pydle

Python IRC library.

pydle is a compact, flexible and standards-abiding IRC library for Python 3.

Features

• Well-organized: Thanks to the modularized feature system, it's not hard to find what you're looking for in the well-organized source code.
• Standards-abiding: Based on RFC1459 with some small extension tweaks, with full support of optional extension standards:
  • TLS
  • CTCP
  • (coming soon) DCC and extensions
  • ISUPPORT/PROTOCTL
  • IRCv3.1
  • (partial, in progress) IRCv3.2
• Callback-based: IRC is an asynchronous protocol and so should a library that implements it be. Callbacks are used to process events from the server.
• Modularised and extensible: Features on top of RFC1459 are implemented as seperate modules for a user to pick and choose, and write their own. Broad features are written to be as extensible as possible.
• Liberally licensed: The 3-clause BSD license ensures you can use it everywhere.

Structure

Note: This section only describes the public API.

• pydle.featurize - create client class from given features.
• pydle.Client - full-featured client that supports pydle.BasicClient plus all the features in pydle.features.
• pydle.MinimalClient - tinier client that supports pydle.BasicClient plus some features in pydle.features. (currently ctcp, isupport, tls, whox and rfc1459)
• pydle.async - pydle's asynchronous networking components.
  • pydle.async.EventLoop - asynchronous event loop wrapper around pydle's asynchronous backend.
  • pydle.async.Future - the future asynchronous primitive.
  • pydle.async.coroutine - decorator around functions to indicate they may do asynchronous operations and should be yielded from instead of simply called.
  • pydle.async.FUTURE_TIMEOUT - the number of seconds a given future has to resolve before being timed out.
• pydle.connection - low-level asynchronous network connection functionality.
  • pydle.connection.Connection - wrapper for a low-level (non IRC-specific) asynchronous network connection.
  • pydle.connection.BUFFER_SIZE - the buffer size to use when calling socket.recv().
  • pydle.connection.MESSAGE_THROTTLE_TRESHOLD - the number of messages to send at once before starting to throttle messages.
  • pydle.connection.MESSAGE_THROTTLE_DELAY - the delay in seconds to hold messages when throttling.
• pydle.client - very basic client code.
  • pydle.client.BasicClient - base message handler. Has no protocol functionality. Useful for features to inherit from, depending on what base functionality they need.
  • pydle.client.ClientPool - a 'pool' of several clients in order to handle multiple clients in one swift main loop. Also available as pydle.ClientPool.
  • pydle.client.Error - base error class for all pydle exceptions. Also available as pydle.Error.
  • pydle.client.NotInChannel - error indicating the client is not in the given channel. Also available as pydle.NotInChannel.
  • pydle.client.AlreadyInChannel - error indicating the client is already in the given channel. Also available as pydle.AlreadyInChannel.
  • pydle.client.PING_TIMEOUT - the delay in seconds after which to assume the connection died if having received no data.
• pydle.features - IRC protocol implementations and extensions.
  • pydle.features.rfc1459 - basic RFC1459 implementation with a few commonly-implemented RFC281(https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2813.html) extensions.
    • pydle.features.rfc1459.RFC1459Support - RFC1459 support feature.
      • pydle.features.rfc1459.RFC1459Support.DEFAULT_QUIT_MESSAGE - default quit message.
  • pydle.features.account - Basic features for an account system as implemented by IRC services packages (in progress).
    • pydle.features.account.AccountSupport - account support feature.
  • pydle.features.ctcp - Client-to-Client Protocol support.
    • pydle.features.ctcp.CTCPSupport - CTCP support feature.
  • pydle.features.tls - Transport Layer Security and STARTTLS support.
    • pydle.features.tls.TLSSupport - TLS support feature.
  • pydle.features.isupport - ISUPPORT/PROTOCTL support.
    • pydle.features.isupport.ISUPPORTSupport - ISUPPORT support feature.
  • pydle.features.ircv3_1 - IRCv3.1 support.
    • pydle.features.ircv3_1.cap - CAP capability negotiation support.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_1.cap.CapabilityNegotiationSupport - CAP support feature.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_1.cap.NEGOTIATING - constant to return from on_<capability>_available to indicate negotiation is in progress outside of the capability system. Also available as pydle.CAPABILITY_NEGOTIATING.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_1.cap.NEGOTIATED - constant to return from on_<capability>_available to indicate capability has been negotiated and should be activated. Also available as pydle.CAPABILITY_NEGOTIATED.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_1.cap.FAILED - constant to return from on_<capability>_availalbe to return capability has not been negotiated and should not be activated. Also available as pydle.CAPABILITY_FAILED.
    • pydle.features.ircv3_1.sasl - Simple Authentication and Security Layer support - currently limited to the PLAIN mechanism.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_1.sasl.SASLSupport - SASL support feature.
    • pydle.features.ircv3_1.ircv3_1 - Miscellaneous features ensuring support for IRCv3.1.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_1.ircv3_1.IRCv3_1Support - IRCv3.1 support feature. Also available as pydle.features.ircv3_1.IRCv3_1Support.
  • pydle.features.ircv3_2 - IRCv3.2 support (partial).
    • pydle.features.ircv3_2.tags - Message Tagging support.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_2.tags.TaggedMessageSupport - message tagging support feature.
    • pydle.features.ircv3_2.monitor - Online status monitoring support.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_2.monitor.MonitoringSupport - online status monitoring support feature.
    • pydle.features.ircv3_2.ircv3_2 - Miscellaneous features ensuring IRCv3.2 support.
      • pydle.features.ircv3_2.ircv3_2.IRCv3_2Support - IRCv3.2 support feature. Also available as pydle.features.ircv3_2.IRCv3_2Support.

