== Finding Channels on Libera.Chat ==
With many channels already on Libera.Chat and more being registered all the time, a good way to search for channels of interest to you is useful.
Enter alis, a network service designed for exactly that purpose.
At the most simple, you can use /msg alis LIST *searchterm* to find channels whose name contains the term in question - for instance, /msg alis LIST *linux*.
You can also search on the channel’s current topic, require a minimum number of users (to weed out barely-used channels), and use various wildcards to control your search - for instance, /msg alis LIST #libera* -min 10 would find all channels in the Libera.Chat namespace with at least 10 users.
For full details on how to use alis, /msg alis HELP LIST will send you back the following help text:
***** alis Help *****
Help for LIST:
LIST gives a list of channels matching the
pattern, modified by the other options.
Syntax: LIST [options]
Options are:
-min : show only channels with at least users
-max : show only channels with at most users
-skip : skip first matches
-show [m][t]: show modes/topicsetter
-mode <+|-|=>: modes set/unset/equal
-topic : topic matches pattern
-showsecret: show secret channels (requires chan:auspex)
The pattern can contain * and ? wildcards. The pattern has to
match the full channel name or a full topic, depending on where it
is used; the wildcards are important. The pattern is also
automatically surrounded by * wildcards if
a channel name pattern does not start with a wildcard or a #, or
a topic pattern contains no * wildcards.
For example, for channel names, from most to least specific:
?bar - any character followed by "bar" with no other characters
#bar* - anything starting with "#bar"
##*bar* - anything starting with ## and containing "bar"
*cows*moo* - anything containing "cows", 0 or more characters, and "moo"
*bar* - anything containing "bar" (equivalent to "bar")
Examples:
/msg alis LIST searchterm
/msg alis LIST * -topic multiple*ordered*search*terms
/msg alis LIST * -min 50
/msg alis LIST #foo*
/msg alis LIST #foo* -mode =n
/msg alis LIST *freetopic* -mode -t -show mt
/msg alis LIST ##nocolors* -mode +c -show t
***** End of Help *****
An alternative method to search is to do so via the web, using [https://netsplit.de/channels/?net=libera.chat netsplit.de].