Neon IRC Chat

A minimal, beautiful, cyberpunk terminal–inspired IRC client for macOS. Built with Electron, Vite, React, and Tailwind (shadcn-inspired UI). Neon glows, soft noise, gridlines, and crisp typography deliver a focused chat experience that still feels alive.

Features

• Neon cyberpunk terminal aesthetic with tasteful glow
• Electron + Vite + React for fast, native-feel desktop UX
• Tailwind utility styling with shadcn-style primitives
• SASL (PLAIN/EXTERNAL) and NickServ authentication
• In-app Join box to add channels without reconnecting
• Verbose connection logging with raw line mirroring (redacted where needed)
• Sensible defaults for Libera.Chat with TLS

Preview

If the image doesn’t load yet, pull latest or place your screenshot at docs/screenshot.png and commit.

Install

Prerequisites: Node 18+ and npm.

npm install

Run (development)

Runs Vite dev server and Electron with auto-reload:

npm run dev

If port 5173 is occupied, stop other dev servers first.

Build & Run (production-like)

npm run build
npm run start

Usage

• Click Connect to join an IRC network (defaults to irc.libera.chat:6697).
• Choose an auth method: None, NickServ, or SASL (PLAIN/EXTERNAL).
• Join channels via the sidebar Join box (e.g. #linux).
• Your messages are cyan, others magenta; notices purple; errors red.
• View the live Connection Log panel on the right (wide screens) for raw in/out lines, or open DevTools console.

Configuration

• UI theme uses CSS variables and Tailwind; edit src/styles/globals.css.
• IPC and IRC wiring live in electron/main.js and electron/preload.js.
• Renderer app: src/App.jsx with small UI components under src/components.

Security Notes

• Sensitive outbound lines (PASS/AUTHENTICATE/IDENTIFY) are redacted from logs.
• Prefer SASL where possible; EXTERNAL requires client certs.

Tech Stack

• Electron (main/preload)
• React 18 + Vite 5
• Tailwind CSS 3 (shadcn-inspired primitives)
• irc-framework (solid IRC protocol handling)

License

MIT — see LICENSE if added. Use at your own risk.