WeeChat client
  on your PC
      |
      |
WeeChat relay
on your server --- permanent connection
      |
      |
  IRC server

On your server set up WeeChat as you'd do it for daily chat.
Open it in a tmux session.
secure is WeeChat's tool to encrypt passwords.

1. Set up the master password:
   

   /secure passphrase your-passphrase
   

2. Add your SASL password.
   

   /secure add my_password my-secret-password
   

3. You can use it later as:
   

   ${sec.data.my_password}
   

   No exposure.
   

Add your IRC network to WeeChat.

1. Configure the server access:
   

   /server add libera irc.libera.chat/6697 -tls
   

   Configure your additional preferences like nick, realname and username.
   

2. Configure the SASL authentication:
   

   /set irc.server.libera.sasl_password "${sec.data.my_password}"
   /set irc.server.libera.sasl_username irc_nick
   

3. You can connect to the IRC server:
   

   /connect libera
   

Still on the server (while you're already connected to the network) set up the relay function.

1. Add a strong relay password to the secure folder:
   

   /secure add relay_pw strong-pw
   

2. Configure your relay password:
   

   /set relay.network.password "${sec.data.relay_pw}"
   

   You will use this password to connect to the relay.
   

3. Obtain or generate a certificate and configure it for the relay:
   

   /set relay.network.tls_cert_key "${weechat_config_dir}/ssl/relay.pem"
   

4. Configure and start the relay:
   

   /relay add tls.irc 9001
   

A TLS encrypted relay will listen on 9001/tcp.
Open it on the firewall.

The server configuration is done.

On the WeeChat client the configuration is similar.

1. Add the relay connection password to the secure folder:
   

   /secure add relay_pw same-pw-as-on-server
   

2. Configure the relay connection as it would be an IRC server:
   

   /server add relay_server your.relay.domain.tld/9001 -tls
   

3. Configure the connection password:
   

   /set irc.server.relay_server.password "libera:${sec.data.relay_pw}"
   

I used "libera" as the server alias on the relay.
For the password it is important to add it to the password in the

server-alias:relay-password

format to be able to connect.

As a last step you can connect to your WeeChat relay:

/connect relay_server

• The connection will be established via port 9001/tcp to the WeeChat relay.
  
• The message history is visible.
  
• No SASL or NickServ password travels in plain text.
  

The IRC networks are mostly silent in 2026.
Conversations are rare, but they're useful.
Valuable.

WeeChat in tmux with the relay are a lightweight combination.
No BNC exposure.

The DeadSwitch collective runs its own IRC network: The Silent Architect Network.

irc.silentarchitect.org:6697

DeadSwitch | The Silent Architect
[ Fear the Silence. Fear the Switch. ]