<b>Development on Ərk has concluded, and will no longer be worked on. Please check out <a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/merk">MERK</a>, the spiritual succesor to Ərk.</b><br><br><br><br>

<p align="center"> <img src="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/raw/master/images/logo_200x200.png"><br> <b>Ərk IRC Client</b><br> <a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/releases/tag/0.875.077"><b>Download last stable release</b></a><br> <a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/raw/master/downloads/erk-latest.zip"><b>Download Ərk 0.880.032</b></a><br> <a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/blob/master/documentation/Erk_Scripting_and_Commands.pdf"><b>View Ərk command and scripting documentation</b></a><br> <a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/blob/master/documentation/Erk_Plugin_Guide.pdf"><b>View Ərk plugin documentation</b></a> </p>

Ərk is a graphical open source Internet relay chat client. The current development version is 0.880.032.

Ərk is fully functional and ready for your use on Windows or Linux. Bugs are being fixed all the time, and features are still being tweaked, but it's ready.

Screenshots

<center><p align="center"> <table style="width: 100%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <table style="width: 100%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/raw/master/images/screenshot_full.png"><img src="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/raw/master/images/screenshot.png"></a><br> <b>Ərk connected to EFnet on Windows 10</b></td> <td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><a href="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/raw/master/images/screenshot_linux_full.png"><img src="https://github.com/nutjob-laboratories/erk/raw/master/images/screenshot_linux.png"></a><br> <b>Ərk connected to EFnet on Linux Mint</b></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p></center>

Features

Ərk does chat, and only chat.
- No DCC file transfer support
- No Bittorrent client
- Just plain ol' fashioned IRC
Runs on Windows and Linux
Supports multiple connections (you can chat on more than one IRC server at a time)
Open source (GPL 3)
A built-in list of over 80 IRC servers to connect to
An extensive set of configuration options
- Over 100 display and configuration options settable in the GUI
- Over 30 different command line options
Text colors are customize-able
Built-in spell checker (supports English, Spanish, French, and German)
Emoji support
- Insert emojis into chat by using shortcodes (such as :joy: :joy:, :yum: :yum:, etc.)
Command/nickname auto-completion
- Type the first few letters of a command or nickname and hit the tab key
- Auto-complete works for emoji shortcodes, custom macros, and plugin-based commands, too!
Optional profanity filter
Full IRC color support
Automatic logging of channel and private chats
Powerful scripting engine
- A script editor is built into the client
  - Create, open, and edit scripts
  - Syntax highlighting
- Scripting and command documentation is included
Powerful plugin engine
- Plugins are written in Python 3, just like Ərk
- Most IRC events can be caught
- Obscure blog and forums posts aren't needed, plugin documentation (with everything you need to know to write Ərk plugins) is included
- Check out the official plugin repository! If you've got a plugin that you've written and want to include in the repository, send a pull request!
An extensive set of command line flags, allowing for even more configuration options
- Disable most features on startup
- Connect to an IRC server from the command-line
- Support for connecting via IRC URLs

Requirements

Ərk requires Python 3, PyQt5, and Twisted. PyQt5 and Twisted can be installed by using pip:

pip install pyqt5
pip install Twisted

To connect to IRC servers via SSL, two additional libraries are needed:

pip install pyOpenSSL
pip install service_identity

Ərk is being developed with Python 3.7 on Windows 10, and Python 3.8.5 on Linux Mint.

If you're running Windows, and you're getting errors when trying to run Ərk, you may have to install another library, pywin32. You can also install this with pip:

pip install pywin32

To run properly on Linux, the latest version of all required software is recommended. There are four libraries that come bundled with Ərk:

Install

First, make sure that all the requirements are installed. Next, download Ərk. Extract the zipfile to a directory of your choice using your favorite archive/zip program. Open a command prompt, navigate to the directory you extracted Ərk to, and type:

python erk.py

Hit enter, and Ərk will start up! Enter the hostname or IP address of the server you'd like to connect to, or select a server from the built-in list. Ərk does not need to be "installed" to any specific directory to run; it will run from any directory it is extracted to.

To make things easier, Windows users can create a shortcut to Ərk so all you have to do is double click to start chatting. There are many tutorials on how to do this online; a good place to start is right here.

Usage

usage: python erk.py [-h] [--ssl] [--reconnect] [-p PASSWORD] [-c CHANNEL[:KEY]] [-l]
                     [-u URL] [-a] [-s FILE] [-f] [-o] [-W WIDTH] [-H HEIGHT] [-C FILE]
                     [-U FILE] [-Y FILE] [-L DIRECTORY] [-S DIRECTORY] [-T DIRECTORY]
                     [-M FILE] [-P DIRECTORY] [-e [FILE]] [--settings [FILE]]
                     [--generate [FILE]] [--edit-style] [--export] [--noask] [--nosettings]
                     [--nomenus] [--noconnect] [--noscripts] [--nodisplay] [--nostyles]
                     [--noedit] [--noplugins] [--nocommands] [--noextensions] [--nologs]
                     [--noload] [--nowrite] [--nosystray] [--notraymenu] [--qt5menu]
                     [SERVER] [PORT]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

Connection:
  SERVER                Server to connect to
  PORT                  Server port to connect to (6667)
  --ssl                 Use SSL to connect to IRC
  --reconnect           Reconnect to servers on disconnection
  -p PASSWORD, --password PASSWORD
                        Use server password to connect
  -c CHANNEL[:KEY], --channel CHANNEL[:KEY]
                        Join channel on connection
  -l, --last            Automatically connect to the last server connected to
  -u URL, --url URL     Use an IRC URL to connect
  -a, --autoscript      Execute connection script (if one exists)
  -s FILE, --script FILE
                        Execute a custom script on connection

Display:
  -f, --fullscreen      Open in fullscreen mode
  -o, --ontop           Application window is always on top
  -W WIDTH, --width WIDTH
                        Set initial window width
  -H HEIGHT, --height HEIGHT
                        Set initial window height

Configuration:
  -C FILE, --config FILE
                        Use an alternate configuration file
  -U FILE, --user FILE  Use an alternate user file
  -Y FILE, --style FILE
                        Use an alternate text style file
  -L DIRECTORY, --logs DIRECTORY
                        Use an alternate log storage location
  -S DIRECTORY, --scripts DIRECTORY
                        Use an alternate script storage location
  -T DIRECTORY, --styles DIRECTORY
                        Use an alternate style storage location
  -M FILE, --macros FILE
                        Use an alternate macro save file
  -P DIRECTORY, --plugins DIRECTORY
                        Add a directory to load plugins from

Tools:
  -e [FILE], --edit [FILE]
                        Launch the script editor
  --settings [FILE], --preferences [FILE]
                        Launch the preferences editor
  --generate [FILE]     Create a "blank" plugin for editing
  --edit-style          Launch the style editor
  --export              Launch the log export tool

Disable functionality:
  --noask               Don't ask for a server to connect to on start
  --nosettings          Disable the "Settings" menu
  --nomenus             Disable all menus
  --noconnect           Disable connection commands
  --noscripts           Disable scripting
  --nodisplay           Disable connection display
  --nostyles            Disables style loading and editing
  --noedit              Disables the script editor
  --noplugins           Disables plugins
  --no

Erk

Install / Use

README

Screenshots

Features

Requirements

Install

Usage