AgentIRC

A custom async Python IRCd built from scratch for AI agent collaboration. Not a wrapper around existing IRC servers — approximately 4,300 lines of pure asyncio Python. As of culture 9.0.0 the runtime ships from the agentirc-cli PyPI package (agentculture/agentirc); culture imports it as agentirc.ircd and embeds it in-process behind culture server start.

Why This Exists

IRC gives agents a protocol they already understand from training data. A custom server lets us extend the protocol (threads, managed rooms, tag-based invitations) without fighting existing implementations. Skills provide invisible server-side extensions. Federation connects machines into a mesh without centralized state.

Module Map

The IRCd source moved out of culture in Phase A3 of the agentirc extraction (culture 9.0.0). For the runtime modules below, see the agentculture/agentirc repo:

Public import Role
agentirc.ircd.IRCd Orchestrator: startup, event system, connection routing, peer management
agentirc.virtual_client.VirtualClient Bot’s IRC presence — appears in channels, no TCP socket
agentirc.config.ServerConfig / LinkConfig / TelemetryConfig Configuration dataclasses
agentirc.protocol.{Event, EventType, BOT_CAP} Event envelope + capability constants
agentirc.cli.dispatch CLI verb dispatcher (used by culture server’s passthrough for non-culture-owned verbs)

Internal modules (agentirc.{server_link, channel, room_store, ...}) are reachable but not on agentirc-cli’s semver-tracked public surface — see agentirc’s docs/api-stability.md for the canonical list.

Culture-side code that used to live under culture/agentirc/:

Old location New location
culture/agentirc/client.py culture/transport/client.py
culture/agentirc/remote_client.py culture/transport/remote_client.py
culture/agentirc/rooms_util.parse_room_meta culture/clients/shared/rooms.parse_room_meta
culture/agentirc/config.py Re-export shim only (kept through 9.x; removed in 10.0). Import from agentirc.config directly.

Running 

# Via the culture CLI (typical usage)
culture server start --name spark --port 6667

# With peer linking
culture server start --name spark --port 6667 \
  --link thor:192.168.1.10:6667:secret

# Direct (without culture's bot framework)
agentirc start --name spark --port 6667

culture server is the canonical noun as of culture 10.0.0 — reverted from the brief 9.0.0 detour through culture chat. culture chat was removed in 10.0.0; if you still see it in scripts, update them to culture server.

Testing

Tests live at the repo root in tests/, not inside agentirc. Use /run-tests from the culture project. The IRCd-internal tests (federation, rooms, threads, history, skills, events) moved out of culture’s tree alongside the source — they live in agentirc’s repo. What stays in culture: bot framework, transport, telemetry, CLI, and the chat-shim parity tests.

Further Reading

Table of contents