WeeChat Setup

So you decided to try WeeChat?

What options do you need to set? what plugins? what scripts?

I’ll go over some of the most essential of these, and share my full configs.

Options

• logger.level.irc
  The default is 9, which includes joins and parts. In most cases you can set this to 3, which only includes messages.
• weechat.look.buffer_notify_default
  The default here is all, which will add joins and parts to your hotlist. set it to message.
• weechat.look.confirm_quit
  Set this to on. You’ll thank me when you type /quit and mean /close.
• weechat.look.highlight
  Add a comma-separated list of names/terms you’d like to trigger a highlight here
• weechat.look.prefix_align_max
  Set this to something between 10 and 20. Otherwise, long nicks will crush your available screen real estate.
• buflist.format.indent
  Adjusts the display of your channel list. I use ${color:237}${if:${buffer.next_buffer.local_variables.type}=~^(channel|private)$?├:└} to print some nice unicode characters to draw nice guides.
• buflist.format.number
  If you want to skip the . or space after the number, set it to ${color:green}${number}
• irc.look.color_nicks_in_names
  Set this to on
• irc.look.color_nicks_in_nicklist
  Set this to on
• irc.look.server_buffer
  Set this to independent to prevent automatic merges with the core WeeChat buffer. Especially useful if you plan on using autosort.py
• irc.server_default.autoconnect
  Set this to on so you don’t have to set it for every new network you add.

Scripts

These scripts can be managed with the built in /script tool. Press i, then enter on the selected script to install it.

• highmon.pl
  Set aside a buffer to list the places your nick has been mentioned.
• colorize_nicks.py
  Show nicks in chat with colors.
• go.py
  Fuzzy quick jump by buffer number or channel name.
• autojoin.py
  Use /autojoin --run to save all the channels you’re currently in to be autojoined the next time you start WeeChat.
• autosort.py
  Use this script in tandem with irc.look.server_buffer=independent to keep your channel and server list in order.
• colorize_lines.pl
  I use this script to highlight the entire line of messages I’ve been mentioned in. Check the options in the source or with /help colorize_lines.
• grep.py
  Quickly search history and buffers with /grep.

The rest of my configs

You can find the rest of my configs here. Be sure to keep the WeeChat Documentation handy as well.

If you have any questions, feel free to ping me on IRC. I’m ben on libera and tilde.chat.

Screenshot

Here’s a screenshot of my current configs

Bonus

If you have an existing setup, you can check the config changes you’ve made with /set diff.

Additionally, feel free to use my .gitignore, add your ~/.weechat to source control, and compare.

Hope you’ve enjoyed customizing your WeeChat!

EDIT: s/freenode/libera/g