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+# DarkIRC: Strong Anonymity P2P Chat
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+
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+In DarkFi, we organize our communication using resilient and
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+censorship-resistant infrastructure. For chatting, `darkirc` is a
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+peer-to-peer implementation of an IRC server in which any user can
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+participate anonymously using any IRC frontend and by running the
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+IRC daemon. `darkirc` uses the DarkFi P2P engine to synchronize chats
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+between hosts.
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+
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+## Benefits
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+
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+* Encrypted using same algorithms as Signal.
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+* There are no identities. You cannot see who is in the chat.
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+* Completely anonymous. You can rename yourself easily by using the
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+ command `/nick foo`. This means all messages are unlinkable.
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+* God-fearing based CLI without soy gui shit.
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+* p2p decentralized.
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+* Optionally run it over Tor or Nym (soon) for network level anonymity.
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+
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+Therefore this is the world's most strongly anonymous chat in existence.
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+Nothing else exists like it.
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+
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+## Installation
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+
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+Follow the instructions in the
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+[README](https://darkrenaissance.github.io/darkfi/index.html#build) to ensure
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+you have all the necessary dependencies.
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+
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+```shell
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+% git clone https://github.com/darkrenaissance/darkfi
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+% cd darkfi
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+% make darkirc
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+% # install system wide only if you can make sure there would be no
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+% # multiple darkirc versions installed:
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+% # sudo make install darkirc
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+```
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+
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+## Usage (DarkFi Network)
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+
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+Upon compiling `darkirc` as described above, the preconfigured defaults
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+will allow you to connect to the network and start chatting with the
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+rest of the DarkFi community.
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+
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+First, try to start `darkirc` from your command-line so it can spawn its
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+configuration file in place. The preconfigured defaults will autojoin
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+you to several default channels one of which is `#dev` where we have
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+weekly meetings, and where the community is most active and talks
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+about DarkFi development.
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+
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+```shell
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+% ./darkirc
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+```
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+
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+`darkirc` will create a configuration file `darkirc_config.toml` by
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+default in `~/.config/darkfi/` you can review and potentially edit. It
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+might be useful if you want to add other channels you want to autojoin
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+(like `#philosophy` and `#memes`), or if you want to set a shared
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+secret for some channel in order for it to be encrypted between its
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+participants.
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+
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+When done, you can run `darkirc` for the second time in order for it to
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+connect to the network and start participating in the P2P protocol:
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+
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+```shell
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+% ./darkirc
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+```
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+
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+The daemon will start conncting to peers and sync its database, you'll
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+know it's finished syncing when you see this log message:
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+```shell
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+% [EVENTGRAPH] DAG synced successfully!
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+```
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+
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+Now connect your favorite IRC client and it should replay missed
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+messages that have been sent by people.
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+
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+
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+## Clients
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+
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+### Weechat
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+
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+In this section, we'll briefly cover how to use the [Weechat IRC
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+client](https://github.com/weechat/weechat) to connect and chat with
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+`darkirc`.
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+
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+Normally, you should be able to install weechat using your
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+distribution's package manager. If not, have a look at the weechat
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+[git repository](https://github.com/weechat/weechat) for instructions
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+on how to install it on your computer.
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+
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+Once installed, we can configure a new server which will represent our
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+`darkirc` instance. First, start weechat, and in its window - run the
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+following commands (there is an assumption that `irc_listen` in the
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+`darkirc` config file is set to `127.0.0.1:6667`):
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+
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+```
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+/server add darkfi localhost/6667 -notls -autoconnect
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+/save
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+/quit
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+```
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+
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+This will set up the server, save the settings, and exit weechat.
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+You are now ready to begin using the chat. Simply start weechat
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+and everything should work.
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+
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+When you join, you should see users nicknames on the right panel.
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+those nicknames are users who previously sent messages and you got
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+those messages as history when you synced.
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+Normally nicks would not be shown since there is no concept of
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+nicknames or registration on this p2p anonymous chat.
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+
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+You can change your nickname using `/nick foo`, and navigate channels
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+using F5/F6 or ALT+X where X is the channel number displayed.
