diff --git a/pkg/channels/irc/handler.go b/pkg/channels/irc/handler.go
index ea9fbc85f..aca4ddd11 100644
--- a/pkg/channels/irc/handler.go
+++ b/pkg/channels/irc/handler.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+	"unicode"
 
 	"github.com/ergochat/irc-go/ircevent"
 	"github.com/ergochat/irc-go/ircmsg"
@@ -102,30 +103,47 @@ func (c *IRCChannel) onPrivmsg(conn *ircevent.Connection, e ircmsg.Message) {
 	c.HandleMessage(c.ctx, peer, messageID, nick, chatID, content, nil, metadata, sender)
 }
 
-// isBotMentioned checks if the bot's nick appears in the message.
-func isBotMentioned(content, botNick string) bool {
+// nickMentionedAt returns the byte index where botNick is mentioned in content
+// with word-boundary checks, or -1 if not found. Also checks for "nick:" /
+// "nick," prefix convention.
+func nickMentionedAt(content, botNick string) int {
 	lower := strings.ToLower(content)
 	lowerNick := strings.ToLower(botNick)
 
-	// "nick: " or "nick, " at start (most common IRC convention)
+	// "nick:" or "nick," at start (most common IRC convention)
 	if strings.HasPrefix(lower, lowerNick+":") || strings.HasPrefix(lower, lowerNick+",") {
-		return true
+		return 0
 	}
 
 	// Word-boundary match anywhere in the message
 	idx := strings.Index(lower, lowerNick)
 	if idx < 0 {
-		return false
+		return -1
 	}
-	before := idx == 0 || !isAlphanumeric(lower[idx-1])
-	after := idx+len(lowerNick) >= len(lower) || !isAlphanumeric(lower[idx+len(lowerNick)])
-	return before && after
+	runes := []rune(lower)
+	nickRunes := []rune(lowerNick)
+	endIdx := idx + len(string(nickRunes))
+	before := idx == 0 || !unicode.IsLetter(runes[idx-1]) && !unicode.IsDigit(runes[idx-1])
+	after := endIdx >= len(lower) || !unicode.IsLetter(rune(lower[endIdx])) && !unicode.IsDigit(rune(lower[endIdx]))
+	if before && after {
+		return idx
+	}
+	return -1
+}
+
+// isBotMentioned checks if the bot's nick appears in the message.
+func isBotMentioned(content, botNick string) bool {
+	return nickMentionedAt(content, botNick) >= 0
 }
 
 // stripBotMention removes "nick: " or "nick, " prefix from content.
 func stripBotMention(content, botNick string) string {
-	lower := strings.ToLower(content)
+	idx := nickMentionedAt(content, botNick)
+	if idx != 0 {
+		return content
+	}
 	lowerNick := strings.ToLower(botNick)
+	lower := strings.ToLower(content)
 	for _, sep := range []string{":", ","} {
 		prefix := lowerNick + sep
 		if strings.HasPrefix(lower, prefix) {
@@ -134,7 +152,3 @@ func stripBotMention(content, botNick string) string {
 	}
 	return content
 }
-
-func isAlphanumeric(b byte) bool {
-	return (b >= 'a' && b <= 'z') || (b >= 'A' && b <= 'Z') || (b >= '0' && b <= '9') || b == '_'
-}
diff --git a/pkg/channels/irc/irc.go b/pkg/channels/irc/irc.go
index b0c4874e1..28c59b540 100644
--- a/pkg/channels/irc/irc.go
+++ b/pkg/channels/irc/irc.go
@@ -50,14 +50,27 @@ func (c *IRCChannel) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 	logger.InfoC("irc", "Starting IRC channel")
 	c.ctx, c.cancel = context.WithCancel(ctx)
 
+	user := c.config.User
+	if user == "" {
+		user = c.config.Nick
+	}
+	realName := c.config.RealName
+	if realName == "" {
+		realName = c.config.Nick
+	}
+	caps := []string(c.config.RequestCaps)
+	if len(caps) == 0 {
+		caps = []string{"server-time", "message-tags"}
+	}
+
 	conn := &ircevent.Connection{
 		Server:      c.config.Server,
 		Nick:        c.config.Nick,
-		User:        c.config.Nick,
-		RealName:    c.config.Nick,
+		User:        user,
+		RealName:    realName,
 		Password:    c.config.Password,
 		UseTLS:      c.config.TLS,
-		RequestCaps: []string{"server-time", "message-tags"},
+		RequestCaps: caps,
 		QuitMessage: "Goodbye",
 		Debug:       false,
 		Log:         nil,
diff --git a/pkg/channels/irc/irc_test.go b/pkg/channels/irc/irc_test.go
index dae3edb04..168252a4d 100644
--- a/pkg/channels/irc/irc_test.go
+++ b/pkg/channels/irc/irc_test.go
@@ -66,6 +66,33 @@ func TestExtractHost(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestNickMentionedAt(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		content string
+		nick    string
+		want    int
+	}{
+		{"colon prefix", "bot: hello", "bot", 0},
+		{"comma prefix", "bot, hello", "bot", 0},
+		{"case insensitive", "BOT: hello", "bot", 0},
+		{"word boundary mid", "hey bot what's up", "bot", 4},
+		{"no mention", "hello world", "bot", -1},
+		{"substring mismatch", "robotics are cool", "bot", -1},
+		{"nick at end", "hello bot", "bot", 6},
+		{"empty content", "", "bot", -1},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := nickMentionedAt(tt.content, tt.nick)
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("nickMentionedAt(%q, %q) = %d, want %d", tt.content, tt.nick, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestIsBotMentioned(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name    string
@@ -116,19 +143,3 @@ func TestStripBotMention(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
-
-func TestIsAlphanumeric(t *testing.T) {
-	alphanumeric := "azAZ09_"
-	for _, b := range []byte(alphanumeric) {
-		if !isAlphanumeric(b) {
-			t.Errorf("isAlphanumeric(%q) = false, want true", string(b))
-		}
-	}
-
-	nonAlpha := " !@#:,"
-	for _, b := range []byte(nonAlpha) {
-		if isAlphanumeric(b) {
-			t.Errorf("isAlphanumeric(%q) = true, want false", string(b))
-		}
-	}
-}
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 00a69c28a..a368e50ba 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -407,11 +407,14 @@ type IRCConfig struct {
 	Server             string              `json:"server"                  env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_SERVER"`
 	TLS                bool                `json:"tls"                     env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_TLS"`
 	Nick               string              `json:"nick"                    env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_NICK"`
+	User               string              `json:"user,omitempty"          env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_USER"`
+	RealName           string              `json:"real_name,omitempty"     env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_REAL_NAME"`
 	Password           string              `json:"password"                env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_PASSWORD"`
 	NickServPassword   string              `json:"nickserv_password"       env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_NICKSERV_PASSWORD"`
 	SASLUser           string              `json:"sasl_user"               env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_SASL_USER"`
 	SASLPassword       string              `json:"sasl_password"           env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_SASL_PASSWORD"`
 	Channels           FlexibleStringSlice `json:"channels"                env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_CHANNELS"`
+	RequestCaps        FlexibleStringSlice `json:"request_caps,omitempty"  env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_REQUEST_CAPS"`
 	AllowFrom          FlexibleStringSlice `json:"allow_from"              env:"PICOCLAW_CHANNELS_IRC_ALLOW_FROM"`
 	GroupTrigger       GroupTriggerConfig  `json:"group_trigger,omitempty"`
 	Typing             TypingConfig        `json:"typing,omitempty"`