# Sock Chat Protocol Information The protocol operates on a websocket in text mode. Messages sent between the client and server are a series of concatenated strings delimited by the vertical tab character, represented in most languages by the escape sequence `\t` and defined in ASCII as `0x09`. The first string in this concatenation must be the packet identifier, sent as an `int`. Newer versions of the protocol are implemented as extensions, a client for Version 1 should have no trouble using a server built for Version 2 as long as authentication is understood. The current stable version of the protocol is **Version 1**. ## Types ### `bool` A value that indicates a true or a false state. `0` represents false and anything non-`0` represents true, please stick to `1` for representing true though. ### `int` Any number ranging from `-9007199254740991` to `9007199254740991`, `Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER` and `Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER` in JavaScript. ### `string` Any printable unicode character, except `\t` which is used to separate packets. ### `timestamp` Extends `int`, contains a second based UNIX timestamp. ### `channel name` A `string` containing only alphanumeric characters (any case), `-` or `_`. ### `session id` A `string` containing only alphanumeric characters (any case), `-` or `_`. ### `color` Any valid value for the CSS `color` property. Further documentation can be found [on MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/color_value). ### `message flags` Message flags alter how a message should be displayed to the client, these are all `bool` values. The parts are as follows: - Username should appear using a **bold** font. - Username should appear using a *cursive* font. - Username should appear __underlined__. - A colon `:` should be displayed between the username and the message. - The message was sent privately, directly to the current user. As an example, the most common message flagset is `10010`. This indicates a bold username with a colon separator. ### `user permissions` User permissions are a set of flags separated by either the form feed character (`\f` / `0x0C`) or a space ( / `0x20`). The reason there are two options is due to a past mixup that we now have to live with. Which of the methods is used remains consistent per server however, so the result of a test can be cached.
int Rank of the user. Used to determine what channels a user can access or what other users the user can moderate.
bool Indicates whether the user the ability kick/ban/unban others.
bool Indicates whether the user can access the logs. This should always be 0, unless the client has a dedicated log view that can be accessed without connecting to the chat server.
bool Indicates whether the user can set an alternate display name.
int Indicates whether the user can create channel. If 0 the user cannot create channels, if 1 the user can create channels but they are to disappear when all users have left it and if 2 the user can create channels that permanently stay in the channel assortment.
## Client Packets These are the packets sent from the client to the server. ### Packet `0`: Ping Used to prevent the client from closing the session due to inactivity.
int User ID
timestamp Time the packet was sent to the server Added in version 2
### Packet `1`: Authentication Takes a variable number of parameters that are fed into the authentication script associated with the chat.
...string Any amount of data required to complete authentication
### Packet `2`: Message Informs the server that the user has sent a message. Commands are described lower in the document.
int User ID
string Message text, may not contain \t
### Packet `3`: Focus Channel Selects which channel messages should be sent to. Added in Version 2.
channel name Channel to change focus to
### Packet `4`: Typing Informs the currently focussed channel that this client is writing a message. Added in Version 2. ## Server Packets These are the packets sent from the server to the client. ### Packet `0`: Pong Response to client packet `0`: Ping.
timestamp Time the packet was sent to the client Originally this field contained the string pong, but this value was completely unused and can be safely replaced.
### Packet `1`: Join/Auth While authenticated this packet indicates that a new user has joined the server/channel. Before authentication this packet serves as a response to client packet `1`: Authentication. #### Successful authentication response Informs the client that authentication has succeeded.
string y
int User ID
string Username
color Username color
user permissions User permissions
channel name Default channel the user will join following this packet
int Extensions version number. If this field is missing, version 1 is implied. Added in Version 2
session id ID of the currently active session Added in Version 2
#### Failed authentication response Informs the client that authentication has failed.
string n
string Reason for failure.
  • authfail: Authentication data is invalid.
  • userfail: Username in use.
  • sockfail: A connection has already been started (used to cap maximum connections to 5 in SharpChat).
  • joinfail: User attempting to authenticate is banned.
timestamp If joinfail this contains expiration time of the ban, otherwise it is empty.
#### User joining Informs the client that a user has joined.
timestamp Time the user joined
int User ID
string Username
colour Username color
user permissions User permissions
int Sequence ID
### Packet `2`: Chat message Informs the client that a chat message has been received.
timestamp Time when the message was received by the server
int User ID. If -1 this message is an informational message from the server and the next field takes on a special form.
string

Message, sanitised by the server

If this is an informational message this field is formatted as follows and concatenated by the form feed character \f, respresented in ASCII by 0x0C. Bot message formats are described lower in the document.
int Message type.
