Like MailNotifier, the buildbot.status.words.IRC class
provides a status target which can announce the results of each build. It
also provides an interactive interface by responding to online queries
posted in the channel or sent as private messages.
In the future, the buildbot can be configured map User names to IRC
nicknames, to watch for the recent presence of these nicknames, and to
deliver build status messages to the interested parties. Like
MailNotifier does for email addresses, the IRC object
will have an IRCLookup which is responsible for nicknames. The
mapping can be set up statically, or it can be updated by online users
themselves (by claiming a username with some kind of “buildbot: i am
user warner” commands).
Once the mapping is established, the rest of the buildbot can ask the
IRC object to send messages to various users. It can report on
the likelihood that the user saw the given message (based upon how long the
user has been inactive on the channel), which might prompt the Problem
Hassler logic to send them an email message instead.