All help topics in alphabetical order

top level

See http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~ijackson/blight-help
or /msg me with `help overview'.

autojoin

channel [<chan>] autojoin yes|no      (`yes' is the default.)
 Controls whether I'll join the channel when I'm (re)started.

blight-id

/blight-id is a command available in ircII (and possibly other
clients) on chiark.  It sets up a password if you don't already have
one, and then uses it to identify you to Blight.  If you want to
change your password, delete the file ~/.userv/irc-pass-md5.
See `help register' and `help identpass'.

channel

channel [<chan>] [show]                       show settings
channel [<chan>] manager +|-|= <nick> ...     set manager list
channel [<chan>] autojoin yes|no              join at bot start ?
channel [<chan>] userinvite pub|here|all|none who can invite ?
channel [<chan>] mode *|+...-...              set modes when alone
channel [<chan>] topic leave | set <topic>    set topic when alone?
channel [<chan>] topic see|tell +|-|= <chan>|* ...
 See `help <setting>' (eg, `help manager') for more info.

delmsg

delmsg [<nick> ...]
 Forgets about tell messages I've passed on: either all of them, or
 only those from certain nicks.  Necessary if you set tellme pester
 or reliable, and also works with remind, but not with unreliable.
 Use untell to delete messages you've sent, rather than received.

help

help             gives an overview and lists the topics &c
help <command>   gives help on a command
help <opt>       gives help on an option
help <topic>     gives help on an additional topic

identify

You must identify yourself to change your settings if your nick is
secure, and to use channel management commands.  In ircII on chiark,
just say `/blight-id'.  For other clients, see `help identpass'.
Once you are identified you can then register new nicks, change
settings, etc. - so long as you remain on a channel that I'm on too
(see `help invite').  See also `help register'.

identpass

identpass <username> <password>
 Identifies you to Blight.  To set up your password, or be reminded
 of it, run the shell command `irc-blight-id' on chiark.
 (On ircII on chiark `/blight-id' is easier, see `help blight-id'.)
 See `help identpass-internals' for technical details.

identpass-internals

Identification, for example with /blight-id, is actually done with
`identpass', which feeds the md5sum of the password to `userv
<username> irc-identpass <nick>'.  That must exit 0 if all is well.
By default this checks the md5sum against ~/.userv/irc-pass-md5.

interval

Intervals in commands are <amount><unit>, where the unit is one of
s for seconds, ks for kiloseconds, m for minutes, h for hours.

invite

invite <nick> ...             on channel
invite <channel> <nick> ...   privately
 This command gets me to invite the specified people to the channel.
 This is useful because only IRC channel operators can use /invite.
 This can be disabled for managed channels - see `help userinvite'.
To get me to join a channel, a channel operator should /invite me.

irc-summon

userv <user> irc-summon <callingnick> <callingpath> <channel>
 This userv invocation is invoked by Blight when `summon' is used.
 For examples of how to (re)configure it, see
  ~ian/.userv/services.d/irc-summon
  /etc/userv/services.d/irc-summon
 The service should immediately print one of these, and exit:
  problem <description>   =>  The user `<user>' <description>.
  ok <tty> <lastactivity> =>..invites <user> (<tty>, idle for ..)..
 and Blight will respond as shown.  <tty> need not be an actual
 terminal name; <lastactivity> must be a decimal absolute time_t).

kill

kill <nick> [<reason>]
 Asks me to throw that client off IRC completely, using my IRC
 Operator privilege.  You must have identified yourself as the user
 to whom the nick is registered.  (See `help register'.)

leave

leave [<channel>]     on channel
leave <channel>       (privately)
 I'll leave the channel, if you're a manager.  For an unmanaged
 channel, I'll leave when I'm the last one on the channel.

manager

channel [<chan>] manager + <nick> <nick> ...  add managers
channel [<chan>] manager - <nick> <nick> ...  remove managers
channel [<chan>] manager = <nick> <nick> ...  set new manager list
 Managers are those who can use the `channel' command to change
 channel settings.  Manager status is only effective for secure
 nicks, after the manager has identified themselves.
 If you op me on an unmanaged channel you become the only manager,
 but you must use `channel' to change a channel setting to make this
 permanent.  To make a channel unmanaged, make it have no managers.

marktime

set marktime off        Only an explicit `ping' command sends info.
set marktime once       Send ping info shortly after I first see you.
set marktime <interval> Also send info regularly (min. interval 5m).

mode

channel [<chan>] mode *|+...-...           (`mode *' is default.)
 If not set to `*' then whenever I'm alone in the channel I'll set
 and unset the channel modes specified.  Only the modes imnpst are
 supported.  Precede one or more mode letters with + to set, - to
 unset; any letters not mentioned will be left alone.

op

op [<channel>]     on channel
op <channel>       (privately)
 I'll give you channel operator privilege, if you're a manager.
 See `help manager'.