  • 0 for a normal informational message.
  • 1 for an error.
string An id of a string in the legacy language files.
...string Any number of parameters used to format the language string.

int Sequence ID
message flags Message flags
channel name Channel this message was sent in Added in Version 2
### Packet `3`: User disconnect Informs the client that a user has disconnected.
int User ID
string Username
string One of four disconnect reasons.
  • leave: The user gracefully left, e.g. "x logged out".
  • timeout: The user lost connection unexpectedly, e.g. "x timed out".
  • kick: The user has been kicked, e.g. "x has been kicked".
  • flood: The user has been kicked for exceeding the flood protection limit, e.g. "x has been kicked for spam".
timestamp Time when the user disconnected
int Sequence ID
### Packet `4`: Channel event This packet informs the user about channel related updates. The only consistent parameter across sub-packets is the first one described as follows.
int Channel information update event ID.
  • 0: A channel has been created.
  • 1: A channel has been updated.
  • 2: A channel has been deleted.
#### Sub-packet `0`: Channel creation Informs the client that a channel has been created.
channel name The name of the new channel
bool Indicates whether the channel is password protected
bool Indicates whether the channel is temporary, meaning the channel will be deleted after the last person departs
#### Sub-packet `1`: Channel update Informs the client that details of a channel has changed.
channel name Old/current name of the channel
channel name New name of the channel
bool Indicates whether the channel is password protected
bool Indicates whether the channel is temporary, meaning the channel will be deleted after the last person departs
#### Sub-packet `2`: Channel deletion Informs the client that a channel has been deleted
channel name Name of the channel that has been deleted
### Packet `5`: Channel switching This packet informs the client about channel switching.
int Channel information update event ID.
  • 0: A user joined the channel. Sent to all users in said channel.
  • 1: A user left the channel. Sent to all users in said channel.
  • 2: The client is to forcibly join a channel.
#### Sub-packet `0`: Channel join Informs the client that a user has joined the channel.
int User ID
string Username
color Username color
int Sequence ID
#### Sub-packet `1`: Channel departure Informs the client that a user has left the channel.
int User ID
int Sequence ID
#### Sub-packet `2`: Forced channel switch Informs the client that it has been forcibly switched to a different channel.
channel name The name of the channel that the user has been switched to
### Packet `6`: Message deletion Informs the client that a message has been deleted.
int Sequence ID of the deleted message
### Packet `7`: Context information Informs the client about the context of a channel before the client was present.
int Context event ID.
  • 0: Users present in the current channel.
  • 1: A message already in the channel, occurs more than once per channel.
  • 2: Channels on the server.
#### Sub-packet `0`: Existing users Informs the client about users already present in the channel.
int Amount of users present in the channel
Context User An amount of repetitions of this object based on the number in the previous param, the object is described below
##### Context User object
int User ID
string Username
color Username color
user permissions User permissions
bool Whether the user should be visible in the users list
#### Sub-packet `1`: Existing message Informs the client about an existing message in a channel.
timestamp Time when the message was received by the server
int User ID
string Username
color Username color
user permissions User permissions
string Message text, functions the same as described in Packet 2: Chat message
int Sequence ID
bool Whether the client should notify the user about this message
message flags Message flags
#### Sub-packet `2`: Channels Informs the client about the channels on the server.
int Amount of channels on the channel
Context Channel An amount of repetitions of this object based on the number in the previous param, the object is described below
##### Context Channel object
channel name Name of the channel
bool Indicates whether the channel is password protected
bool Indicates whether the channel is temporary, meaning the channel will be deleted after the last person departs
### Packet `8`: Context clearing Informs the client that the context has been cleared.
int Number indicating what has been cleared.
  • 0: The message list has been cleared.
  • 1: The user list has been cleared.
  • 2: The channel list has been cleared.
  • 3: Both the message and user listing have been cleared.
  • 4: The message, user and channel listing have all been cleared.
channel name Channel this clear is targeted towards. Ignore packet if this is set and channels are supposedly to be cleared. If this field is empty this packet is intended for the entire context. Added in Version 2
### Packet `9`: Forced disconnect Informs the client that they have either been banned or kicked from the server.
bool
  • 0: The client has been kicked, can reconnect immediately.
