pgkbot was an IRC recent changes bot developed by pgk in python, and was the primary such bot in use for several years. It was designed for use in one channel, and included a number of customization options such as plugin support, complex event routers, individual lists, individual user name and article title watchlists, detection of page move vandalism, and IP address categories (like open proxies). However, configuration is difficult, it is relatively resource-intensive, the package has not been maintained for several years; it is no longer widely used.
- Common bots: ErosionBot-1, MiszaBot, TheDJBot, ClueBot(RC).
Commands are issued to the bot by appending their name or "computer" to the beginning of the line. If you append the name, the command will only be recognized by the bot named. If you append "computer", all bots present will recognize the command. For example, if you want to add a user to pgkbot's blacklist, you would say pgkbot bl add username
. Alternately, you could add the user to the blacklist of every bot in the channel. This is recommended, as it synchronises the backup bots. To do this, you would say computer bl add username
.
Which commands a user can issue depends on which list they are in.
Level |
Users |
List of commands
|
Information
|
Any user
|
intelligence commands; help.
|
Operation
|
Voiced users
|
watchlist; intelligence; help, status, quiet, speak.
|
Restricted
|
Channel operators
|
all commands.
|
The bots maintain several lists of users, which can be reported, formatted, and treated differently from each other.
- Admins: this is a list of admins on the project. The relevant command is
computer al add|del username
.
- Whitelist: this is the list of trusted users. The relevant command is
computer wl add|del username
.
- Greylist: this is a temporary blacklist which the bot automatically populates with users that have recently been reverted, or matched one of the bnu list expression. Entries can be removed from the list, but cannot be added manually.
- Blacklist: this is a list of suspicious users. All edits by blacklisted users are reported. The relevant command is
computer bl add|del username
.
- Bots: this is a list of bots on the project. The relevant command is
computer bot add|del user
.
This table is a quick overview of commands. For additional help, address the following command to pgkbot on IRC: pgkbot help <command>
. There are two optional flags which can be used with most commands. These can be used by appending them to the end of the command (expiry must be stated before the reason, if both are used).
- "
r=value
" provides a reason. This is useful for other users, who may not know why something has been added to the list without.
- "
x=value
" provides an expiry time in hours. After the specified number of hours, the command will be automatically undone.
Note that the symbols "[|]" are used in the table; these symbols should not be used with the bot (for example, use "pgk add blah" and not "pgk [add] blah"). Multiple possible actions are denoted as [option 1|option 2]; only one can be used at a time. Values are designated as <value>; all strings accept regex.
Restricted bot commands
edit
Command |
Usage |
Description
|
aclo
|
computer aclo [add|del] IRC_name
|
Add or remove users who can give restricted bot commands.
|
config (set)
|
computer config <option> <newvalue>
|
Modifies the configuration values. See in-depth documentation below.
|
config (list)
|
computer config list
|
List current settings
|
config (get)
|
computer config [getadmins|getbots]
|
Retrieve the list of admins or bots direct from the wiki being monitored
|
config (read)
|
computer config [readmsgs|readcmds]
|
Reread some configuration files.
|
dest (set)
|
computer dest [add|del] #<channel name> grey
|
Configure the events to report to the channel.
|
dest (swap)
|
computer dest swap #<channel name> #<second channel name>
|
Switch the events reported between two channels, useful for changing to preset settings.
|
reader
|
computer reader reset
|
Reset the connection to the recent changes channel (if the bot stops reporting).
|
Command |
Usage |
Description
|
help
|
computer help <command>
|
Provides detailed help on a command. If a command is not specified, it will provide a link to this page.
|
status
|
computer status
|
Provides basic status information about the bot, such as whether it is reporting and connected to the RC feed.
|
stats
|
computer stats
|
Miscellaneous channel statistics.
|
quiet
|
computer quiet
|
Stop reporting event to the channel.
|
speak
|
computer speak
|
Report events to the channel.
|
acl
|
computer acl [add|del|show] <IRC_name>
|
A list of trusted IRC users. These users can issue operation commands to the bot.
|
Command |
Usage |
Description
|
bl
|
computer bl [add|del|show] <IP or username>
|
A list of distrusted or vandal users.
|
wl
|
computer wl [add|del|show] <username>
|
A list of trusted users.
|
gl
|
computer gl [del|show] <username>
|
A list of possible distrusted or vandal users.
|
al
|
computer al [add|del|show] <username>
|
A list of administrators.
|
bot
|
computer bot [add|del|show] <username>
|
A list of bots.
|
bnu
|
computer bnu [add|del|show] <string>
|
Report all new usernames containing the string.
|
bna
|
computer bna [add|del|show] <string>
|
Report all new articles created containing the string.
|
cvp
|
computer cvp [add|del|show] <string>
|
Report all edits to a given article.
|
cnvp
|
computer cnvp [add|del|show] <article name>
|
A list of articles to be ignored.
|
cvi
|
computer cvi [add|del|show] <image name>.<extension>
|
Report all uploads to a particular image name.
|
wheels
|
computer wheels [add|del|show] <string>
|
Report pages renamed to a title containing the string.