Basic Usage

python3 setup.py install

From there, you can import pydle and subclass pydle.Client for your own functionality.

Setting a nickname and starting a connection over TLS:

import pydle

# Simple echo bot.
class MyOwnBot(pydle.Client):
    def on_connect(self):
         self.join('#bottest')

    def on_message(self, source, target, message):
         self.message(target, message)

client = MyOwnBot('MyBot', realname='My Bot')
client.connect('irc.rizon.net', 6697, tls=True, tls_verify=False)
client.handle_forever()

But wait, I want to handle multiple clients!

No worries! Use pydle.ClientPool like such:

pool = pydle.ClientPool()
for i in range(10):
    client = MyOwnBot('MyBot' + str(i))
    pool.connect(client, 'irc.rizon.net', 6697, tls=True, tls_verify=False)

# This will make sure all clients are treated in a fair way priority-wise.
pool.handle_forever()

If you want to customize bot features, you can subclass pydle.BasicClient and one or more features from pydle.features or your own feature classes, like such:

# Only support RFC1459 (+small features), CTCP and our own ACME extension to IRC.
class MyFeaturedBot(pydle.features.ctcp.CTCPSupport, acme.ACMESupport, rfc1459.RFC1459Support):
    pass

To create your own features, just subclass from pydle.BasicClient and start adding callbacks for IRC messages:

# Support custom ACME extension.
class ACMESupport(pydle.BasicClient):
    def on_raw_999(self, source, params):
        """ ACME's custom 999 numeric tells us to change our nickname. """
        nickname = params[0]
        self.set_nickname(nickname)

FAQ

Q: When constructing my own client class from several base classes, I get the following error: TypeError: Cannot create a consistent method resolution order (MRO) for bases X, Y, Z. What causes this and how can I solve it?

Pydle's use of class inheritance as a feature model may cause method resolution order conflicts if a feature inherits from a different feature, while a class inherits from both the original feature and the inheriting feature. To solve such problem, pydle offers a featurize function that will automatically put all classes in the right order and create an appropriate base class:

# Purposely mis-ordered base classes, as SASLSupport inherits from CapabilityNegotiationSupport, but everything works fine.
MyBase = pydle.featurize(pydle.features.CapabilityNegotiationSupport, pydle.features.SASLSupport)
class Client(MyBase):
    pass

API

pydle.Client

Client(nickname, fallback_nicknames=[], username=None, realname=None) - construct a client. if username/realname are not given, they will be constructed from the nickname.

with pydle.features.tls, two extra keyword arguments are added:

• tls_client_cert: path to client certificate to use for TLS authentication;
• tls_client_cert_key: path to keyfile to use for tls_client_cert.

with pydle.features.sasl, three extra keyword arguments are added:

• sasl_identity: AUTHZID to use for SASL authentication. Default and most common option is '' (empty);
• sasl_username: SASL username (AUTHCID);
• sasl_password: SASL password.

Client.connect(host, port=None, encoding=pydle.protocol.DEFAULT_ENCODING)- connect to server.

with pydle.features.rfc1459, an extra keyword argument is added:

• password: IRC password to use for server connection. Default is None.

with pydle.features.tls, two extra keyword arguments are added:

• tls: whether or not to use TLS for this connection. Default is False;
• tls_verify: whether or not to strictly verify the server certificate. Default is False.

