Halloy — a fresh take on IRC in the age of messengers
Remember when IRC was king of online communication among developers? It might seem like this technology has faded into the past, but statistics say otherwise — many professional communities still actively use IRC networks. And if you're still struggling with irssi or weechat, Halloy might just be a pleasant discovery for you.
What is Halloy and who is it for
Halloy is a cross-platform IRC client written in Rust using the Iced GUI library. The project positions itself as a "simple and fast" client, and it's not just empty words — the developers really did manage to preserve the spirit of classic IRC clients while adding modern conveniences.
Who should pay attention:
- Developers working on open-source projects (many of them use IRC for coordination)
- System administrators who need a reliable tool for monitoring server chats
- Retro-technology enthusiasts who miss the early internet era
- Anyone who's tired of the "heaviness" of modern messengers
Five reasons to try Halloy
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Full IRCv3.2 support — Halloy implements all modern protocol extensions, including status change notifications, message history, and extended authentication.
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Convenient interface — unlike console solutions, Halloy offers an intuitive graphical environment with theme support.
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Cross-platform — one build works on Windows, macOS, and Linux without extra configuration hassle.
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Rust performance — the client is genuinely fast and consumes minimal resources.
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DCC Send — a rare feature in modern clients for direct file transfers between users.
Technical features
Under the hood, Halloy uses:
- Rust for the backend (ensures safety and performance)
- Iced for the interface (cross-platform GUI library)
- Tokio for asynchronous operations
- Serde for configuration handling
Fun fact: despite its graphical shell, Halloy preserves the "text-first" philosophy, making it especially convenient for those used to console clients.
How to install
Halloy is available in all popular repositories:
Package status:
Practical applications
Where Halloy can be especially useful:
- Monitoring multiple channels — convenient tab management simplifies working with dozens of chats
- Working in open-source projects — many of them still use IRC for primary communications
- Automated systems — thanks to modern protocol support, Halloy integrates easily with bots
- Learning — a great tool for those who want to understand how IRC works without the headache of setting up console clients
Verdict: is it worth trying?
If you:
- Are tired of "heavy" graphical clients like HexChat
- Don't want to deal with weechat configs
- Value performance and minimalism
- Work on projects where IRC is still relevant
— then Halloy definitely deserves your attention. It's a rare case where a project successfully combines tradition with a modern approach.
You can try it right now — installation takes literally a couple of minutes. And if you have questions, the developers are active in their IRC channel #halloy on libera.chat.
P.S. Interestingly, the project itself uses IRC for user support — the best proof of the technology's viability!
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