  • 1: The client has been banned, can reconnect after the timestamp (documented below) in the next param has expired.
timestamp Ban expiration time
### Packet `10`: User update Informs that another user's details have been updated.
int User ID of the affected user
string New username
color New username color
user permissions User permissions
### Packet `11`: Typing Informs the client that a user is typing. Added in version 2.
channel name Name of the channel in which the user is typing. If this field is empty, assume it has been sent to the user directly for private messaging.
int User ID of the typing user
timestamp Time when the user started typing.
## Bot Messages Formatting IDs sent by user -1.
Informational
String Description Arguments
say Just echoes the arguments in a message. The message.
silence Informs the client that they have been silenced.
unsil Informs the client that they are no longer silenced.
silok Informs the client that they have successfully silenced another user. The username of the silenced user.
usilok Informs the client that they have successfully removed the silencing from another user. The username of the unsilenced user.
flwarn Informs the client that they are risking being kicking for flood protection (spam).
unban Informs the client that they have successfully removed the ban from a user or ip address.
banlist Provides a list with banned users and IP addresses. Sets of "<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="Chat.SendMessageWrapper('/unban '+ this.innerHTML);">{0}</a>" where {0} is the username of the banned user or the banned IP address. The set is separated by ", "
who Provides a list of users currently online. Sets of "<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="UI.InsertChatText(this.innerHTML);">{0}</a>" where {0} is the username of a user. The current online user is highlighted with " style="font-weight: bold;"" before the closing > of the opening <a> tag. The set is separated by ", "
whochan Provides a list of users currently online in a specific channel. Sets of "<a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="UI.InsertChatText(this.innerHTML);">{0}</a>" where {0} is the username of a user. The current online user is highlighted with " style="font-weight: bold;"" before the closing > of the opening <a> tag. The set is separated by ", "
join Informs the client that a user connected with the server. The username of said user.
jchan Informs the client that a user moved into the channel. The username of said user.
leave Informs the client that a user disconnected from the server. The username of said user.
lchan Informs the client that a user moved out of the channel. The username of said user.
kick Informs the client that a user has disconnect because they got kicked. The username of said user.
flood Informs the client that a user has disconnect because they got kicked for flood protection. The username of said user.
nick Informs the client that a user has changed their nickname. The first argument is the previous username of said user, the second argument is their new username.
crchan Informs the client that they have successfully created a channel. The name of the channel.
delchan Informs the client that they have successfully deleted a channel. The name of the channel.
cpwdchan Informs the client that they have successfully changed the password of the channel.
cprivchan Informs the client that they have successfully changed the hierarchy level required for the channel.
ipaddr Shows the IP address of another user. First argument is the username, second argument is the IP address.
Error
String Description Arguments
generr Generic fallback error.
silerr Informs the client that the user they tried to silence had already been silenced.
usilerr Informs the client that the user whose silence they tried to revoke hasn't been silenced.
silperr Informs the client that they are not allowed to silence that user.
usilperr Informs the client that they are not allowed to remove the silence from that user.
silself Informs the client that they cannot silence themselves.
delerr Informs the client that they are not allowed to delete a message.
notban Informs the client that a username or IP address is not banned. The provided username or IP address.
whoerr Informs the client that they do not have access to the channel they specified for the /who command. The provided channel name.
cmdna Tells the client they're not allowed to use a command. First argument is the name of the command.
nocmd Tells the client the command they tried to run does not exist. First argument is the name of the command.
cmderr Tells the client that they formatted the last command incorrectly.
usernf Tells the client that the user they requested was not found on the server. The requested username.
kickna Tells the client that they are not allowed to kick a given user. Username of the user they tried to kick.
samechan Tells the client that they are already in the channel they are trying to switch to. The name of the channel.
ipchan Tells the client that they aren't allowed to switch to the provided channel. The name of the channel.
nochan Tells the client that the channel they tried to switch to does not exist. The name of the channel.
nopwchan Tells the client that the channel they tried to switch to requires a password. The name of the channel.
ipwchan Tells the client that the password to tried to switch to the channel to was invalid. The name of the channel.
inchan Informs the client that the channel name contained invalid characters.
nischan Tells the client that a channel with that name already exists. The name of the channel.
ndchan Tells the client that they're not allowed to delete that channel. The name of the channel.
namchan Tells the client that they're not allowed to edit that channel. The name of the channel.
nameinuse Tells the client that the nickname they tried to use is already being used by someone else. The name.
rankerr Tells the client that they're not allowed to do something to a user because they have a higher hierarchy than them.
## Commands Actions sent through messages prefixed with `/`. Arguments are described as `[name]`, optional arguments as `[name?]`.
