brockman.news is an open-source platform for delivering real-time news updates through IRC. It fetches news from RSS feeds and broadcasts them to dedicated channels.
Whether you're a journalist, researcher, or simply interested in staying informed, Brockman provides an efficient and flexible way to receive and share news in a community-driven environment.
Get started: connect
There are multiple ways to connect to the Brockman network, whether you prefer a web-based client or a desktop IRC client. Below, you'll find step-by-step guides for different connection methods. Choose the one that best fits your setup:
- WebIRC – quick and easy, no setup required.
- WeeChat – a powerful, scriptable IRC client.
- irssi – a lightweight, terminal-based IRC client.
- HexChat – a beginner-friendly graphical IRC client.
Connect Using WebIRC
Click here.
Connect Using WeeChat
Follow these simple steps to connect to the Brockman network using WeeChat:
/server add brockman brockman.news/6667 -autoconnect
If you already have an account with NickServ, you can set up secure login using SASL PLAIN. Otherwise,
you can skip
this step.
/set irc.server.brockman.sasl_mechanism PLAIN /set irc.server.brockman.sasl_username <login> /set irc.server.brockman.sasl_password <password>
Finally, connect:
/save /connect brockman
Connect Using irssi
Follow these simple steps to connect to the Brockman network using irssi. If you already have an account with NickServ, you can set up SASL
PLAIN login (optional):
/network add -sasl_username <login> -sasl_password <password> -sasl_mechanism PLAIN brockman
Then configure the server connection like this:
/server add -auto -net brockman brockman.news 6667 /save
Finally, connect:
/connect brockman
Connect Using HexChat
Work in progress.
How to use Brockman
If you want to see messages from all RSS feeds tracked by Brockman, join the main news channel:
/join #all
If you're interested in updates from a particular website, you can subscribe to its bot:
/msg <botname> subscribe
To unsubscribe from a feed:
/msg <botname> unsubscribe
If you want to learn more about a bot (such as which RSS feeds it tracks), ask it for details:
/msg <botname> info
You can create a custom channel to curate a specific selection of RSS feeds:
/join #my-newsroom
If you're logged in via SASL, you can register your channel so that it belongs to you:
/msg ChanServ register #my-newsroom
Once your newsroom is set up, you can invite specific RSS news bots to post updates in your channel:
/invite <botname> <anotherbotname>
If you want to get rid of a bot, kick it:
/kick <botname>
Tracking a New RSS Feed
If you want to track a new RSS feed and have it post in an IRC channel, you can add it using the
controller bot brockman.
Step 1: Choose a Bot Name
Each RSS feed is assigned to a bot that posts updates. Pick a unique name for your bot
(e.g., westernregionalnews or masto_someprofile).
Step 2: Add the RSS Feed
To add a new RSS feed, message the brockman bot with the following command:
/msg brockman add <botname> <rss-url>
Example:
/msg brockman add example_com https://example.com/rss
A new bot named example_com will automatically join #all and begin reporting new feed entries there.
If you also want its messages posted to your personal newsroom, invite the new bot like this:
/invite example_com #my-newsroom
Learn more
Open Source
Brockman is fully open-source, meaning anyone can inspect the code, contribute improvements, or even host their own instance. Below are the key components that make up the Brockman ecosystem:
- brockman – The core software responsible for fetching RSS feeds, processing news updates, and relaying messages to IRC channels.
- brockman-infrastructure – NixOS configurations for deploying and maintaining the Brockman service.
- go-shortener – A minimalistic URL shortener used within Brockman to provide cleaner, more readable links in news updates.
Want to Contribute?
Brockman is a community-driven project, and we welcome contributions of all kinds! Whether you're a developer, sysadmin, or just interested in helping expand the network, there's a place for you in the Brockman community.
If you'd like to get involved, check out the GitHub repositories linked above, join our IRC channels, or open an issue with your ideas. Every contribution helps make Brockman better!