A modern terminal IRC client built in Rust
Built by a 20+ year IRC veteran who lived in irssi and WeeChat. Fast, keyboard-driven, fully themeable with 24-bit color. Detach and reattach sessions without tmux or screen. Inline image previews right in your terminal. Built-in web frontend with real-time 1:1 sync — same session, same buffers, from any browser. Lua scripting, encrypted logging, IRCv3, and DCC chat. Terminal-first, zero-compromise.
RPE2E v1: native E2E for repartee, with companion scripts for WeeChat and irssi/erssi
RPE2E is Repartee End-to-End: a compact IRC-oriented protocol that adds end-to-end encryption for channels and private messages without changing the transport. repartee ships the native implementation, and matching scripts are available for WeeChat and irssi-compatible clients including erssi. erssi project.
Technical spec, not just a user guide
The protocol page documents wire identifiers, CTCP handshake frames, chunk format, AAD layout, replay window, trust model, and current v1 security tradeoffs directly from the implementation.
Cross-client interop
The same RPE2E v1 wire format is implemented in repartee plus companion scripts for WeeChat and irssi/erssi, so encrypted conversations can work across clients.
Scripts and requirements
The protocol page also links to the official scripts tree and lists what is required to run the Python and Perl clients correctly.
Built with modern tools
A robust foundation for a reliable client
Everything you need, nothing you don't
Terminal-first, zero-compromise. No Electron, no heavy runtime. The TUI is the primary interface.
Full IRC Protocol
Channels, queries, CTCP, SASL, TLS, channel modes, ban lists — the complete IRC experience.
irssi-style Navigation
Esc+1–9 window switching, /commands, aliases. If you know irssi, you already know repartee.
Web Frontend
Built-in HTTPS web UI with mobile support. Real-time bidirectional sync with the terminal.
Lua Scripting
Lua 5.4 scripts with an event bus, custom commands, and full IRC/state access.
Encrypted Logging
SQLite with optional AES-256-GCM encryption and FTS5 full-text search across all logs.
24-bit Theming
irssi-compatible format strings with true color support. Custom abstracts and color schemes.
Spell Checking
Multilingual inline checking with Hunspell dictionaries and a 7,400-word IT dictionary.
IRCv3 Capabilities
server-time, echo-message, away-notify, account tags, BATCH, SASL SCRAM-SHA-256, and more.
DCC CHAT
Direct client-to-client messaging with active and passive connections, auto-accept masks.
Embedded Shell
Full PTY terminal inside Repartee — run vim, btop, or any command without leaving the client.
Netsplit Detection
Batches join/part floods into single events so your scrollback stays readable.
Flood Protection
Blocks CTCP spam and nick-change floods from botnets automatically.
Image Preview
Inline image preview with sixel and kitty graphics protocols support.
Detach & Reattach
Detach from your terminal and reattach later — IRC connections stay alive. Like tmux, built in.
Extended Bans
WHOX account tracking and extban support — ban by account name with /ban -a.
Single Binary
Compiles to a ~24MB standalone executable with WASM web frontend bundled.
Quick Install
Get up and running in seconds. No build steps, no configuration required.
Install from crates.io
cargo install reparteeThen just run:
Config stored at ~/.repartee/config.toml