Go IRC Bot / gRPC Bouncer

This repository contains a split-architecture IRC client/bouncer written in Go.

Architecture

The system consists of two main components:

1. Server (server/):

   • Connects to an upstream IRC network (e.g., Libera.Chat).
   • Maintains a persistent connection and buffers recent messages for configured channels.
   • Exposes a gRPC service for clients to connect, retrieve history, and receive live updates.
   • Supports mTLS (Mutual TLS) for secure client-server communication.

2. Client (client/):

   • Connects to the Server via gRPC using mTLS.
   • Provides a terminal interface (raw mode) to view messages.
   • Supports channel switching (Ctrl-N, Ctrl-P) and graceful disconnect (Ctrl-D).

Features

• Persistent Presence: The server stays connected even when the client disconnects.
• Message History: Clients receive recent message history upon connection.
• Security: gRPC connection is secured with Mutual TLS (mTLS), ensuring only authorized clients can connect.
• Configuration: All configuration is handled via a textproto file for readability.

Setup & Usage

Prerequisites

• Bazel: The project uses Bazel as its build system. Please install the latest version of Bazel (e.g., via Bazelisk) to build and run the code.

1. Generate Certificates

Run the helper script to generate a Certificate Authority (CA), Server, and Client certificates:

./gen_certs.sh

This will create a certs/ directory containing:

• ca.crt, ca.key
• server.crt, server.key
• client.crt, client.key (Common Name: client_user)

2. Configure

Edit config.textproto to set your IRC details and certificate paths:

irc: {
  host: "irc.libera.chat"
  port: 6697
  use_tls: true
  nick: "MyBotNick"
  user: "MyBotUser"
  # password: "optional_password"
}
channels: {
  name: "#go-nuts"
  history_limit: 100
}
service: {
  port: 50051
}
tls: {
  ca_file: "certs/ca.crt"
  cert_file: "certs/server.crt"
  key_file: "certs/server.key"
  client_cn: "client_user" # Must match CN in gen_certs.sh
  client_cert_file: "certs/client.crt"
  client_key_file: "certs/client.key"
}

3. Run Server

bazel run //server:server -- --config $(pwd)/config.textproto

4. Run Client

bazel run //client:client

Controls (Client)

• Ctrl-N: Next Channel
• Ctrl-P: Previous Channel
• Ctrl-C / Ctrl-D: Quit

Testing

Run unit tests for all components using Bazel:

bazel test //...