The bIRC Mac IRC client is now being pitched as a native macOS app for people still living in IRC, with support for the old protocol core and a pile of newer IRCv3 features. According to the bIRC website, the app implements the IRC client protocol from RFC 1459 as updated by RFC 2812, alongside extensions that modern networks and bouncers increasingly expect.
The app is available through the Mac App Store, and its documentation is published on the project’s site. The developer frames bIRC as a Mac-first client rather than a browser shell: the site says it uses native windows, toolbars, split views, semantic colors and system notifications.
That distinction matters for a small but stubborn audience. IRC is not fashionable software, but it is still infrastructure for open source projects, technical communities and people who prefer text channels that do not require a venture-funded account system. A native client can fit into macOS conventions without dragging a web runtime into every chat window.
What is bIRC for Mac?
bIRC is an IRC client for macOS, built to connect to IRC networks, join channels and handle direct conversations. IRC, short for Internet Relay Chat, is a decades-old chat protocol where clients connect to servers, and servers relay messages across channels and users.
The bIRC site says the client supports IRCv3 features including message tags, server-time, batches, CHATHISTORY, reactions, replies, typing indicators, read markers, redaction and multiline messages. In plain terms, those extensions add metadata and modern chat behaviors to a protocol that predates most of today’s messaging apps.
The developer also points directly at Textual, the long-running Mac IRC client, saying Textual had been the leading option on the platform before being sunset. bIRC is presented as an attempt to fill that gap as IRCv3 features continue to move, slowly, through the ecosystem.
How bIRC handles security, bouncers and files
On the connection side, the bIRC site lists TLS support with CertFP client certificates, SASL authentication and proxy support through SOCKS5 and HTTP-CONNECT. It also says those proxy modes can use remote DNS, which is meant to keep local DNS lookups from exposing the servers a user is connecting to.
bIRC also supports bouncers such as ZNC and soju, according to the project site. A bouncer sits between a user and an IRC network, staying connected while the user’s client is offline and replaying missed messages when they reconnect. That is not glamour software. It is the difference between IRC feeling like a persistent chat app and feeling like a terminal session you forgot to keep alive.
For file handling, the site says bIRC supports DCC transfers, including sending, receiving and DCC chat. It also lists passive mode, transfer resume and automatic router port mapping. DCC sends data directly between clients rather than through the IRC server, so network address translation and firewalls are often the boring part that decides whether the feature works.
What the developer says about the code
The developer says bIRC is built only with Apple frameworks and has no third-party dependencies to maintain. That is a security and maintenance claim from the project, not an independent audit, but it does describe a deliberate design choice: fewer external packages means fewer upstream libraries to track for patches.
The site says the project may be open sourced later, but is not open source now. The developer describes bIRC as a side project by a sole developer and says they do not currently have time to manage pull requests and issues to the standard expected of an open source maintainer.
bIRC also includes a sandboxed JavaScript API for automation, according to the project site. Users can hook commands and incoming messages, which gives power users a scripting surface without making every customization depend on the app’s release cycle.
This story draws on original reporting from bIRC.
