IRC

Use IRC when you want OpenClaw in classic channels (#room) and direct messages. IRC ships as an extension plugin, but it is configured in the main config under channels.irc.

Quick start¶

Enable IRC config in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.
Set at least:

{
  "channels": {
    "irc": {
      "enabled": true,
      "host": "irc.libera.chat",
      "port": 6697,
      "tls": true,
      "nick": "openclaw-bot",
      "channels": ["#openclaw"]
    }
  }
}

Start/restart gateway:

openclaw gateway run

Security defaults¶

channels.irc.dmPolicy defaults to "pairing".
channels.irc.groupPolicy defaults to "allowlist".
With groupPolicy="allowlist", set channels.irc.groups to define allowed channels.
Use TLS (channels.irc.tls=true) unless you intentionally accept plaintext transport.

Access control¶

There are two separate “gates” for IRC channels:

Channel access (groupPolicy + groups): whether the bot accepts messages from a channel at all.
Sender access (groupAllowFrom / per-channel groups["#channel"].allowFrom): who is allowed to trigger the bot inside that channel.

Config keys:

DM allowlist (DM sender access): channels.irc.allowFrom
Group sender allowlist (channel sender access): channels.irc.groupAllowFrom
Per-channel controls (channel + sender + mention rules): channels.irc.groups["#channel"]
channels.irc.groupPolicy="open" allows unconfigured channels (still mention-gated by default)

Allowlist entries can use nick or nick!user@host forms.

Common gotcha: `allowFrom` is for DMs, not channels¶

If you see logs like:

irc: drop group sender alice!ident@host (policy=allowlist)

…it means the sender wasn’t allowed for group/channel messages. Fix it by either:

setting channels.irc.groupAllowFrom (global for all channels), or
setting per-channel sender allowlists: channels.irc.groups["#channel"].allowFrom

Example (allow anyone in #tuirc-dev to talk to the bot):

{
  channels: {
    irc: {
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      groups: {
        "#tuirc-dev": { allowFrom: ["*"] },
      },
    },
  },
}

Reply triggering (mentions)¶

Even if a channel is allowed (via groupPolicy + groups) and the sender is allowed, OpenClaw defaults to mention-gating in group contexts.

That means you may see logs like drop channel … (missing-mention) unless the message includes a mention pattern that matches the bot.

To make the bot reply in an IRC channel without needing a mention, disable mention gating for that channel:

{
  channels: {
    irc: {
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      groups: {
        "#tuirc-dev": {
          requireMention: false,
          allowFrom: ["*"],
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Or to allow all IRC channels (no per-channel allowlist) and still reply without mentions:

{
  channels: {
    irc: {
      groupPolicy: "open",
      groups: {
        "*": { requireMention: false, allowFrom: ["*"] },
      },
    },
  },
}

Security note (recommended for public channels)¶

If you allow allowFrom: ["*"] in a public channel, anyone can prompt the bot. To reduce risk, restrict tools for that channel.

Same tools for everyone in the channel¶

{
  channels: {
    irc: {
      groups: {
        "#tuirc-dev": {
          allowFrom: ["*"],
          tools: {
            deny: ["group:runtime", "group:fs", "gateway", "nodes", "cron", "browser"],
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Different tools per sender (owner gets more power)¶

Use toolsBySender to apply a stricter policy to "*" and a looser one to your nick:

{
  channels: {
    irc: {
      groups: {
        "#tuirc-dev": {
          allowFrom: ["*"],
          toolsBySender: {
            "*": {
              deny: ["group:runtime", "group:fs", "gateway", "nodes", "cron", "browser"],
            },
            eigen: {
              deny: ["gateway", "nodes", "cron"],
            },
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Notes:

toolsBySender keys can be a nick (e.g. "eigen") or a full hostmask ("eigen!~eigen@174.127.248.171") for stronger identity matching.
The first matching sender policy wins; "*" is the wildcard fallback.

For more on group access vs mention-gating (and how they interact), see: /channels/groups.

NickServ¶

To identify with NickServ after connect:

{
  "channels": {
    "irc": {
      "nickserv": {
        "enabled": true,
        "service": "NickServ",
        "password": "your-nickserv-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Optional one-time registration on connect:

{
  "channels": {
    "irc": {
      "nickserv": {
        "register": true,
        "registerEmail": "bot@example.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Disable register after the nick is registered to avoid repeated REGISTER attempts.

Environment variables¶

Default account supports:

IRC_HOST
IRC_PORT
IRC_TLS
IRC_NICK
IRC_USERNAME
IRC_REALNAME
IRC_PASSWORD
IRC_CHANNELS (comma-separated)
IRC_NICKSERV_PASSWORD
IRC_NICKSERV_REGISTER_EMAIL

Troubleshooting¶

If the bot connects but never replies in channels, verify channels.irc.groups and whether mention-gating is dropping messages (missing-mention). If you want it to reply without pings, set requireMention:false for the channel.
If login fails, verify nick availability and server password.
If TLS fails on a custom network, verify host/port and certificate setup.

IRC