Client.disconnect(expected=True) - disconnect from server. If using pydle.features.rfc1459, Client.quit(reason) is preferred. If expected is False, assume an error and attempt to reconnect.

Client.handle_forever() - a 'main loop'-esque method. Will not return until the client disconnected.

Attributes

Client.connected - whether or not this client is connected.

Client.connection - the pydle.connection.Connection instance associated with this client.

Client.eventloop - the pydle.async.EventLoop instance for the client this thread is in.

Client.logger - the pydle.logging.Logger instance associated with this client.

Client.nickname - the current nickname. Changes will have no effect: use Client.set_nickname(nick).

Client.username - the current username. Changes will only take effect on reconnect.

Client.realname - the current realname. Changes will only take effect on reconnect.

Client.network - set after connecting if sent by server. The IRC network this server belongs to.

Client.server_tag - a 'tag' to use for the currently connected to server.

Client.users - an informational dictionary about users the client knows about.

Client.channels - an informational dictionary about the channels the client is in.

with pydle.features.rfc1459, four extra attributes are added:

Client.DEFAULT_QUIT_MESSAGE - default quit message when Client.quit() is called without arguments.

Client.registered - whether or not this client has passed the IRC registration stage.

Client.password - the server password used for this connection. Changes will only take effect on reconnect.

Client.motd - set after connecting. The IRC server Message of the Day, if any.

with pydle.features.tls, two extra attributes are added:

• Client.tls_client_cert - file path to TLS client certificate to use;
• Client.tls_client_cert_key - file path to keyfile to use for Client.tls_client_cert.

with pydle.features.sasl, four extra attributes are added:

• Client.SASL_TIMEOUT: amount of seconds to wait for response from server before aborting SASL authentication.
• Client.sasl_identity: AUTHZID to use for SASL authentication. Default and most common option is '' (empty);
• Client.sasl_username: SASL username (AUTHCID);
• Client.sasl_password: SASL password.

IRC

Client.raw(message) - send raw IRC command.

with pydle.features.rfc1459:

Client.join(channel, password=None) - join channel.

Client.part(channel, reason=None) - part channel.

Client.cycle(channel) - rejoin channel.

Client.kick(channel, target, reason=None) - kick user from channel.

Client.quit(message=pydle.DEFAULT_QUIT_MESSAGE) - quit network.

Client.set_nickname(nick) - attempt to change client nickname.

Client.message(target, message) - send a message.

Client.notice(target, message) - send a notice.

Client.set_mode(target, *modes) - set channel or user modes.

Client.set_topic(channel, topic) - set a channel topic.

Client.away(message) - set self as away with message.

Client.back() - set self as not away anymore.

Client.whois(nickname) - retrieve information about user. This method returns a pydle.async.Future: calling methods should be wrapped in the pydle.coroutine decorator and yield the returned future.

Client.whowas(nickname) - retrieve information about former user. This method returns a pydle.async.Future: see Client.whois(nickname) for usage.

with pydle.features.ctcp, two extra methods are added:

• Client.ctcp(target, query) - send CTCP request;
• Client.ctcp_reply(target, query, response) - send CTCP response.

with pydle.features.cap, one extra method is added:

• Client.capability_negotiated(cap, success=True) - indicate the capability cap has been negotiated, where success indicates if negotiation succeeded.

with pydle.features.ircv3_2.monitor, three methods are added:

• Client.monitor(nickname) - add the given nickname to the monitoring list: client will be informed when user gets online or goes offline.
• Client.unmonitor(nickname) - remove the given nickname from the monitoring list.
• Client.is_monitoring(nickname) - return whether or not the client is monitoring the given nickname.

Helpers

Client.normalize(input) - normalize input according to currently active connection rules.

Client.is_channel(target) - return whether or not target is a channel.

Client.in_channel(channel) - return whether or not client is in channel.

Client.is_same_nick(left, right) - compare nicknames according to proper IRC case mapping.

Client.is_same_channel(left, right) - compare channels according to proper IRC case mapping.

Callbacks

Client.on_connect() - callback called after the client has successfully connected and registered to the server.

Client.on_disconnect(expected=True) - callback called after the client has disconnected from the server.

with pydle.features.rfc1459:

Client.on_quit(user, reason=None) - callback called when someone (maybe the client) quit the network.

Client.on_kill(user, source, reason) - callback called when someone (maybe the client) was killed from the network.