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+
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+Whenever you edit `darkirc_config.toml` file and if you have your
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+`darkirc` daemon running you don't need to restart it to reload the
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+config, you just need to send a `rehash` command from IRC client for
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+the changes to reflect, like so:
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+
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+```
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+/qoute rehash
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+```
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+Or:
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+```
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+/rehash
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+```
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+
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+## Network-level privacy
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+
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+Nodes have knowledge of their peers, including the IP addresses of
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+connected hosts.
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+
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+DarkFi supports the use of pluggable transports, including Tor and Nym,
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+to provide network-level privacy. As long as there are live seed nodes
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+configured to support a Tor or Nym connection, users can connect to
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+`darkirc` and benefit from the protections offered by these protocols.
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+
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+Other approaches include connecting via a cloud server or VPN. Research
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+the risks involved in these methods before connecting.
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+
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+## Usage (Local Deployment)
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+
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+These steps below are only for developers who wish to make a testing
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+deployment. The previous sections are sufficient to join the chat.
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+
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+### Seed Node
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+
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+First you must run a seed node. The seed node is a static host which
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+nodes can connect to when they first connect to the network. The
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+`seed_session` simply connects to a seed node and runs `protocol_seed`,
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+which requests a list of addresses from the seed node and disconnects
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+straight after receiving them.
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+
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+The first time you run the program, a config file will be created in
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+`~/.config/darkfi` if you are using Linux or in
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+`~/Library/Application Support/darkfi/` on MacOS.
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+You must specify an inbound accept address in your config file to configure a seed node:
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+
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+```toml
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+## P2P accept addresses
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+inbound=["127.0.0.1:11001"]
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+```
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+
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+Note that the above config doesn't specify an external address since
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+the seed node shouldn't be advertised in the list of connectable
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+nodes. The seed node does not participate as a normal node in the
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+p2p network. It simply allows new nodes to discover other nodes in
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+the network during the bootstrapping phase.
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+
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+### Inbound Node
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+
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+This is a node accepting inbound connections on the network but which
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+is not making any outbound connections.
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+
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+The external addresses are important and must be correct.
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+
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+To run an inbound node, your config file must contain the following
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+info:
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+
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+```toml
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+## P2P accept addresses
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+inbound=["127.0.0.1:11002"]
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+
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+## P2P external addresses
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+external_addr=["127.0.0.1:11002"]
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+
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+## Seed nodes to connect to
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+seeds=["127.0.0.1:11001"]
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+```
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+### Outbound Node
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+
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+This is a node which has 8 outbound connection slots and no inbound
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+connections. This means the node has 8 slots which will actively
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+search for unique nodes to connect to in the p2p network.
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+
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+In your config file:
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+
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+```toml
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+## Connection slots
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+outbound_connections=8
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+
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+## Seed nodes to connect to
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+seeds=["127.0.0.1:11001"]
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+```
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+
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+### Attaching the IRC Frontend
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+
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+Assuming you have run the above 3 commands to create a small model
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+testnet, and both inbound and outbound nodes above are connected,
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+you can test them out using weechat.
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+
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+To create separate weechat instances, use the `--dir` command:
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+
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+ weechat --dir /tmp/a/
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+ weechat --dir /tmp/b/
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+
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+Then in both clients, you must set the option to connect to temporary
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+servers:
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+
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+ /set irc.look.temporary_servers on
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+
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+Finally you can attach to the local darkirc instances:
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+
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+ /connect localhost/6667
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+ /connect localhost/6668
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+
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+And send messages to yourself.
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+
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+### Running a Fullnode
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+
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+See the script `script/run_node.sh` for an example of how to deploy
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+a full node which does seed session synchronization, and accepts both
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+inbound and outbound connections.
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+
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+## Global Buffer
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+
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+Copy [this script](https://github.com/narodnik/weechat-global-buffer/blob/main/buffclone.py)
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+to `~/.weechat/python/autoload/`, and you will create a single buffer
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+which aggregates messages from all channels. It's useful to monitor
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+activity from all channels without needing to flick through them.
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dasman