derp/docs/USAGE.md

Usage Guide

Running

# From project directory
derp

# With options
derp --config /path/to/derp.toml --verbose

CLI Flags

Flag	Description
-c, --config PATH	Config file path
-v, --verbose	Debug logging
--cprofile [PATH]	Enable cProfile, dump to PATH [derp.prof]
-V, --version	Print version
-h, --help	Show help

Configuration

All settings in config/derp.toml:

[server]
host = "irc.libera.chat"    # IRC server hostname
port = 6697                   # Port (6697 = TLS, 6667 = plain)
tls = true                    # Enable TLS encryption
nick = "derp"                 # Bot nickname
user = "derp"                 # Username (ident)
realname = "derp IRC bot"     # Real name field
password = ""                 # Server password (optional)
sasl_user = ""                # SASL PLAIN username (optional)
sasl_pass = ""                # SASL PLAIN password (optional)

[bot]
prefix = "!"                  # Command prefix character
channels = ["#test"]          # Channels to join on connect
plugins_dir = "plugins"       # Plugin directory path
rate_limit = 2.0              # Max messages per second (default: 2.0)
rate_burst = 5                # Burst capacity (default: 5)
admins = []                   # Hostmask patterns (fnmatch), IRCOPs auto-detected

[logging]
level = "info"                # Logging level: debug, info, warning, error

Built-in Commands

Command	Description
!ping	Bot responds with "pong"
!help	List all available commands
!help <cmd>	Show help for a specific command
!help <plugin>	Show plugin description and its commands
!version	Show bot version
!uptime	Show how long the bot has been running
!echo <text>	Echo back text (example plugin)
!cert <domain> [...]	Lookup CT logs for up to 5 domains
!whoami	Show your hostmask and admin status
!load <plugin>	Hot-load a plugin (admin)
!reload <plugin>	Reload a plugin (admin)
!unload <plugin>	Unload a plugin (admin)
!admins	Show admin patterns and detected opers (admin)
!plugins	List loaded plugins with handler counts
!dns <target> [type]	DNS lookup (A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME, PTR, SOA)
!encode <fmt> <text>	Encode text (b64, hex, url, rot13)
!decode <fmt> <text>	Decode text (b64, hex, url, rot13)
!hash [algo] <text>	Generate hash digests (md5, sha1, sha256, sha512)
!hashid <hash>	Identify hash type by format
!defang <ioc>	Defang URLs/IPs/domains for safe sharing
!refang <text>	Restore defanged IOCs
!revshell <type> <ip> <port>	Generate reverse shell one-liner
!cidr <network>	Subnet info (range, hosts, mask)
!cidr contains <net> <ip>	Check if IP belongs to network
!whois <domain|ip>	WHOIS lookup via raw TCP (port 43)
!portcheck <host> [ports]	Async TCP port scan (max 20 ports)
!httpcheck <url>	HTTP status, redirects, response time
!tlscheck <host> [port]	TLS version, cipher, cert details
!blacklist <ip>	Check IP against 10 DNSBLs
!rand <mode> [args]	Random: password, hex, uuid, bytes, int, coin, dice
!timer <duration> [label]	Set countdown timer with notification
!timer list	Show active timers
!timer cancel <label>	Cancel a running timer
!geoip <ip>	GeoIP lookup (city, country, coords, timezone)
!asn <ip>	ASN lookup (AS number, organization)
!tor <ip|update>	Check IP against Tor exit nodes
!iprep <ip|update>	Check IP against Firehol/ET blocklists
!cve <id|search>	CVE lookup from local NVD mirror
!opslog <add|list|search|del|clear>	Timestamped operational log
!note <set|get|del|list|clear>	Per-channel key-value notes
!subdomain <domain> [brute]	Subdomain enumeration (crt.sh + DNS)
!headers <url>	HTTP header fingerprinting
!exploitdb <search|id|cve|update>	Search local Exploit-DB mirror
!payload <type> [variant]	Web vuln payload templates

Command Shorthand

Commands can be abbreviated to any unambiguous prefix:

!h           -> !help (unique match)
!pi          -> !ping (unique match)
!p           -> error: ambiguous (ping, plugins)

Exact matches always take priority over prefix matches.

