hackchat-engine

A modern, NodeJS and browser-friendly ES6 WebSocket library for interacting with hack.chat servers. This engine provides an object-oriented interface, automatic keep-alives, and structured event handling.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 14+ (This package uses ES Modules)
• NPM 6+

Install

npm install hackchat-engine

---

Quick Start

This library uses ES Modules. You must use import syntax.

import { Client } from 'hackchat-engine';

const botName = 'MyBot';
const botPass = 'secretPassword';
const channel = 'programming';

// Initialize the client
const client = new Client({
  debug: true
});

// Triggered when the WebSocket connects to the gateway
client.on('connected', () => {
  console.log('Connected to server!');
  client.ws.send({ cmd: 'getchannels' });
  client.join(botName, botPass, channel);
});

// Triggered when the server assigns a session ID
client.on('session', (session) => {
  console.log(`Session ID: ${session.sessionID}`);
});

// Triggered when the client successfully joins the channel
client.on('channelJoined', (data) => {
  console.log(`Joined channel: ${data.channel}`);
  client.say(channel, 'Hello world! I am a bot.');
});

// Triggered on every new message
client.on('message', (message) => {
  // Ignore our own messages
  if (message.user.isMine) return;

  console.log(`[${message.channel}] ${message.user.name}: ${message.content}`);

  if (message.content === '!ping') {
    // Helper method to reply directly to the channel
    message.reply('Pong!');
  }
});

---

Configuration

You can pass an options object to the Client constructor to customize the connection.

const client = new Client({
  // Connection details
  ws: {
    gateway: 'wss://hack.chat/chat-ws', // Default
    // gateway: 'ws://127.0.0.1:6060/' // For local development
  },
  
  // Set to true to see internal logs and raw packets
  debug: false, 

  // If true, identifies as a bot to the server (default: true)
  isBot: true, 
});

---

Events

The client extends EventEmitter. You can listen for the following events:

Event	Payload	Description
connected	Client	Socket connection established.
session	SessionStruct	Server has assigned a session ID.
channelJoined	Object	Client has successfully joined a channel and received the user list.
message	MessageStruct	A new message was received.
userJoined	UserStruct	A user joined the channel.
userLeft	UserStruct	A user left the channel.
userUpdate	UserStruct	A user changed their flair, color, or status.
whisper	WhisperStruct	Received a private whisper.
invite	InviteStruct	Received an invitation to another channel.
emote	EmoteStruct	A user sent a /me emote.
warning	WarningStruct	Server sent a warning (e.g., rate limit).
gotCaptcha	CaptchaStruct	Server requires a captcha solution.
hackAttempt	HackAttemptStruct	A client upgrade request attempt.
updateMessage	UpdateMessageStruct	A previously sent message was edited or deleted.

---

Key Methods

Core

• client.join(nick, password, channel): Authenticate and join a specific channel.
• client.say(channel, text): Send a message to a channel.
• client.changeColor(hex): Change your nickname color (e.g., CCCCCC).
• client.changeUsername(newNick): Request a nickname change.

Moderation

• client.kick(channel, user): Kick a user (requires permissions).
• client.ban(channel, user): Ban a user (requires permissions).
• client.enableCaptcha(channel): Turn on captcha for the channel.
• client.lockChannel(channel): Lock the channel (admin only).

Interactions

The MessageStruct (passed in the message event) has helper methods:

• message.reply(text): Automatically replies to the channel the message originated from.

Message Manipulation

• client.updateMessage(customId, text, mode): Edit a message you previously sent.
• mode: 'overwrite', 'append', 'prepend', or 'complete' (delete).

---

Advanced Usage

Handling Custom Commands

If the server implements custom opcodes that are not natively handled by the engine, you can register a listener for them:

client.onCommand('customEvent', (payload) => {
  console.log('Received custom packet:', payload);
});

Accessing Users

Users are stored in an extended Map for easy access.

// Get a user by ID
const user = client.users.get(12345);

// Find a user by name
const user = client.users.find(u => u.username === 'Admin');

if (user) {
  console.log(`${user.username} is currently ${user.isOnline ? 'Online' : 'Offline'}`);
}

License

MIT