feat: IRC — add first-class channel support

Adds IRC as a first-class channel with core config surfaces (schema/hints/dock), plugin auto-enable detection, routing/policy alignment, and docs/tests.

Co-authored-by: Vignesh <vigneshnatarajan92@gmail.com>

src/config/types.irc.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+import type {
+  BlockStreamingCoalesceConfig,
+  DmPolicy,
+  GroupPolicy,
+  MarkdownConfig,
+} from "./types.base.js";
+import type { ChannelHeartbeatVisibilityConfig } from "./types.channels.js";
+import type { DmConfig } from "./types.messages.js";
+import type { GroupToolPolicyBySenderConfig, GroupToolPolicyConfig } from "./types.tools.js";
+
+export type IrcAccountConfig = {
+  /** Optional display name for this account (used in CLI/UI lists). */
+  name?: string;
+  /** Optional provider capability tags used for agent/runtime guidance. */
+  capabilities?: string[];
+  /** Markdown formatting overrides (tables). */
+  markdown?: MarkdownConfig;
+  /** Allow channel-initiated config writes (default: true). */
+  configWrites?: boolean;
+  /** If false, do not start this IRC account. Default: true. */
+  enabled?: boolean;
+  /** IRC server hostname (example: irc.libera.chat). */
+  host?: string;
+  /** IRC server port (default: 6697 with TLS, otherwise 6667). */
+  port?: number;
+  /** Use TLS for IRC connection (default: true). */
+  tls?: boolean;
+  /** IRC nickname to identify this bot. */
+  nick?: string;
+  /** IRC USER field username (defaults to nick). */
+  username?: string;
+  /** IRC USER field realname (default: OpenClaw). */
+  realname?: string;
+  /** Optional IRC server password (sensitive). */
+  password?: string;
+  /** Optional file path containing IRC server password. */
+  passwordFile?: string;
+  /** Optional NickServ identify/register settings. */
+  nickserv?: {
+    /** Enable NickServ identify/register after connect (default: enabled when password is set). */
+    enabled?: boolean;
+    /** NickServ service nick (default: NickServ). */
+    service?: string;
+    /** NickServ password (sensitive). */
+    password?: string;
+    /** Optional file path containing NickServ password. */
+    passwordFile?: string;
+    /** If true, send NickServ REGISTER on connect. */
+    register?: boolean;
+    /** Email used with NickServ REGISTER. */
+    registerEmail?: string;
+  };
+  /** Auto-join channel list at connect (example: ["#openclaw"]). */
+  channels?: string[];
+  /** Direct message access policy (default: pairing). */
+  dmPolicy?: DmPolicy;
+  /** Optional allowlist for inbound DM senders. */
+  allowFrom?: Array<string | number>;
+  /** Optional allowlist for IRC channel senders. */
+  groupAllowFrom?: Array<string | number>;
+  /**
+   * Controls how channel messages are handled:
+   * - "open": channels bypass allowFrom; mention-gating applies
+   * - "disabled": block all channel messages entirely
+   * - "allowlist": only allow channel messages from senders in groupAllowFrom/allowFrom
+   */
+  groupPolicy?: GroupPolicy;
+  /** Max channel messages to keep as history context (0 disables). */
+  historyLimit?: number;
+  /** Max DM turns to keep as history context. */
+  dmHistoryLimit?: number;
+  /** Per-DM config overrides keyed by sender ID. */
+  dms?: Record<string, DmConfig>;
+  /** Outbound text chunk size (chars). Default: 350. */
+  textChunkLimit?: number;
+  /** Chunking mode: "length" (default) splits by size; "newline" splits on every newline. */
+  chunkMode?: "length" | "newline";
+  blockStreaming?: boolean;
+  /** Merge streamed block replies before sending. */
+  blockStreamingCoalesce?: BlockStreamingCoalesceConfig;
+  groups?: Record<
+    string,
+    {
+      requireMention?: boolean;
+      tools?: GroupToolPolicyConfig;
+      toolsBySender?: GroupToolPolicyBySenderConfig;
+      allowFrom?: Array<string | number>;
+      skills?: string[];
+      enabled?: boolean;
+      systemPrompt?: string;
+    }
+  >;
+  /** Optional mention patterns specific to IRC channel messages. */
+  mentionPatterns?: string[];
+  /** Heartbeat visibility settings for this channel. */
+  heartbeat?: ChannelHeartbeatVisibilityConfig;
+  /** Outbound response prefix override for this channel/account. */
+  responsePrefix?: string;
+  /** Max outbound media size in MB. */
+  mediaMaxMb?: number;
+};
+
+export type IrcConfig = {
+  /** Optional per-account IRC configuration (multi-account). */
+  accounts?: Record<string, IrcAccountConfig>;
+} & IrcAccountConfig;