|
Intelligence commands
edit
Command |
Usage |
Description
|
intel
|
computer intel <IP or username>
|
Queries information about an IP or username.
|
aintel
|
computer aintel <article name>
|
Queries information about an article.
|
iintel
|
computer iintel <image name>.<extension>
|
Queries information about an image.
|
These settings affect the way the bot filters the raw recent changes to the reported events. They are viewed with the command computer config list
and modified with the command computer config <option> <new value>
.
option |
Description
|
editbig
|
Possible nonsense (big addition of content)
|
editblank
|
Possible blanking (big removal of content)
|
newbig
|
Possible copyright violations (big new article size)
|
newsmall
|
Possible vandalism or substubs (small new article size)
|
option |
Description
|
blockconflict
|
The number of simultaneous blocks to a single user to report.
|
glonrollback
|
The number of minutes to add a user to the greylist if their edits are rolled back by an administrator.
|
flagnewuser
|
The number of hours to add new users to the greylist.
|
glonbnu
|
The number of minutes to add new users that match a string on the bnu list.
|
option |
Description
|
pseudonym
|
Alternate name a bot should respond to as well as its name. This should be "computer" in Countervandalism network channels.
|
startupquiet
|
Don't report events on startup (toggle, "yes" or "no")
|
bnubnasame
|
Synchronise the Bad new username and Bad new article name lists.
|
Event report toggles
edit
These options toggle which events are reported to the channel. They are accessed with the command computer dest list
and computer dest [add|del] #<channel name> <event>
. The events are listed below. Each event will only be reported to a channel once, irrespective of fitting into several of these categories.
"Actions" in the tables below refer to all visible changes to the database, including edits, page moves, and deletions.
Event |
Description
|
-admin
|
Don't report actions by administrators.
|
-white
|
Don't report actions by whitelisted users.
|
-bot
|
Don't report actions by bots.
|
black
|
Report all actions by blacklisted users.
|
grey
|
Report all actions by greylisted users.
|
newuser
|
Report the creation of all new users.
|
ip
|
Report all edits by anonymous users.
|
iptmp
|
Report all edits of templates by non logged in users
|
ipcat
|
Report all edits of categories by non logged in user
|
Event |
Description
|
wwuser
|
Report new usernames matching an entry in the bnu list.
|
wheeler
|
Report page moves to titles matching an entry in the wheel list.
|
bna
|
Report creates of articles which match an entry in the bna list.
|
cvp
|
Report edits to pages on the cvp list.
|
cvi
|
Report uploads of images on the cvi list.
|
Event |
Description
|
block
|
Report blocks.
|
unblock
|
Report unblocks.
|
delete
|
Report page deletions.
|
move
|
Report page moves.
|
protect
|
Report non userspace page protections/unprotections.
|
upload
|
Report file uploads.
|
Event |
Description
|
bigremove
|
Report possible blanking (removal of content exceeding config bigremove).
|
bigedit
|
Report possible gibberish (addition of content exceeding config bigedit).
|
bignew
|
Report possible copyright violation (creation of a page whose size exceeds config bignew).
|
tinynew
|
Report possible nonsense (creation of a page whose size is smaller than config tinynew).
|
Event |
Description
|
cmdsq
|
Listen for commands in this channel, but don't respond unless addressed by nickname rather than "computer".
|
cmds
|
listen for commands in this channel, and respond.
|
- Python: The bot requires the python environment to run, which is freely available from the python.org download page. It is recommended that you install for all users to C:\Python with all options enabled.
- Twisted: Also required is the Twisted python library, available from the official website.
- Note - Pgkbot can only work with Python version 2.4 or 2.5 and will not work with older versions.
- Download the latest public version of pgkbot (1.7).
- Unzip it to C:\pgkbot.
There are a few text files that need to be edited before use.
C:\pgkbot\Config\IRCConsole.conf
|
Field |
Value |
Notes
|
server
|
irc.freenode.net
|
This is the IRC server the bot will connect to.
|
port
|
6667
|
The server port to connect to; this value should be fine.
|
nick
|
botnick
|
Change this to the nickname of the bot you want to use. Do not use "pgkbot" or "computer".
|
password
|
password
|
The password to use when identifying. Comment out this line if not using Nickserv
|
owner
|
yournick
|
Change to your nickname. This gives you full access to the interface.
|
C:\pgkbot\Config\RCReader.conf
|
Field |
Value |
Notes
|
server
|
irc.wikimedia.org
|
This is the IRC server the bot will connect to to get the RC feed.
|
port
|
6667
|
The server port to connect to; this value should be fine.
|
nick
|
yournick
|
Change to your nickname. This gives you full access to the interface.
|
C:\pgkbot\Config\en\StaticConfig
|
Field |
Value |
Notes
|
controlchannel
|
#pgktesting
|
The channel the bot will report to.
|
rcsourcechannel
|
#en.wikipedia
|
The channel with the raw RC feed (see IRC channels).
|
- Open a DOS prompt.
- Navigate to the directory pgkbot is installed in.
- Type in c:\python24\python.exe CVUBot.py en.
- pgkbot will be silent upon connecting. Be sure to make it speak and route some events (see above).