Guide: How to use Matrix to participate in IRC rooms
While the tutorial is specific to Freenode, the same general steps are applicable to any bridged IRC network.
Short link to this guide: https://j.mp/matrix-irc-guide
- A Matrix account which can be created at https://app.element.io/#/welcome
- A Matrix client like Element. Many other Matrix clients are listed on https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html
Using Matrix to participate in IRC rooms is easy but before you start you should know a few things.
Matrix clients are not IRC clients. This has benefits and drawbacks. One benefit is you'll never have to identify again and you gain all of the advantages of Matrix like you can pick up your phone or another device and continue the conversation and you can get push notifications. It also means you can only join rooms on bridged IRC networks. There is a list of bridged IRC networks here: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-appservice-irc/wiki/Bridged-IRC-networks. Most big networks like Freenode, IRCnet, Moznet, and OFTC are bridged to Matrix.
1. Start a room - which is like starting a direct or private message with @appservice-irc:matrix.org.
This is how you talk to the bridge, also known as the "appservice user" for the Freenode network. Each IRC network has a different appservice user. You can look up the appservice user for other networks here.
2. By default your IRC nickname is the localpart of your Matrix username followed by [m]. If you want a different nick, tell the bridge your nick with !nick.
To use the nick "Aaron" you would send the message !nick Aaron to @appservice-irc:matrix.org.
3. To reserve that nickname you need to register it with NickServ on the IRC network. To do that, start a new chat with NickServ.
The username for Freenode's NickServ is @freenode_NickServ:matrix.org.
4. Next register your nickname with NickServ. To do this send REGISTER <password> <email> to @freenode_NickServ:matrix.org.
If your password was aaronsinsecurepassword and your email address was aaron@email.com, you would tell NickServ REGISTER aaronsinsecurepassword aaron@email.com. When you receive an email, follow the instructions to finalize the registration but remove the /msg NickServ part. You don't need to do this in Matrix since you already speaking directly to NickServ in the room you just created.
If you have already registered your nick, you can identify and get your existing nickname in the same way you would in any IRC client. Tell NickServ IDENTIFY <nickname> <password>.
5. Now you've told Freenode your password but you still need to tell the bridge your password so it can automatically reconnect you.
This is optional but it will give you a much better experience. To have the bridge store your password, go back to the room with @appservice-irc:matrix.org and tell it !storepass <password>.
If your password was aaronsinsecurepassword then you would send the message !storepass aaronsinsecurepassword to @appservice-irc:matrix.org.
You can either tell the bridge to !join <channel> or join the channel by alias. For Freenode the alias format is #freenode_#chan:matrix.org. In Riot, you can either type this in to the room directory and hit enter or you can use the command /join <room alias>.
To join the room #kde on Freenode, you would send the message !join #kde to @appservice-irc:matrix.org or join through the alias #freenode_#kde:matrix.org.
You can talk in IRC rooms using any Matrix client and you'll stay connected even if you close Riot. You gain all of the powers of Matrix like staying connected, push notifications, and you can pick up where you left off using a Matrix client on your phone.
You may get an invite from "freenode-connect". This is an official Freenode bot. It has nothing to do with Matrix. You can join the room or ignore it, it doesn't matter.
If you have further questions, check the FAQ https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-appservice-irc/wiki/End-user-FAQ
For other questions come ask in #irc:matrix.org or in #matrix-irc on Freenode.