QWK.NET

QWK.NET is a preservation-grade C# library for reading, writing, and validating QWK, REP, and QWKE offline message packets used by bulletin board systems (BBS) from the 1980s and 1990s. The library provides byte-accurate parsing and generation whilst maintaining compatibility with historical BBS software implementations, handling real-world format variations gracefully without sacrificing fidelity to the original specifications.

Who This Library Is For

QWK.NET serves developers and archivists working with historical BBS data:

• BBS software developers building or maintaining mail door software
• Offline mail reader authors creating tools for reading QWK packets
• Digital archivists and retrocomputing projects preserving historical BBS content
• Tooling developers building exporters, converters, or analysers for QWK data

Key Capabilities

• Complete format support - QWK packets, REP reply packets, and QWKE extensions (TOREADER.EXT, TODOOR.EXT, long headers)
• Byte-accurate preservation - CP437 encoding, MSBIN floats, 128-byte records, and QWK-specific line terminators maintained exactly
• Real-world tolerance - Handles format variations (date formats, missing fields, non-standard extensions) common in historical packets
• Multiple validation modes - Strict, Lenient (default), and Salvage modes for different use cases
• Archive handling - Built-in ZIP support with extensible architecture for other formats
• Zero dependencies - Core library has no external dependencies
• .NET 10 compatible - Modern C# implementation targeting .NET 10

Get Started

Getting Started Guide - Step-by-step introduction to using QWK.NET

GitHub Repository - Source code, issues, and contributions

Documentation

• API Overview - High-level API map and typical workflows
• Architecture - Module boundaries and extension rules
• Reading Packets - Reading QWK and QWKE packets
• Glossary - A short glossary of terms you might encounter

Licence

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.