overview

General commands:           Registration and user settings:
 help [<cmd>|<opt>|<topic>]  register [insecure|delete]
 seen <nick>                 set [<opt> [<value>]]      who [<nick>]
 summon <username>           (See `help identify', `help blight-id')
 invite [<chan>] <nick>...  For channel managers (`help channel'):
 ping [<stuff ...>]          op [<chan>]
 kill <nick> [<reason>]      leave [<chan>]
 tell <nick> <message ...>   channel [<chan>] <setting> [....]
Additional help topics:
 tutorial (long!)  identify identpass invite blight-id
Send commands to me by /msg, or say them in channel with ! in front.
To get me on a channel, invite me.  To become channel manager, op me.

ping

ping [<string>]
Replies with hopefully-useful information, including:
* Current time, number of IRC and system users, and load averages.
* Most recent traffic on a relevant channel (if sent privately, any
  channel we're both on, otherwise the channel in question.)  Only
  actual message traffic counts, and !-commands don't count either.
* The specified string, if any.
I can tell you this automatically if you like - see `help marktime'.
If you have undelivered messages sent with tell by or to you, I'll
let you know about those too (privately, if you ping on channel).

register

register            register your nick (or make it secure)
register delete     delete your nick registration
register insecure   register your nick insecurely
 I only store settings for registered nicks.  For `insecure' nicks
 anyone who currently holds that nick can change its settings (see
 `help set', including securing it to their username.  `secure'
 nicks can only have their settings changed by the user to which they
 are registered, after identifying themselves (see `help identify').

seen

seen <nick>
 Tells you or the channel when I last saw that nick in
 use.  When the nick is next used, I'll tell them you asked.

set

set                  show your current settings
set <option>         show the current setting of <option>
set <option> <value> set <option> to <value>
 Options:  timeformat ks|hms|beat
           marktime off|once|<n>[k]s|<n>m|<n>h
           tellme ...
 See also `help <option>', `help register' and `help identify'

summon

summon <username>
 Invites a user onto IRC.  By default a message (like a talk request)
 will be written to their terminal; if they're not logged on to the
 machine running Blight, or are `mesg n', you'll be told.  A user can
 change the way they are summoned (eg, to disable it) by reconfiguring
 the userv service `irc-summon'.  See `help irc-summon'.

tell

tell <nick> <message ...>
 Leaves a message for someone, which will be delivered according to
 their `set tellme'.  I will tell you about your undelivered tells
 whenever I see you arriving, or when you say `ping'.  See also
 `help untell' and `help delmsg'.

tellme

The tellme command repeats any messages you have outstanding.
set tellme configures how you receive messages sent with tell:
 set tellme insecure              When I see you.
 set tellme secure [<interval>]   Hide body (reminding) until ident.
 set tellme reject                Do not accept messages.
 set tellme mailto <email-addr>   By email.  (Secure nicks only.)
Default: `secure 600'.  For insecure nicks `secure' == `insecure'.
To set when to consider messages delivered (see `help untell'):
 set tellme unreliable            Tell you once, then forget.
 set tellme remind [<every-interval> [<within-interval>]]
    Remind until you talk on channel within <within-interval>
    of me having told you.  (Default is remind 1h 30s.)
 set tellme pester <interval>     Remind until you say delmsg

timeformat

set timeformat ks    show times in seconds, kiloseconds, etc.
set timeformat hms   use days, hours, minutes, seconds
set timeformat beat  use beats (1000 B = 1 day)

topic

channel [<chan>] topic set <topic>    set topic when alone
channel [<chan>] topic leave          don't (default)
 If set to `topic set <topic>' then whenever I'm alone in the channel
 I'll reset the topic; if se to `topic leave' I'll leave it alone.
channel [<chan>] topic see|tell +|-|= <chan>|* ...
 I can inform one channel about topic changes in another.  Each
 channel has a `see list' and a `tell list' which may be empty or
 contain some channel names and/or a `*'.  I'll tell channel #spy
 whenever I see the topic change in #showoff if: #showoff or * is
 mentioned in #spy's see list, and #spy or * is mentioned in
 #showoff's tell list, and at least one those mentions is not a `*'.
 + adds items to the relevant list, - removes them, and = sets the
 list to exactly those items specified.  Both lists are empty by
 default, but a good permissive value is just `*' for both lists.

tutorial

Sorry, there is no tutorial.  If you would like to contribute by
writing one, please email ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk.

untell

untell <nick> ...
 Forgets about all message(s) you've sent with tell to particular
 nick(s).  Use delmsg to delete messages sent *to* you.  There is no
 way to untell individual messages to the same nick.  If your nick is
 secure, you must identify yourself to use untell.

userinvite

channel [<chan>] userinvite pub    users on chan can !invite
channel [<chan>] userinvite here   users on chan can !invite and /msg
channel [<chan>] userinvite all    anyone can !invite and /msg
channel [<chan>] userinvite none   !invite and /msg are disabled
 Controls whether the `invite' command works for this channel, and
 who can use it (`help invite').  `userinvite pub' is the default.
 Channel managers can always use the `invite' command.

who

who [<nick>]
 Gives information about who I think the nick is (or who I think you
 are), including whether the nick is registered, whether it is
 associated with a username and if so who, and whether the current
 user of the nick has identified themselves to me.
 See `help register'.

chiark IRC operators <ircop@chiark>