We missed the November 2025 update, so this is a summary of working group activity since Nov 2024.

Specs ratified 🔗

• Feb 2026 reply client tag - Allows clients to mark messages as being a reply to another message or thread. Also enables the draft react client tag #535
• Feb 2026 Websockets - Describes conventions for transporting IRC lines over the WebSocket protocol. This is necessary for browser-based clients, which cannot make conventional TCP connections to IRC servers #548

New drafts 🔗

• Apr 2025 extended-isupport - Allows clients to fetch the ISUPPORT metadata prior to connection registration, introduces a new command to fetch ISUPPORT and a new batch type to delimit ISUPPORT bursts #543
• Nov 2025 network-icon - Introduces a new ISUPPORT token to advertise a network icon #563

Specs updated 🔗

• Feb 2026 react client tag - Added the +draft/unreact tag to allow reactions to be removed #568
• Feb 2026 Metadata - Loosened the requirement to filter keys from RPL_WHOISKEYVALUE #575 and various changes and clarifications to batch types, key names and registration behaviour #566
• Feb 2026 client-batch - Added FAIL codes: INVALID_REFTAG and UNKNOWN_TYPE #573

On the Roadmap 🔗

Highlights from our ongoing roadmap milestone

• FILEHOST #562
• ratify CHATHISTORY #437

Other 🔗

We recommend you check out the regular series of IRC roundup posts by Ilmari Lauhakangas. Despite our own lack of updates, there’s a lot going on in the ecosystem, and Ilmari is always on top of it:

• 2025: 1 2
• 2024: 1 2