HexChat is a feature-rich, cross-platform IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client based on XChat. It provides a modern, user-friendly interface with extensive customization options, plugin support, and scripting capabilities.

• Cross-Platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and other UNIX-like systems
• Modern GTK3 Interface: Clean, customizable UI with theme support
• Multi-Server Support: Connect to multiple IRC networks simultaneously
• Scripting: Extensible via Python, Perl, and Lua plugins
• Security: Built-in SSL/TLS support for secure connections
• Customization: Configurable colors, fonts, layouts, and keyboard shortcuts
• File Transfers: DCC send/receive with resume support
• Spell Checking: Multi-language spell checking support
• Notification System: Desktop notifications and sound alerts
• Plugin Architecture: Extend functionality with loadable plugins

Download the latest installer from the releases page.

Most distributions provide HexChat in their repositories:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install hexchat

# Fedora
sudo dnf install hexchat

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S hexchat

brew install hexchat

See the Building section below.

HexChat uses the Meson build system.

• GLib >= 2.36.0
• GTK+ >= 3.22.0 (GTK3)
• GModule

• OpenSSL >= 0.9.8 (for TLS/SSL support)
• DBus-GLib (for single-instance and scripting interface, Unix only)
• libcanberra >= 0.22 (for sound alerts, Unix only)
• iso-codes (for spell checking)
• Python 3.x (for Python scripting plugin)
• Perl 5.x (for Perl scripting plugin)
• Lua / LuaJIT (for Lua scripting plugin)
• libpci (for sysinfo plugin on Unix)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hexchat/hexchat.git
cd hexchat

# Configure the build
meson setup builddir

# Build
meson compile -C builddir

# Install (optional)
meson install -C builddir

Configure build options using -D flags:

# Enable/disable features
meson setup builddir -Dtls=enabled -Dplugin=true -Ddbus=auto

# Enable/disable plugins
meson setup builddir -Dwith-python=python3 -Dwith-perl=perl -Dwith-lua=luajit

# Build with all plugins
meson setup builddir -Dwith-checksum=true -Dwith-fishlim=true -Dwith-sysinfo=true

See meson_options.txt for all available build options.

• User Documentation: https://hexchat.readthedocs.org
• FAQ: https://hexchat.readthedocs.org/en/latest/faq.html
• Changelog: https://hexchat.readthedocs.org/en/latest/changelog.html

• Python API Documentation
• Perl API Documentation

• IRCHelp.org: http://irchelp.org - General information about IRC

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.

• Use the existing code style and conventions
• Test your changes thoroughly
• Update documentation as needed
• Follow the Git commit message guidelines

Note: HexChat is currently undergoing migration from GTK2 to GTK3. The build system has been updated to use GTK3 (>= 3.22.0), and work is in progress to update deprecated GTK2 APIs throughout the codebase.

HexChat is released under the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL v2) with an additional exemption that allows compiling, linking, and/or using OpenSSL. You may provide binary packages linked to the OpenSSL libraries, provided that all other requirements of the GPL are met.

See the COPYING file for the full license text.

• X-Chat ("xchat") - Copyright (c) 1998-2010 By Peter Zelezny
• HexChat ("hexchat") - Copyright (c) 2009-2014 By Berke Viktor

HexChat is based on XChat and maintains compatibility while adding new features and improvements.

• Homepage: https://hexchat.github.io
• Downloads: https://hexchat.github.io/downloads.html
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/hexchat/hexchat
• Issue Tracker: https://github.com/hexchat/hexchat/issues