!cert -- Certificate Transparency Lookup

Query crt.sh CT logs to enumerate SSL certificates for domains. Reports totals (expired/valid) and flags domains still serving expired certs.

!cert example.com
!cert example.com badsite.com another.org

Output format:

example.com -- 127 certs (23 expired, 104 valid)
badsite.com -- 45 certs (8 expired, 37 valid) | live cert EXPIRED
broken.test -- error: timeout

• Max 5 domains per invocation
• crt.sh can be slow; the bot confirms receipt before querying
• Live cert check runs only when expired CT entries exist

Admin System

Commands marked as admin require elevated permissions. Admin access is granted via:

1. IRC operator status -- detected automatically via WHO on channel join
2. Hostmask patterns -- configured in [bot] admins, fnmatch-style

[bot]
admins = [
    "*!~user@trusted.host",
    "ops!*@*.ops.net",
]

Empty by default -- only IRC operators get admin access unless patterns are configured.

Command	Description
!whoami	Show your hostmask and admin status
!admins	Show configured patterns and detected opers (admin)

Admin-restricted commands: !load, !reload, !unload, !admins.

Writing Admin Commands

@command("dangerous", help="Admin-only action", admin=True)
async def cmd_dangerous(bot, message):
    ...

Local Databases (Wave 3)

Several plugins rely on local data files in the data/ directory. Use the update script or in-bot commands to populate them.

Data Update Script

./scripts/update-data.sh                        # Update all feeds
MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY=xxx ./scripts/update-data.sh # Include GeoLite2

The script is cron-friendly (exit 0/1, quiet unless NO_COLOR is unset).

In-Bot Updates

!tor update          # Download Tor exit node list
!iprep update        # Download Firehol/ET blocklist feeds
!cve update          # Download NVD CVE feed (slow, paginated)

Data Directory Layout

data/
  GeoLite2-City.mmdb    # MaxMind GeoIP (requires license key)
  GeoLite2-ASN.mmdb     # MaxMind ASN (requires license key)
  tor-exit-nodes.txt    # Tor exit node IPs
  iprep/                # Firehol/ET blocklist feeds
    firehol_level1.netset
    firehol_level2.netset
    et_compromised.ipset
    ...
  nvd/                  # NVD CVE JSON files
    nvd_0000.json
    ...

GeoLite2 databases require a free MaxMind license key. Set MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY when running the update script.

Plugin Management

Plugins can be loaded, unloaded, and reloaded at runtime without restarting the bot.

!load crtsh          # Hot-load a new plugin from plugins/
!reload crtsh        # Reload a changed plugin
!unload crtsh        # Remove a plugin and all its handlers
!plugins             # List loaded plugins with handler counts

The core plugin cannot be unloaded (prevents losing !load/!reload), but it can be reloaded.

Writing Plugins

Create a .py file in the plugins/ directory:

from derp.plugin import command, event

@command("hello", help="Greet the user")
async def cmd_hello(bot, message):
    """Handler receives bot instance and parsed Message."""
    await bot.reply(message, f"Hello, {message.nick}!")

@event("JOIN")
async def on_join(bot, message):
    """Event handlers fire on IRC events (JOIN, PART, QUIT, etc.)."""
    if message.nick != bot.nick:
        await bot.send(message.target, f"Welcome, {message.nick}")

Plugin API

The bot object provides:

Method	Description
bot.send(target, text)	Send message to channel or nick
bot.reply(msg, text)	Reply to source (channel or PM)
bot.action(target, text)	Send /me action
bot.join(channel)	Join a channel
bot.part(channel [, reason])	Leave a channel
bot.quit([reason])	Disconnect from server

The message object provides:

Attribute	Description
message.nick	Sender's nickname
message.prefix	Full nick!user@host prefix
message.command	IRC command (PRIVMSG, JOIN, etc.)
message.target	First param (channel or nick)
message.text	Trailing text content
message.is_channel	Whether target is a channel
message.params	All message parameters