Omairc on Omarchy

Omairc on Omarchy

Omairc is a dead-simple, keyboard-first IRC client for Omarchy — a Qt Quick + C++ app where the same binary is both the chat window and a local CLI, themed to your Omarchy desktop, with a companion terminal client and an AI-agent skill so agents can read and send on IRC for you.

TL;DR

omarchy pkg add omairc

Takes ~1 minute — the official Omarchy package (v1.10.3-3 on the app-store page), MIT licensed. Caveats: the maintainer's README says the official Omarchy package is published on the edge channel, and on stable/rc you may need the install.sh route (curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fredimachado/omairc/main/install.sh | sh, which adds a pacman repo and installs it) — confirm which channel has it before telling anyone it "just works." Also: the package is x86_64-only, so Asahi/ARM users need the build-from-source route.

Getting started (5 minutes)

1. Install and launch.

Run the command above (edge channel, per the maintainer's README) or the install.sh route on stable/rc. The binary lands on your PATH as omairc.

2. First launch — the Connect sheet.

The first thing you see is a Connect sheet: pick a network (Freenode is prefilled), TLS is on, autojoin is #omarchy, pick your nick. NickServ uses SASL PLAIN when the server offers it, otherwise IDENTIFY. That's the whole onboarding — you're in a channel in seconds. Several networks live in one window, each keeping its own channels, direct messages, nick, and Status console.

3. The 3 things you need to know:

• Keyboard first, always — Press Ctrl+/ to list every shortcut. The member list shows people counts on channels; click a nick to open a direct message, Ctrl+W closes it. Avatars, a status line, and bot marks appear when the network supports them. You get backlog on join and your recent local lines after a restart.
• The window IS the CLI — The same omairc binary drives the running window from a terminal: omairc connections, omairc status, omairc send --network <id> '#channel' hello, omairc read '#channel' --since 5m, omairc read --unread, omairc conversations, omairc names, omairc raise. Quote channel targets. Commands need the window running — except --help and --version, which exit without one. A second launch just raises the existing window.
• Agent-friendly by design — npx skills add fredimachado/omairc/skills -g installs a local CLI skill so an AI agent can read channels and send messages through your running window. There's also omairc-tui, a separate static Go terminal client shipped on the same GitHub release (installable via install-tui.sh to ~/.local/bin, Homebrew, Scoop, or go install).

4. Data and privacy.

Backlog comes from the server on join; your local lines persist across restarts. Passwords go through QtKeychain (system keyring). No account with the app's author exists; it's IRC — your identity lives on the networks you join.

5. Config location.

Per the README: "Profiles use the Qt app config location" — on Linux that's conventionally ~/.config/omairc/ (UNCONFIRMED — verify on-machine). The bundled iA Writer Mono font is part of the package.

Practical notes: Colors follow the Omarchy theme and update live, text follows the desktop text scale, and notifications fire for mentions or DMs while the window is unfocused. Try omairc --demo-server to skip Connect entirely — handy for exploring or taking screenshots without joining a network.

Common issues & fixes

omarchy pkg add omairc finds nothing, but the app store lists it

The maintainer publishes the official Omarchy package on the edge channel, built against that channel's Qt — if you're on stable or rc, either switch channels or use the maintainer's install script.

Fix: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fredimachado/omairc/main/install.sh | sh adds an [omairc] pacman repository from the latest GitHub release and installs it (re-running upgrades). Read the script first if you prefer — the README says so too.

You're on Apple Silicon (Asahi) and the package won't install

The omarchy-pkgs PKGBUILD declares arch=('x86_64') only — there is no aarch64 package.

Fix: Build from source (git clone https://github.com/fredimachado/omairc.git, ./bin/install as your user) or use the static omairc-tui terminal client, which ships macOS/Linux binaries per release (including ARM) and needs no Qt at all.

Your bouncer (Soju/ZNC) connects, but there's no history sync

Backlog only covers what the server sends on join. This is a known limit, tracked in issue fredimachado/omairc#379 ("Track soju.im/bouncer-networks support").

Fix: The README's Limits section confirms: no Soju or ZNC history-sync protocol, and the Connect sheet has no separate SASL account or bouncer-network fields. If you live behind a bouncer, you're waiting on #379 — the app is honest about being a simple client, not a Quassel replacement.

You can't find a global "desktop notifications on/off" toggle in Preferences

It doesn't exist yet — tracked as issue #220 ("Preferences: Notifications section (global desktop-notify toggle)"). Notifications currently fire for mentions and DMs while the window is unfocused, with no global switch. Same story for the profile section: display-name, avatar, and status metadata are tracked in issue #219.

omairc join #channel or omairc query nick from the terminal does nothing useful

The local CLI's command set is connections, status, send, conversations, read, names, raise — it doesn't have join/query/part yet (tracked in issue #196, which also covers send --action without stealing focus).

Fix: Use the in-window slash commands instead: /list, /join-style flows, /pref, /status, /avatar, /autoaway, plus CTCP — those run from the composer.

Pairs well with / If you hate this, try

Pairs well with

• omairc-tui — the static terminal companion from the same project, for when you're ssh'd in or live in tmux. Your AI agent + the omairc skill (npx skills add fredimachado/omairc/skills -g) — "what did #omarchy say about the new theme" is a genuinely useful agent query. And any IRC network where Omarchy folks hang out — autojoin #omarchy is the default for a reason.

If you hate this, try

• Quassel (omarchy pkg add quassel) if you want the full client-plus-core model with history sync and a mobile client — it's the heavyweight omairc deliberately isn't. WeeChat or irssi if you never leave the terminal and don't want a GUI at all.

Comparison: omairc vs Quassel vs WeeChat

Verdict: Use omairc if you want IRC to feel like a native Omarchy app with a CLI an agent can drive; use Quassel if you need bouncer-style history sync; use WeeChat if you live in tmux.