Client.on_message(target, source, message) - callback called when the client receives a PRIVMSG, either in a channel or privately.

Client.on_channel_message(channel, source, message) - callback called when the client receives a PRIVMSG in a channel.

Client.on_private_message(source, message) - callback called when the client receives a private PRIVMSG.

Client.on_notice(target, source, message) - callback called when the client receives a NOTICE, either in a channel or privately.

Client.on_channel_notice(target, source, message) - callback called when the client receives a NOTICE in a channel.

Client.on_private_notice(source, message) - callback called when the client receives a private NOTICE.

Client.on_invite(channel, source) - callback called when the client receives an invite to a channel.

Client.on_join(channel, user) - callback called when someone (maybe the client) joins a channel.

Client.on_part(channel, user, message=None) - callback called when someone (maybe the client) parted a channel.

Client.on_kick(channel, user, source, reason=None) - callback called when someone (maybe the client) was kicked from a channel.

Client.on_topic_change(channel, topic, source) - callback called when someone sets the topic in a channel.

Client.on_mode_change(target, modes, source) - callback called when either someone sets new modes on a channel or the client (or server) change their user mode.

Client.on_nick_change(old, new) - callback called when someone (maybe the client) changes their nickname.

Client.on_unknown(command, source, params) - callback called when the client receives a raw IRC message it doesn't know how to deal with.

with pydle.features.ctcp, two extra callbacks are added, and two generic callbacks:

• Client.on_ctcp(target, source, query) - callback called when the client receives a CTCP query, either directed to a channel or to the client privately, that is not handled by Client.on_ctcp_<query>;
• Client.on_ctcp_reply(target, source, query, reply) - callback called when the client receives a CTCP response, that is not handled by Client.on_ctcp_<query>_reply;
• Client.on_ctcp_<query>(target, source) - callback called when the client receives a CTCP . The query name should be lower case. Example: on_ctcp_version(target, source) will be called if the client receives a CTCP VERSION request;
• Client.on_ctcp_<query>_reply(target, source, reply) - callback called when the client receives a CTCP response.

with pydle.features.isupport, one generic callback is added:

• Client.on_isupport_<feature>(value) - callback called when the server announced support for ISUPPORT feature feature. value is None if not given by server.

with pydle.features.cap, three generic callbacks are added:

• Client.on_capability_<cap>_available() - callback called when the server announced support for capability cap. Should return whether or not the client wants to request this capability.
• Client.on_capability_<cap>_enabled() - callback called when the server acknowledges the client's request for capability cap. Should return one of three following values:
  • pydle.CAPABILITY_NEGOTIATED - default value assumed when nothing returned. The capability has been successfully negotiated.
  • pydle.CAPABILITY_NEGOTIATING - the callback is still negotiating the capability. Stall general capability negotiation until Client.capability_negotiated(<cap>) has been called.
  • pydle.CAPABILITY_FAILED - the callback failed to negotiate the capability. Attempt to disable it again.
• Client.on_capability_<cap>_disabled() - callback called when capability cap that was requested before has been disabled.

with pydle.features.ircv3_2.monitor, two generic callbacks are added:

• Client.on_user_online(nickname) - called when a monitored user got online.
• Client.on_user_offline(nickname) - called when a monitored user went offline.

You can also overload Client.on_raw_<cmd>(message), where cmd is the raw IRC command (either a text command or a zero-filled numeric code) and message an instance of (a subclass of) protocol.Message if you really want to, but this is not advisable if you're not building features as it may disable certain built-in functionalities if you're not careful.

pydle.ClientPool

ClientPool() - instantiate a new pool. It is very advised to have only one pool per thread, and to not have a single client participate in more than one pool.

ClientPool.connect(client, *args, **kwargs) - add client to pool and connect it. Parameters are passed to client.connect(), except for eventloop, which is replaced.

ClientPool.disconnect(client) - disconnect client and remove it from pool.

ClientPool.handle_forever() - handle clients in pool forever.

Utilities

python3 -m pydle.utils.irccat - simple irccat-like implementation built on top of pydle. Read raw IRC commands from stdin, dumps incoming messages to stdout.

python3 -m pydle.utils.console - interactive console for a Pydle bot. self is defined in-scope as the running bot instance.

python3 -m pydle.utils.run - run a Pydle bot in the foreground.

TODO

• Work on documentation.
• Finalize IRCv3.2 support.
• Add DCC support.

License

Pydle is licensed under the 3-clause BSD license. See LICENSE.md for details.