# TechIRCd Enhancement Roadmap

## 🚀 Phase 1: Core Improvements (High Priority)

### 1.1 Missing IRC Commands (2-3 weeks)
- [ ] USERHOST command
- [ ] ISON command  
- [ ] STATS command with detailed server statistics
- [ ] TIME command
- [ ] VERSION command
- [ ] ADMIN command
- [ ] INFO command
- [ ] LUSERS command
- [ ] Enhanced LIST with pattern matching
- [ ] SILENCE command for user-level blocking

### 1.2 Channel Mode Enhancements (1-2 weeks)
- [ ] Ban exceptions (+e mode)
- [ ] Invite exceptions (+I mode)
- [ ] Permanent channels (+P mode)
- [ ] Registered-only channels (+r mode)
- [ ] SSL-only channels (+z mode)
- [ ] Channel forwarding (+f mode)
- [ ] Founder protection mode (~q)
- [ ] Admin protection mode (&a)

### 1.3 Security & Authentication (2-3 weeks)
- [ ] SASL authentication support
- [ ] Certificate-based authentication
- [ ] Rate limiting per IP/user
- [ ] GeoIP blocking capabilities
- [ ] DDoS protection mechanisms
- [ ] Enhanced flood protection
- [ ] Connection throttling

## 🌐 Phase 2: Network & Scaling (Medium Priority)

### 2.1 Enhanced Server Linking (3-4 weeks)
- [ ] Burst optimization for large networks
- [ ] Network topology visualization
- [ ] Automatic failover and recovery
- [ ] Load balancing across servers
- [ ] Network-wide channel/user sync
- [ ] Cluster management interface
- [ ] Health monitoring between servers

### 2.2 Database Integration (2-3 weeks)
- [ ] SQLite/MySQL/PostgreSQL support
- [ ] User account persistence
- [ ] Channel registration system
- [ ] Network-wide ban storage
- [ ] Statistics logging
- [ ] Audit trail logging
- [ ] Data migration tools

### 2.3 Services Framework (4-5 weeks)
- [ ] NickServ implementation
- [ ] ChanServ implementation
- [ ] OperServ implementation
- [ ] MemoServ implementation
- [ ] BotServ implementation
- [ ] Services API framework
- [ ] Plugin system for custom services

## 📊 Phase 3: Advanced Features (Lower Priority)

### 3.1 Monitoring & Analytics (3-4 weeks)
- [ ] Prometheus metrics integration
- [ ] Grafana dashboard templates
- [ ] Real-time performance monitoring
- [ ] User activity analytics
- [ ] Channel analytics
- [ ] Alert system with notifications
- [ ] Performance profiling tools
- [ ] Capacity planning metrics

### 3.2 Web Interface (4-5 weeks)
- [ ] Administrative web panel
- [ ] REST API endpoints
- [ ] GraphQL query interface
- [ ] Real-time dashboard with WebSockets
- [ ] Mobile-responsive design
- [ ] User management interface
- [ ] Channel management interface
- [ ] Network topology viewer
- [ ] Log viewer and search

### 3.3 Modern Protocol Support (3-4 weeks)
- [ ] IRCv3 capabilities
- [ ] Message tags support
- [ ] Account tracking
- [ ] MONITOR command
- [ ] Extended JOIN
- [ ] CHGHOST support
- [ ] Batch processing
- [ ] Server-time capability

## 🎨 Phase 4: Quality of Life (Ongoing)

### 4.1 Developer Experience
- [ ] Comprehensive test suite (>80% coverage)
- [ ] CI/CD pipeline setup
- [ ] Automated security scanning
- [ ] Performance benchmarking
- [ ] Documentation improvements
- [ ] Code quality tools integration
- [ ] Dependency management

### 4.2 Deployment & Operations
- [ ] Docker containerization
- [ ] Kubernetes manifests
- [ ] Helm charts
- [ ] Configuration management
- [ ] Backup and restore tools
- [ ] Migration utilities
- [ ] Health check endpoints

### 4.3 Community Features
- [ ] Plugin architecture
- [ ] Extension API
- [ ] Custom command framework
- [ ] Event system
- [ ] Webhook integrations
- [ ] Third-party service connectors

## 🔧 Technical Debt & Improvements

### Code Structure
- [ ] Proper package structure (remove `package main` everywhere)
- [ ] Interface definitions for better testing
- [ ] Dependency injection framework
- [ ] Configuration validation improvements
- [ ] Error handling standardization
- [ ] Logging framework upgrade

### Performance Optimizations
- [ ] Connection pooling
- [ ] Message batching
- [ ] Memory optimization
- [ ] CPU profiling and optimization
- [ ] Network I/O improvements
- [ ] Concurrent processing enhancements

### Security Hardening
- [ ] Input validation improvements
- [ ] Buffer overflow protection
- [ ] Memory safety audits
- [ ] Cryptographic improvements
- [ ] Secure defaults
- [ ] Vulnerability scanning

## 📈 Implementation Timeline

**Total Estimated Time: 6-8 months**

- **Month 1-2**: Phase 1 (Core Improvements)
- **Month 3-4**: Phase 2 (Network & Scaling)  
- **Month 5-6**: Phase 3 (Advanced Features)
- **Month 7-8**: Phase 4 (Quality of Life) + Polish

## 🎯 Quick Wins (Can implement immediately)

1. **USERHOST command** (1 day)
2. **ISON command** (1 day)
3. **TIME command** (1 day)
4. **VERSION command** (1 day)
5. **Enhanced LIST filtering** (2-3 days)
6. **Ban exceptions (+e mode)** (2-3 days)
7. **Invite exceptions (+I mode)** (2-3 days)
8. **Basic SASL PLAIN** (3-4 days)
9. **Prometheus metrics** (3-4 days)
10. **Basic web stats API** (2-3 days)

These improvements would make TechIRCd one of the most feature-complete and modern IRC servers available!
