diff --git bot.drush.inc bot.drush.inc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85cf312
--- /dev/null
+++ bot.drush.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,283 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Drush commands for Bot module. Inserts the IRC library into Drupal's hook
+ * system.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Implementation of hook_drush_command().
+ */
+function bot_drush_command() {
+  $items = array();
+
+  $items['bot-start'] = array(
+    'description' => 'Starts the IRC bot for this site.',
+    'examples' => array(
+      'drush bot-start &' => 'Connect the IRC bot as a background process.',
+      'nohup drush bot-start &' => 'Connect the IRC bot as a background process using nohup.',
+    ),
+  );
+  $items['bot-stop'] = array(
+    'description' => 'Stops the IRC bot for this site.',
+    'options' => array(
+      '--timeout' => 'Number of seconds to attempt the disconnect. Defaults to 45.',
+    ),
+    'examples' => array(
+      'drush bot-stop --timeout="60"' => 'Disconnect the IRC bot, allowing 60 seconds of processing time.',
+    ),
+  );
+  $items['bot-status'] = array(
+    'description' => 'Returns the IRC bot connection state for this site.',
+  );
+  $items['bot-reset-status'] = array(
+    'description' => 'Resets the IRC bot connection state for this site.',
+  );
+
+  return $items;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Implementation of hook_drush_help().
+ */
+function bot_drush_help($section) {
+  switch ($section) {
+    case 'drush:bot-start':
+      return dt('Starts the IRC bot for this site. It is recommended to start it as a background process.');
+    case 'drush:bot-stop':
+      return dt('Stops the IRC bot for this site.');
+    case 'drush:bot-status':
+      return dt('Returns the IRC bot connection state for this site.');
+    case 'drush:bot-reset-status':
+      return dt('Resets the IRC bot connection state for this site.');
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Callback for drush bot-start.
+ */
+function drush_bot_start() {
+  $status = _bot_get_status();
+  if ($status == BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED) {
+    _drush_bot_start();
+  }
+  else {
+    _bot_drush_log_status($status, 'warning');
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Does the heavy lifting of starting the IRC bot.
+ */
+function _drush_bot_start() {
+  drush_log(dt('The IRC bot is connecting.'));
+  variable_set('bot_status', BOT_STATUS_CONNECTING);
+  // prevent MySQL timeouts on slow channels.
+  db_query('SET SESSION wait_timeout = %d', 24*60*60);
+
+  require_once('Net/SmartIRC.php');
+
+  // initialize the bot with some sane defaults.
+  global $irc; // allow it to be slurped by Drupal modules if need be.
+  $bot = new drupal_wrapper(); // wrapper that integrates with Drupal hooks.
+  $irc = new Net_SmartIRC(); // MmmmmmM. The IRC object itself. Magick happens here.
+
+  // Net_SmartIRC::nreplycodes is set from $_GLOBALS, which is unreliable.
+  $irc->nreplycodes = $SMARTIRC_nreplycodes;
+  $irc->setDebug( variable_get('bot_debugging', 0) ? SMARTIRC_DEBUG_ALL : SMARTIRC_DEBUG_NONE );
+  // the (boolean) here is required, as Net_SmartIRC doesn't respect a FAPI checkbox value of 1, only TRUE.
+  $irc->setAutoReconnect((boolean) variable_get('bot_auto_reconnect', 1)); // reconnect to the server if disconnected.
+  $irc->setAutoRetry((boolean) variable_get('bot_auto_retry', 1)); // retry if a server connection fails.
+  $irc->setUseSockets((boolean) variable_get('bot_real_sockets', 1)); // socket_connect or fsockopen?
+  $irc->setChannelSyncing(TRUE); // keep a list of joined users per channel.
+
+  // send every message type the library supports to our wrapper class.
+  // we can automate the creation of these actionhandlers, but not the
+  // class methods below (only PHP 5 supports default methods easily).
