{"slug": "the-lounge", "name": "The Lounge", "category": "selfhosted", "category_name": "Self-hosted and home server", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 6, "warners": 1, "score": 3.165, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2026-02-02", "latest": "2026-10-11", "why": "Check out The Lounge (https://thelounge.chat) and Convos (https://convos.chat), web-based IRC clients with media previews", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Check out The Lounge (https://thelounge.chat) and Convos (https://convos.chat), web-based IRC clients with media previews", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "thelounge.chat", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://thelounge.chat", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["The Lounge"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800730944, "item_id": 50045684, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50045684", "by": "user3939382", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Good v3 clients like The Lounge also offer it", "excerpt": "It is in draft https://github.com/ircv3/ircv3-specifications/pull/562 Good v3 clients like The Lounge also offer it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 776270720, "item_id": 48516920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48516920", "by": "Bender", "date": "2026-06-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "there are some web front-ends to IRC that make it more approachable from the modern crowd", "excerpt": "For what it's worth there are some web front-ends to IRC that make it more approachable from the modern crowd. [1][2] These both have live demo's [1] - https://thelounge.chat/ [2] - https://convos.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Mozilla"}, {"id": 752448240, "item_id": 47028015, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47028015", "by": "Gormo", "date": "2026-02-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Check out The Lounge (https://thelounge.chat) and Convos (https://convos.chat), web-based IRC clients with media previews", "excerpt": "Check out The Lounge (https://thelounge.chat) and Convos (https://convos.chat), web-based IRC clients with media previews, session persistence, and all the modern bells and whistles.", "context": "", "use_case": "modern web IRC client", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenAI Should Build Slack"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 749802787, "item_id": 46862674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46862674", "by": "comex", "date": "2026-02-02", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "none of the clients you mentioned actually support emoji reactions (draft/react)", "excerpt": "But according to https://ircv3.net/software/clients, none of the clients you mentioned actually support emoji reactions (draft/react), and other features like multi-line messages and image uploads are likewise extremely limited in server/client support. So, for the time being, you can't use these features if you want to actually be interoperable with existing IRC users and their clients. Sounds like if you want decen", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mattermost say they will not clarify what license the project is under"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["personal irc client", "modern web irc client"], "compared": [{"slug": "convos", "name": "Convos", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 763931072, "item_id": 47745692, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47745692", "by": "MaxLeiter", "date": "2026-04-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve been working on modernizing https://thelounge.chat, a self-hostable web based IRC client", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve been working on modernizing https://thelounge.chat, a self-hostable web based IRC client Modernizing in two ways: migrating to new JS tooling (webpack -> vite, Node\u2019s built in sqlite, etc) and adopting ircv3 features like emoji reactions, threaded replies, and typing indicators. Trying to bring IRC into the 21st century. Its easy to contribute to and we have an active irc channel (perks of building an always-on ", "context": "", "use_case": "self-hosted IRC client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (April 2026)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50041540", "title": "IRCv3", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48513806", "title": "Leaving Mozilla", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47997947", "title": "A Desktop Made for One", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47741527", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (April 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47012553", "title": "OpenAI Should Build Slack", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46861331", "title": "Mattermost say they will not clarify what license the project is under", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"warn": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 2}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 800730944, "item_id": 50045684, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50045684", "by": "user3939382", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Good v3 clients like The Lounge also offer it", "excerpt": "It is in draft https://github.com/ircv3/ircv3-specifications/pull/562 Good v3 clients like The Lounge also offer it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 800668432, "item_id": 50041777, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50041777", "by": "gsich", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "The Lounge https://thelounge.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 776270720, "item_id": 48516920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48516920", "by": "Bender", "date": "2026-06-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "there are some web front-ends to IRC that make it more approachable from the modern crowd", "excerpt": "For what it's worth there are some web front-ends to IRC that make it more approachable from the modern crowd. [1][2] These both have live demo's [1] - https://thelounge.chat/ [2] - https://convos.chat/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Mozilla"}, {"id": 768107698, "item_id": 48006731, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48006731", "by": "theshrike79", "date": "2026-05-04", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've got my own irccloud/thelounge clone running now", "excerpt": "I have written multiple IRC bots in the last 20+ years. It's my go-to project to test a new language, mostly because I know the protocol inside and out and it has some gotchas that languages can't handle comfortably (managing a bunch of open TCP sockets with threads/subprocesses mostly). Have I tried to write my own IRC client yet? Nope. Because even though I know how to, the time spent wouldn't have been worth it. G", "context": "", "use_case": "Personal IRC client", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Desktop Made for One"}, {"id": 752448240, "item_id": 47028015, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47028015", "by": "Gormo", "date": "2026-02-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Check out The Lounge (https://thelounge.chat) and Convos (https://convos.chat), web-based IRC clients with media previews", "excerpt": "Check out The Lounge (https://thelounge.chat) and Convos (https://convos.chat), web-based IRC clients with media previews, session persistence, and all the modern bells and whistles.", "context": "", "use_case": "modern web IRC client", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenAI Should Build Slack"}, {"id": 749802787, "item_id": 46862674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46862674", "by": "comex", "date": "2026-02-02", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "none of the clients you mentioned actually support emoji reactions (draft/react)", "excerpt": "But according to https://ircv3.net/software/clients, none of the clients you mentioned actually support emoji reactions (draft/react), and other features like multi-line messages and image uploads are likewise extremely limited in server/client support. So, for the time being, you can't use these features if you want to actually be interoperable with existing IRC users and their clients. Sounds like if you want decen", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mattermost say they will not clarify what license the project is under"}]}