Name Action Expected bot messages
/afk [reason?] Marks the current user as afk, the first 5 characters from the user string are prefixed uppercase to the current username prefixed by &lt; and suffixed by &gt;_ resulting in a username that looks like <AWAY>_flash if /afk away is ran by the user flash. If no reason is specified "AFK" is used.
/nick [name?] Temporarily changes the user's nickname prefixed with ~. If the user's original name or no argument at all is specified the command returns the user's name to its original state without the prefix.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to change own nickname.
  • nameinuse: Someone else is using the username.
  • nick: Username has changed.
/msg [username] [message]
/whisper [username] [message]
Sends a private message to another user.
  • cmderr: Missing username and/or message arguments.
  • usernf: User not found.
/me [message]
/action [message]
Sends a message but with flags 11000 instead of the regular 10010, used to describe an action.
/who [channel?] If no argument is specified it'll return all users on the server, if a channel is specified it'll return all users in that channel.
  • nochan: The given channel does not exist.
  • whoerr: The user does not have access to the channel.
  • whochan: Listing of users in a channel.
  • who: Listing of users.
/delete [channel name or message id] If the argument is entirely numeric this function acts as an alias for /delmsg, otherwise /delchan.
/join [channel] Switches the current user to a different channel.
  • nochan: The given channel does not exist.
  • ipchan: The user does not have access to the channel.
  • ipwchan: The provided password was invalid.
  • nopwchan: A password is required to enter the given channel.
/create [hierarchy?] [name] Creates a new channel.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to create channels.
  • cmderr: Command isn't formatted correctly.
  • rankerr: Tried to set channel hierarchy higher than own.
  • inchan: Given name contained invalid characters.
  • nischan: A channel with the given name already exists.
  • crchan: Successfully created channel.
/delchan [name] Deletes an existing channel.
  • cmderr: Command isn't formatted correctly.
  • nochan: No channel with the given name exists.
  • ndchan: Not allowed to delete this channel.
  • delchan: Deleted channel.
/password [password?]
/pwd [password?]
Changes the password for a channel. Specify no argument to remove the password.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to change the password.
  • cpwdchan: Success.
/privilege [hierarchy]
/rank [hierarchy]
/priv [hierarchy]
Changes what user hierarchy is required to enter a channel.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to change hierarchy.
  • rankerr: Missing rank argument or trying to set hierarchy to one higher than their own.
  • cprivchan: Success.
/say [message] Broadcasts a message as the server to all users in all channels.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to broadcast.
  • say: Broadcast message.
/delmsg [message id] Deletes a message.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to delete messages.
  • cmderr: Invalid arguments.
  • delerr: The message does not exist, or the user's hierarchy is lower than the sender.
/kick [user] [time?] Kicks a user from the server. If no time is specified the kick expires immediately.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to kick users.
  • usernf: User not found.
  • kickna: Sender is trying to kick themselves, someone with a higher hierarchy or someone that's already banned.
  • cmderr: Provided time is invalid.
/ban [user] [time?] Kicks a user and IP address from the server. If no time is specified the kick will never expire.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to kick users.
  • usernf: User not found.
  • kickna: Sender is trying to kick themselves, someone with a higher hierarchy or someone that's already banned.
  • cmderr: Provided time is invalid.
/unban [user]
/pardon [user]
Revokes the ban of a user.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to revoke user bans.
  • notban: User is not banned.
  • unban: Success.
/unbanip [user]
/pardonip [user]
Revokes the ban of an ip address.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to revoke ip bans.
  • notban: IP address is not banned.
  • unban: Success.
/bans
/banned
Retrieves the list of banned users and ip addresses.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to revoke ip bans.
  • banlist: List of bans.
/silence [username] [time?] Silences a user. If the time argument is not specified the silence is indefinite.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to silence users.
  • usernf: User not found.
  • silself: Tried to silence self.
  • silperr: Tried to silence user of higher hierarchy.
  • silerr: User is already silenced.
  • cmderr: Time isn't formatted correctly.
  • silence: Informs the user they have been silenced.
  • silok: Tells the sender that the user has been silenced.
/unsilence [username] Revokes a silence.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to revoke silences.
  • usernf: User not found.
  • usilperr: Tried to revoke silence of user of higher hierarchy.
  • usilerr: User isn't silenced.
  • unsil: Informs the user that their silence has been revoked.
  • usilok: Tells the sender that the user's silence has been revoked.
/ip [username]
/whois [username]
Gets a user's IP address.
  • cmdna: Not allowed to view IP addresses.
  • usernf: User not found.
  • ipaddr: IP address of user.