+  $irc_message_types = array(
+    'UNKNOWN',    'CHANNEL', 'QUERY',    'CTCP',        'NOTICE',       'WHO',
+    'JOIN',       'INVITE',  'ACTION',   'TOPICCHANGE', 'NICKCHANGE',   'KICK',
+    'QUIT',       'LOGIN',   'INFO',     'LIST',        'NAME',         'MOTD',
+    'MODECHANGE', 'PART',    'ERROR',    'BANLIST',     'TOPIC',        'NONRELEVANT',
+    'WHOIS',      'WHOWAS',  'USERMODE', 'CHANNELMODE', 'CTCP_REQUEST', 'CTCP_REPLY',
+  );
+
+  foreach ($irc_message_types as $irc_message_type) {
+    $irc->registerActionhandler(constant('SMARTIRC_TYPE_' . $irc_message_type), '.*', $bot, 'invoke_irc_msg_' . strtolower($irc_message_type));
+  }
+
+  // set up a timers similar to Drupal's hook_cron(), multiple types. I would have
+  // liked to just pass a parameter to a single function, but SmartIRC can't do that.
+  $irc->registerTimehandler(300000, $bot, 'invoke_irc_bot_cron');           // 5 minutes.
+  $irc->registerTimehandler(60000, $bot,  'invoke_irc_bot_cron_faster');    // 1 minute.
+  $irc->registerTimehandler(15000, $bot,  'invoke_irc_bot_cron_fastest');   // 15 seconds.
+
+  // connect and begin listening.
+  $irc->connect(variable_get('bot_server', 'irc.freenode.net'), variable_get('bot_server_port', 6667));
+  $irc->login(variable_get('bot_nickname', 'bot_module'), variable_get('bot_nickname', 'bot_module') . ' :http://drupal.org/project/bot', 8, variable_get('bot_nickname', 'bot_module'), (variable_get('bot_password', '') != '') ? variable_get('bot_password', '') : NULL);
+
+  // channel joining has moved to bot_irc_bot_cron_fastest().
+  // read that function for the rationale, and what we gain from it.
+
+  $irc->listen();
+  $irc->disconnect(); // if we stop listening, disconnect properly.
+  variable_del('bot_status');
+  drush_log(dt('The IRC bot has disconnected.'));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Callback for drush bot-stop.
+ */
+function drush_bot_stop() {
+  $status = _bot_get_status();
+  switch ($status) {
+    case BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTING:
+      drush_log(dt('The bot is already disconnecting.'), 'warning');
+      break;
+
+    case BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED:
+      drush_log(dt('The bot is already disconnected.'), 'warning');
+      break;
+
+    default:
+      _drush_bot_stop();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Queue the IRC bot for stopping.
+ */
+function _drush_bot_stop() {
+  drush_log(dt('Disconnecting the IRC bot.'), 'ok');
+
+  $timeout = drush_get_option('timeout', 45);
+  $status = BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTING;
+
+  variable_set('bot_status', $status);
+  lock_acquire('bot_disconnect', $timeout);
+
+  // Continue this loop until the lock expires or the bot disconnects.
+  while (!($status == BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED || lock_may_be_available('bot_disconnect'))) {
+    // Check the status every 5 seconds.
+    sleep(5);
+    $status = _bot_get_status();
+    _bot_drush_log_status($status);
+  }
+
+  $type = 'error';
+  if ($status == BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED) {
+    lock_release('bot_disconnect');
+    $type = 'success';
+  }
+  _bot_drush_log_status($status, $type);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Callback for drush bot-status.
+ */
+function drush_bot_status() {
+  // If we are in the backend context, print the status directly.
+  if (drush_get_context('DRUSH_BACKEND')) {
+    $status = variable_get('bot_status', BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED);
+    drush_print($status);
+    return;
+  }
+  else {
+    $status = _bot_get_status();
+  }
+
+  _bot_drush_log_status($status, 'ok');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Retrieve the current bot status, clearing the variable cache first.
+ */
+function _bot_get_status() {
+  // We first clear the variables cache and then invoke the command to get a
+  // fresh status. Otherwise the static variable may contain stale data.
+  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache');
+  $ret = drush_backend_invoke('bot-status', array(), 'GET', FALSE);
+  return $ret['output'];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Helper function to log the current status to drush.
+ *
+ * @param $status
+ *   The status to log.
+ * @param $type
+ *   The type of message to be logged. Common types are 'warning', 'error',
+ *   'success' and 'notice'. Defaults to 'notice'.
