Modern web IRC client designed for self-hosting
Website
•
Docs
•
Demo
## Overview
* **Modern features brought to IRC.** Push notifications, link previews, new message markers, and more bring IRC to the 21st century.
* **Always connected.** Remains connected to IRC servers while you are offline.
* **Cross platform.** It doesn't matter what OS you use, it just works wherever Node.js runs.
* **Responsive interface.** The client works smoothly on every desktop, smartphone and tablet.
* **Synchronized experience.** Always resume where you left off no matter what device.
To learn more about configuration, usage and features of The Lounge, take a look at [the website](https://thelounge.chat).
The Lounge is the official and community-managed fork of [Shout](https://github.com/erming/shout), by [Mattias Erming](https://github.com/erming).
## Installation and usage
The Lounge requires [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) v4 or more recent.
### Running stable releases from npm (recommended)
Run this in a terminal to install (or upgrade) the latest stable release from
[npm](https://www.npmjs.com/):
```sh
[sudo] npm install -g thelounge
```
When installation is complete, run:
```sh
thelounge start
```
For more information, read the [documentation](https://thelounge.chat/docs/), [wiki](https://github.com/thelounge/lounge/wiki), or run:
```sh
thelounge --help
```
### Running from source
The following commands install and run the development version of The Lounge:
```sh
git clone https://github.com/thelounge/lounge.git
cd lounge
npm install
NODE_ENV=production npm run build
npm start
```
When installed like this, npm doesn't create a `thelounge` executable. Use `npm start -- ` to run subcommands.
⚠️ While it is the most recent codebase, this is not production-ready! Run at
your own risk. It is also not recommended to run this as root.
## Development setup
Simply follow the instructions to run The Lounge from source above, on your own
fork.
Before submitting any change, make sure to:
- Read the [Contributing instructions](https://github.com/thelounge/lounge/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing)
- Run `npm test` to execute linters and test suite
- Run `npm run build` if you change or add anything in `client/js` or `client/views`