Join an IRC channel read-only

Question

Is it possible to /join #channel in IRC in such a way that I can read but not write to the channel? My motivation is to be able to keep an eye on some channels without the risk of fat-fingering some nonsense in there.

Answer 1

Do you mean within irssi? There is botti, which should let you read a channel without being interactive to the channel. From there, you could just tail -f the log*. From man -k:

botti (1)            - Run an irssi module, such as a bot, without a UI

Alternatively, if you're a chanop you can join the channel and then set usermode +b for that user and they won't be able to send to the channel. Some networks will allow you to set a channel mode such that only registered users can speak, or channel mode +m so that only voiced users can speak, but it varies a lot.

If you gave more information I could give you a more specific answer.

*note: you can create a new window in irssi with no channel joined to it, and have that window run /exec -o tail ~/irclogs/network/#channelname.log, and it will output everything from that channel via the log you're saving, and be un-interactive.