# Install bitchx with Homebrew, MacPorts Text-based, scriptable IRC client. Version 1.2.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:bitchx ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install bitchx ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install bitchx ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: irc/bitchx/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:bitchx - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.2.1 - **Source summary:** Text-based, scriptable IRC client - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** BSD-3-Clause - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:30:02-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - BitchX (cli) - BitchX-1.2.1 (cli) - scr-bx (cli) - BitchX (alias) - BitchX-1.2.1 (alias) - scr-bx (alias) ## Dependencies - openssl@4 ## Uses from macOS - libxcrypt - ncurses ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.2.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://bitchx.sourceforge.net/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage BitchX is a text-mode IRC client for Unix-like systems, descended from ircII and influenced by EPIC. It is a classic terminal-era IRC power-user client: scriptable, heavily configurable, and full of channel-management commands. ### Project history The official BitchX site says the project began as a script by Trench and HappyCrappy for the Unix IRC client ircII, and that around Christmas 1994 Colten Edwards, known as panasync, patched it directly into the client. Over the years BitchX accumulated its own feature set while also taking ideas from EPIC, another ircII offshoot. The 1.2.1 README describes it as originally based on ircII and heavily influenced by EPIC, with the 1.2.1 release focused on bug fixes and updating the code for a modern environment. ### Adoption history BitchX spread through the Unix IRC scene because it bundled scripts, formatting, automation, DCC tooling, mass commands, bot-like channel management, and ircII-style scripting into a single terminal client. Its package footprint is smaller now than in IRC's peak years, but the batch metadata still shows Homebrew and MacPorts packaging. That makes it a preserved piece of terminal chat culture rather than a mainstream new-user IRC client. ### How it is used Users run `BitchX` in a terminal to connect to IRC networks, join channels, manage users, use DCC/CDCC/XDCC file-offering features, script client behavior, and customize display formats. The bundled help file is large and command-centric, covering channel operations, user lists, ignore lists, DCC, scripting, windowing, status formats, and many aliases. Its audience is clearly power users who live inside a terminal IRC session. ### Why package nerds care BitchX matters to package nerds as a fossil that still builds: a 1990s IRC client with a long tail of Unix packaging, legacy config paths, and assumptions from the era when terminal IRC clients were programmable social operating systems. It also illustrates how package managers preserve culture. Installing it today is not just installing an IRC client; it is installing a branch of the ircII family tree with decades of scripts, conventions, and command names baked in. ### Timeline - 1994: BitchX begins as an ircII script and is patched into the client around Christmas. - 1990s: BitchX grows into a separate ircII-derived terminal IRC client with scripting and channel-management features. - 2014: The official site documents BitchX history and features in its About page. - 2015: The official site points development at the SourceForge Git tree. - 2010s: The 1.2.1 release notes focus on bug fixes and modernizing the old codebase. ### Related projects - ircII is the original Unix IRC client lineage from which BitchX descends. - EPIC is another ircII offshoot whose features influenced BitchX. - irssi and WeeChat are later terminal IRC clients that occupy similar power-user territory. - SourceForge hosts the current BitchX development tree referenced by the project site. ### Sources - - - - - input.json source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for bitchx. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ~/.BitchX/BitchX.sav, ~/.bitchxrc ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** bitchx - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 1 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - MacPorts - bitchx: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: irc/bitchx/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [openssl@4](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openssl-4/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [catgirl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/catgirl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, irc, networking, terminal. - [ircii](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ircii/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, irc, networking, terminal. - [irssi](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/irssi/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, irc, networking, terminal. - [senpai](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/senpai/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, irc, networking, terminal. - [tiny](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tiny/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, irc, networking, terminal. - [weechat](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/weechat/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, irc, networking, terminal. - [xaric](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xaric/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, client, irc, networking. - [amfora](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/amfora/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal. - [x3270](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/x3270/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, networking, openssl, terminal. - [zssh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/zssh/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, networking, terminal. - [lynx](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lynx/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: based, cli, networking, openssl, openssl-4. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/bitchx.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/bitchx.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph