# v0.2.0 - IRC Gateway

## Features

- **IRC protocol gateway** -- native IRC clients (irssi, WeeChat, HexChat, etc.) can connect to EchoHub servers
- **Cross-protocol messaging** -- messages flow bidirectionally between IRC and TUI clients in real time
- **SASL PLAIN authentication** -- IRC clients can authenticate via SASL or traditional PASS/NICK/USER
- **Full IRC command support** -- JOIN, PART, PRIVMSG, QUIT, NAMES, TOPIC, WHO, WHOIS, AWAY, LIST, MODE, MOTD
- **TLS support** -- optional encrypted IRC connections on port 6697
- **Image-to-IRC formatting** -- images appear as ASCII art line-by-line with download URLs
- **Message splitting** -- long messages automatically split at word boundaries (~400 byte chunks)
- **Configurable MOTD** -- server message of the day for IRC clients

## Architecture Changes

- Extracted shared business logic from `ChatHub` into protocol-agnostic `IChatService`
- Introduced `IChatBroadcaster` pattern for multi-protocol event fan-out
- `ChatHub` refactored to thin adapter delegating to `IChatService`
- `ChannelsController` updated to use `IChatService` for broadcasts
- New `EchoHub.Server.Irc` project for clean separation of concerns
- `IChatService` and `IChatBroadcaster` interfaces live in `EchoHub.Core/Contracts`