remove all users with a given <nickname> from the IRC
        network and display the given <reason> to them.
        .
        This command is used internally between servers, too, for example
        to disconnect duplicate <nickname>'s after a "net split".

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.7.1 "Kill message"

- KLINE
        KLINE <nick!user@hostmask> <seconds> :<reason>
        .
        This command provides timed K-Lines (Server-local bans).
        If a client matches a K-Line, it cannot connect to the issued server.
        If you put 0 as <seconds>, it makes the K-Line permanent.
        .
        To remove a K-Line, type "KLINE <nick!user@hostmask>".
        To list the K-Lines, type "STATS k".

- OPER
        OPER <user> <password>
        .
        Authenticates <user> as an IRC operator on the current server/network.

- REHASH
        REHASH
        .
        Causes the server to re-read and re-process its configuration file(s).

- RESTART
        RESTART
        .
        Restart the server.

- WALLOPS
        WALLOPS <message>
        .
        Sends <message> to all users with user mode "+w".


IRC Service Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- SERVICE
        SERVICE <name> <reserved1> <distribution> <type> <reserved2> <info>
        SERVICE <name> <servertoken> <distribution> {<type>|+<modes>} <hops> <info>
        .
        Register a new service in the network.
        .
        The first form is used by directly linked services and isn't supported
        by ngIRCd at the moment. The second form announces services connected
        to remote "pseudo-servers" ("services hubs").
        .
        The <distribution> and <type> parameters are ignored by ngIRCd.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.1.6 "Service message"
         - RFC 2813, 4.1.4 "Service message"

- SERVLIST
        SERVLIST [<mask> [<type>]]
        .
        List all IRC services currently registered in the network.
        .
        The optional <mask> and <type> parameters can be used to limit the
        listing to services matching the <mask> and that are of type <type>.
        .
        Please note that ngIRCd doesn't use any service types at the moment
        and therefore all services are of type "0".

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.5.1 "Servlist message"

- SQUERY
        SQUERY <target>[,<target>[,...]] <message>
        .
        Send a <message> to a given <target> IRC service, and report all
        errors.
        .
        The "SQUERY" command exactly behaves like the "PRIVMSG" command, but
        enforces that the <target> of the <message> is an IRC service.
        Please see the help text of the "PRIVMSG" command for a detailed
        description of the parameters!
        .
        If a user wants to interact with IRC services, he should use "SQUERY"
        instead of "PRIVMSG" or "NOTICE": only "SQUERY makes sure that no
        regular user, which uses the nickname of an IRC service, receives
        the command in error, for example during a "net split"!

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 2.3.1 "Message format in Augmented BNF"
         - RFC 2812, 3.3 "Sending messages"
         - RFC 2812, 3.3.2 "Notice"

- SVSNICK
        SVSNICK <oldnick> <newnick>
        .
        Forcefully change foreign user nicknames. This command is allowed
        for servers only.
        .
        The "SVSNICK" command is forwarded to the server to which the user
        with nickname <oldnick> is connected to, which in turn generates a
        regular "NICK" command that then is sent to the client, so no special
        support in the client software is required.

        References:
         - ngIRCd GIT commit e3f300d3231f


Server Protocol Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- CHANINFO
        CHANINFO <channel> +<modes> [[<key> <limit>] <topic>]
        .
        CHANINFO is used by servers to inform each other about a channel:
        its modes, channel key, user limits and its topic.

        References:
         - IRC+, <http://ngircd.barton.de/doc/Protocol.txt>
         - IRC+, doc/Protocol.txt

- ERROR
        ERROR [<message> [<> [...]]]
        .
        Inform a client or a server about an error condition. The first 
        parameter, if given, is logged by the server receiving the message,
        all other parameters are silently ignored.
        .
        This command is silently ignored on non-server and non-service links
        and shouldn't be used by regular IRC clients.
        .
        The ERROR message is also sent before terminating a regular client
        connection.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 3.7.4 "Error message"

- METADATA
        METADATA <target> <key> <value>
        .
        The METADATA command is used on server-links to update "metadata"
        information of clients, like the hostname, the info text ("real name"),
        or the user name.

        References:
         - IRC+, <http://ngircd.barton.de/doc/Protocol.txt>
         - IRC+, doc/Protocol.txt

- NJOIN

- SERVER

- SQUIT
        SQUIT <server>
        .
        Disconnects an IRC Server from the network.


Dummy Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- SUMMON
        SUMMON <user> [<target> [<channel>]]
        .
        This command was intended to call people into IRC who are directly
        connected to the terminal console of the IRC server -- but is
        deprecated today. Therefore ngIRCd doesn't really implement this
        command and always returns an error message, regardless of the
        parameters given.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 4.5 "Summon message"

- USERS
        USERS [<target>]
        .
        This command was intended to list users directly logged in into the
        console of the IRC server -- but is deprecated today. Therefore ngIRCd
        doesn't really implement this command and always returns an error
        message, regardless of the parameters given.

        References:
         - RFC 2812, 4.6 "Users"

- GET

- POST