To run gtalkbot: - Install the dependancies. On Debian / Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install python-pyxmpp python-pyxmpp-doc - Write a plugin! There is a sample on in plugins/mythbot.py - Create a password file and put it somewhere The format is: For example: exampleuser@gmail.com banana - Create a jabber or Google Talk account for the bot - Create a config file. It should contain: connectwith password pluginsdir authfile - Start up gtalkbot: ./gtalkbot.py ~/.gtalkbotrc - Now you can IM the bot account, and off you go. You'll need to start off with a "auth " to login to the bot