title: How do I run a node IRC bot?
body: <p>I'd like to run this IRC Eliza bot but I lack some fundamental understanding of how to do it. </p>
  
  <p><a href="https://github.com/isaacs/node-eliza" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/isaacs/node-eliza</a></p>
  
  <p>I don't know anything about IRC or how to connect to them. Could someone explain how I connect to this bot? Do I need to host it remotely? Is there a way to run an IRC client locally and connect to it locally? Currently the program just runs without error but does nothing.</p>
  
  <p>I understand node.js, but I seem to missing some fundamentals in understanding IRC on how to get an IRC bot running.</p>
  
  <p>The readme gives me code that executes but doesn't do anything, quoted below:</p>
  
  <p>Usage</p>
  
  <pre><code>var Eliza = require('eliza/irc.js')
  
  new Eliza({ server: 'irc.freenode.net'
            , nick: 'Eliza'
            , channels: ['##turtles']
            , userName: 'eliza'
            , realName: 'eliza' })
  </code></pre>