+ */
+function _bot_drush_log_status($status, $type = 'notice') {
+  switch ($status) {
+    case BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED:
+      drush_log(dt('The bot is currently disconnected.'), $type);
+      break;
+
+    case BOT_STATUS_CONNECTING:
+      drush_log(dt('The bot is currently connecting.'), $type);
+      break;
+
+    case BOT_STATUS_CONNECTED:
+      drush_log(dt('The bot is currently connected.'), $type);
+      break;
+
+    case BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTING:
+      drush_log(dt('The bot is currently disconnecting.'), $type);
+      break;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Callback for drush bot-reset-status
+ */
+function drush_bot_reset_status() {
+  // We check locks first to be double sure that this is safe.
+  if (lock_may_be_available('bot_disconnect') && drush_confirm(dt('Are you sure you want to reset the IRC bot status?'))) {
+    variable_del('bot_status');
+    drush_log(dt('The bot connection status has been reset.'), 'ok');
+  }
+  else {
+    drush_log(t('It appears the bot is currently disconnecting. Please wait.'), 'warning');
+  }
+}
+
+// pass off IRC messages to our modules via Drupal's hook system.
+class drupal_wrapper {
+  function invoke_irc_bot_cron(&$irc)                 { module_invoke_all('irc_bot_cron'); }
+  function invoke_irc_bot_cron_faster(&$irc)          { module_invoke_all('irc_bot_cron_faster'); }
+  function invoke_irc_bot_cron_fastest(&$irc)         { module_invoke_all('irc_bot_cron_fastest'); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_unknown(&$irc, &$data)      { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_unknown', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_channel(&$irc, &$data)      { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_channel', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_query(&$irc, &$data)        { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_query', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_ctcp(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_ctcp', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_notice(&$irc, &$data)       { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_notice', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_who(&$irc, &$data)          { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_who', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_join(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_join', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_invite(&$irc, &$data)       { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_invite', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_action(&$irc, &$data)       { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_action', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_topicchange(&$irc, &$data)  { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_topicchange', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_nickchange(&$irc, &$data)   { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_nickchange', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_kick(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_kick', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_quit(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_quit', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_login(&$irc, &$data)        { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_login', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_info(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_info', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_list(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_list', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_name(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_name', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_motd(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_motd', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_modechange(&$irc, &$data)   { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_modechange', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_part(&$irc, &$data)         { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_part', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_error(&$irc, &$data)        { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_error', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_banlist(&$irc, &$data)      { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_banlist', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_topic(&$irc, &$data)        { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_topic', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_nonrelevant(&$irc, &$data)  { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_nonrelevant', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_whois(&$irc, &$data)        { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_whois', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_whowas(&$irc, &$data)       { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_whowas', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_usermode(&$irc, &$data)     { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_usermode', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_channelmode(&$irc, &$data)  { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_channelmode', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_ctcp_request(&$irc, &$data) { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_ctcp_request', $data); }
+  function invoke_irc_msg_ctcp_reply(&$irc, &$data)   { module_invoke_all('irc_msg_ctcp_reply', $data); }
+}
diff --git bot.module bot.module
index 64b83c1..cb428a4 100644
--- bot.module
+++ bot.module
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@
  * Enables a network and plugin framework for IRC bots.
  */
 
+define('BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTED',  0);
+define('BOT_STATUS_CONNECTING',    1);
+define('BOT_STATUS_CONNECTED',     2);
+define('BOT_STATUS_DISCONNECTING', 3);
+
 /**
  * Implementation of hook_help().
  */
@@ -102,6 +107,19 @@ function bot_irc_bot_cron_fastest() {
       break; // we only join one channel per 15 seconds, to prevent overloading.
     }
   }
+
+  variable_set('bot_status', BOT_STATUS_CONNECTED);
+
+  // Disconnect if directed.
+  if (!lock_may_be_available('bot_disconnect')) {
+    $irc->disconnect();
+    variable_del('bot_status');
+  }
+
+  // Log the current status for debugging purposes.
+  if (function_exists('_bot_drush_log_status')) {
+    _bot_drush_log_status(_bot_get_status());
+  }
 }
 
 /**