Hirc preview app :)

ablyss · June 2, 2026, 1:33am

Hi

There’s a new IRC app on the horizon…

Please check out hirc - Your new favorite IRC client made from the ground up for Haiku!

Hope you enjoy it !!

hirc-1.0.1-1-x86_64.hpkg

ablyss · June 2, 2026, 9:48pm

Hi !

Since my last post there’s new updates for Haiku (hirc) IRC client .

Fixed chat scroll bug
Added Config Popup window
Added font sizing options
Added /ACTION code fix
Updated menus and fixed checkbox in #channel options
Added Remove #channel option.
Added unique server hide status messages for server instead of global hide.
Add new custom server option
Fix potential crash on exit
Add QUIT message
Sort channel lists by number of users in a channel
Fix Server window size properties.

Download: hirc-0.0.4-1-x86_64.hpkg
Github Source Code

Screenhots

ablyss · June 3, 2026, 9:57pm

Hi !

Version .0.0.6 is out

Updates include

Added alt nickname support
Added high performance draw engine ( off by default )
Added bold font around nicknames and support for URL font and Webpositive opening.
Added smart IRC authentication timing.
Fixed potential memory leaks
Added debug output to file → ~/config/settings/hirc/hirc_debug_log.txt and Terminal if debug is turned on
Fixed duplicate name in window title.
Add handling VERSION requests per IRC standard protocols.
Add VERSION_STRING helper to code.
Fix Server window size properties.

hirc-0.0.6-1-x86_64.hpkg

ilfelice · June 3, 2026, 10:42pm

Hi @ablyss

One question and one request.

Question: what is the “high performance draw engine”?

Request: can you make the links to be opened by the user configured default browser (in file types)?

Keep up the good work!

ablyss · June 4, 2026, 12:12am

Hi @ilfelice Thanks for the compliments and question! The high performance draw engine has a lot of potential over the direct text buffer. Custom backgrounds, custom icons, etc… Also, if I have over a 1000+ lines of chat text in my chat buffer, the high performance draw engine only draws whats on the screen.

Here’s a breakdown custom curated …

Standard Engine (BTextView)

Lags and uses more CPU as lines grow
Paints everything, even hidden lines
Requires heavy copying or view caching
Risks flattening rich text formatting faces
Locked to standard text view behaviors

High Performance Draw Engine (CustomChatView)

Stays fast and lightweight “Big O of 1 efficiency”
Only paints lines visible in the window
Instant, token-filtered background switches
Scales text size cleanly while keeping styles safe
Open to custom backgrounds, icons, and menus

The code uses be_roster->Launch(“text/html”, 1, &args); to launch URLs, so setting Iceweasel as your default browser in Filetypes → text → html file will open Iceweasel or another supported browser that has a system mime type.

Thanks for trying out the app

ilfelice · June 4, 2026, 3:09am

@ablyss

You are right, Hirc does respect the default browser in file types. My bad.

It might be nice if the cursor changed to B_CURSOR_ID_FOLLOW_LINK when hovering over a link. To give users visual feedback that the link is clickable.

CustomChatView sounds interesting. Will take a look at it later.

ablyss · June 4, 2026, 12:38pm

@ilfelice I love the idea Considered it done on the next update !

ablyss · June 5, 2026, 1:02pm

Hi ~

Latest version updates…

Added away status code.
Added custom away message option
Added private query support
Removed [Server] tab now that private query support was implemented.
Added B_CURSOR_ID_FOLLOW_LINK code to handle mouse updates over URLS – Thanks @ilfelice !
Added code to sanitize the layout which fixes some issues when the high performance draw engine was on by default.
High performance draw engine is now on by default.
Fixed password text not showing in custom server dialog ( this was fixed in an earlier version but forgot to mention it ).
Added changing Topic mode support either via /topic command or the input box at the top.

hirc-0.0.7-1-x86_64.hpkg

ablyss · June 6, 2026, 3:32am

Latest updates

Added custom icons and the option to toggle icons off.
Added custom background support for Libera and OFTC servers. However, custom Server background code isn’t working right atm.
Moved the Add Server.. button into Mouse right click server menu and replace the Add Server button with Icon selections.

hirc-0.0.8-1-x86_64.hpkg

nephele · June 6, 2026, 8:27am

You should use BURL instead.. or open with application/x-vnd.Be.URL.https ; application/x-vnd.Be.URL.http ; application/x-vnd.Be.URL.gopher etc. etc.

Anyhow, i’m a bit confused what your goal is here? Is something wrong with Vision?

ablyss · June 6, 2026, 1:51pm

Hi @nephele I tried BURL but currently I can’t get it to open iceweasel even though I have iceweasel set as my preferred browser. Until I figure out how to make the code work, I will use my current code.

Vision is fine if that is what you want.
Here are some of my main goal

Variety.
Modernized intuitive code built upon real user experiences with IRC that makes the UI intelligent, highly polished, with straightforward functions that are not bloat, bulky, confusing, or with a myriad of popup windows to change simple settings.
One central main CPP file to work with instead of 100+header files.
One central config file instead of 20+ config files.
Easy to build

ablyss · June 6, 2026, 9:54pm

Update

I’ve rebranded the app with a new title. Instead of “hirc” I decided to call it cricket. I was inspired on the way to the antique market today with the word. I made a custom icon to go with it too.
cricket

In my previous version I mentioned Custom Servers had problems with the background image. Well, it turns out the way the code maps servers, you just need to connect to the Custom Server first, than apply new background for it.

There is one known bug I haven’t fixed yet…