Show HN: I put an AI agent on a $7/month VPS with IRC as its transport layer

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Building a digital doorman with an AI agent on a $7/month VPS using IRC as the transport layer

advanced Published 26 Mar 2026

Action Steps

Set up a VPS with a minimal perimeter box and a separate, more powerful system for private data
Implement an IRC server and client for communication between the public-facing doorman and the private agent
Choose a suitable AI model for the conversational layer, such as Haiku 4.5, and a tool-use layer, such as Sonnet 4.6
Configure the agents to handle greetings, answer questions, and clone repos to substantiate claims with real code
Implement security boundaries and access controls to protect private data

Who Needs to Know This

This project benefits developers and product managers who want to create custom AI-powered chatbots for their portfolio sites or applications, and need to understand the architecture and design decisions behind such a system.

Key Insight

💡 Using a lightweight AI model and a simple protocol like IRC can be a cost-effective and efficient way to build a custom chatbot