diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/AntiFlood.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/AntiFlood.pm
index 3f66ee02..59a310c4 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/AntiFlood.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/AntiFlood.pm
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ sub initialize {
     my ($self, %conf) = @_;
 
     # flags for 'validated' field
-    $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED} = (1 << 0);
-    $self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN}     = (1 << 1);
+    use constant {
+        NICKSERV_VALIDATED => (1 << 0),
+        NEEDS_CHECKBAN     => (1 << 1),
+    };
 
     $self->{channels}      = {};    # per-channel statistics, e.g. for optimized tracking of last spoken nick for enter-abuse detection, etc
     $self->{nickflood}     = {};    # statistics to track nickchange flooding
@@ -188,6 +190,29 @@ sub check_flood {
         return;
     }
 
+    my $needs_checkban = 0;
+
+    if (defined $context && defined $context->{tags}) {
+        my $tags = $self->{pbot}->{irc}->get_tags($context->{tags});
+
+        if (defined $tags->{account}) {
+            my $nickserv_account = $tags->{account};
+            my $current_nickserv_account = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_current_nickserv_account($account);
+
+            if ($self->{pbot}->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'debug_tags')) {
+                $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("($account) $mask got account-tag $nickserv_account\n");
+            }
+
+            if ($current_nickserv_account ne $nickserv_account) {
+                $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("[MH] ($account) $mask updating NickServ to $nickserv_account\n");
+                $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->set_current_nickserv_account($account, $nickserv_account);
+                $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_nickserv_account($account, $nickserv_account, scalar gettimeofday);
+                $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->link_aliases($account, $mask, $nickserv_account);
+                $needs_checkban = 1;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     my $channels;
     if ($mode == MSG_NICKCHANGE) {
         $channels = $self->{pbot}->{nicklist}->get_channels($oldnick);
@@ -205,14 +230,16 @@ sub check_flood {
         if ($chan =~ /^#/ and $mode == MSG_DEPARTURE) {
             # remove validation on PART or KICK so we check for ban-evasion when user returns at a later time
             my $chan_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($account, $chan, 'validated');
-            if ($chan_data->{validated} & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
-                $chan_data->{validated} &= ~$self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED};
+            if ($chan_data->{validated} & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
+                $chan_data->{validated} &= ~NICKSERV_VALIDATED;
                 $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($account, $chan, $chan_data);
             }
             next;
         }
 
-        if ($self->{pbot}->{capabilities}->userhas($u, 'is-whitelisted')) { next; }
+        next if $self->{pbot}->{capabilities}->userhas($u, 'is-whitelisted');
+
+        $self->check_bans($account, $mask, $chan) if $needs_checkban;
 
         if ($max_messages > $self->{pbot}->{registry}->get_value('messagehistory', 'max_messages')) {
             $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Warning: max_messages greater than max_messages limit; truncating.\n");
@@ -223,7 +250,7 @@ sub check_flood {
         if ($chan =~ m/^#/) {
             my $validated = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($account, $chan, 'validated')->{'validated'};
 
-            if ($validated & $self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN} or not $validated & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
+            if ($validated & NEEDS_CHECKBAN or not $validated & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
                 if ($mode == MSG_DEPARTURE) {
                     # don't check for evasion on PART/KICK
                 } elsif ($mode == MSG_NICKCHANGE) {
@@ -575,8 +602,8 @@ sub devalidate_accounts {
 
     foreach my $account (@message_accounts) {
         my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($account, $channel, 'validated');
-        if (defined $channel_data and $channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
-            $channel_data->{validated} &= ~$self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED};
+        if (defined $channel_data and $channel_data->{validated} & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
+            $channel_data->{validated} &= ~NICKSERV_VALIDATED;
 
             #$self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Devalidating account $account\n");
             $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($account, $channel, $channel_data);
@@ -605,16 +632,16 @@ sub check_bans {
     if (defined $current_nickserv_account and length $current_nickserv_account) {
         $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("anti-flood: [check-bans] current nickserv [$current_nickserv_account] found for $mask\n") if $debug_checkban >= 2;
         my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($message_account, $channel, 'validated');
-        if ($channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN}) {
-            $channel_data->{validated} &= ~$self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN};
+        if ($channel_data->{validated} & NEEDS_CHECKBAN) {
+            $channel_data->{validated} &= ~NEEDS_CHECKBAN;
             $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($message_account, $channel, $channel_data);
         }
     } else {
         if (not exists $self->{pbot}->{irc_capabilities}->{'account-notify'}) {
             # mark this account as needing check-bans when nickserv account is identified
             my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($message_account, $channel, 'validated');
-            if (not $channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN}) {
-                $channel_data->{validated} |= $self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN};
+            if (not $channel_data->{validated} & NEEDS_CHECKBAN) {
+                $channel_data->{validated} |= NEEDS_CHECKBAN;
                 $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($message_account, $channel, $channel_data);
             }
             $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("anti-flood: [check-bans] no account for $mask; marking for later validation\n") if $debug_checkban >= 1;
@@ -685,8 +712,8 @@ sub check_bans {
                         $self->{pbot}->{logger}
                           ->log("anti-flood: [check-bans] $mask [$alias] evaded $baninfo->{mask} in $baninfo->{channel}, but within 5 seconds of establishing ban; giving another chance\n");
                         my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($message_account, $channel, 'validated');
-                        if ($channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
-                            $channel_data->{validated} &= ~$self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED};
+                        if ($channel_data->{validated} & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
+                            $channel_data->{validated} &= ~NICKSERV_VALIDATED;
                             $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($message_account, $channel, $channel_data);
                         }
                         $do_not_validate = 1;
@@ -792,8 +819,8 @@ sub check_bans {
                 );
             }
             my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($message_account, $channel, 'validated');
-            if ($channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
-                $channel_data->{validated} &= ~$self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED};
+            if ($channel_data->{validated} & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
+                $channel_data->{validated} &= ~NICKSERV_VALIDATED;
                 $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($message_account, $channel, $channel_data);
             }
             return;
@@ -802,8 +829,8 @@ sub check_bans {
 
     unless ($do_not_validate) {
         my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($message_account, $channel, 'validated');
-        if (not $channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
-            $channel_data->{validated} |= $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED};
+        if (not $channel_data->{validated} & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
+            $channel_data->{validated} |= NICKSERV_VALIDATED;
             $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_channel_data($message_account, $channel, $channel_data);
         }
     }
@@ -825,7 +852,7 @@ sub on_endofwhois {
     foreach my $channel (@$channels) {
         next unless $channel =~ /^#/;
         my $channel_data = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_channel_data($id, $channel, 'validated');
-        if ($channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NEEDS_CHECKBAN} or not $channel_data->{validated} & $self->{NICKSERV_VALIDATED}) {
+        if ($channel_data->{validated} & NEEDS_CHECKBAN or not $channel_data->{validated} & NICKSERV_VALIDATED) {
             $self->check_bans($id, $hostmask, $channel);
         }
     }
@@ -870,7 +897,7 @@ sub on_accountnotify {
 
     my $mask = $event->{event}->{from};
     my ($nick, $user, $host) = $mask =~ m/^([^!]+)!([^@]+)@(.*)/;
-    my $account = $event->{event}->{args}[0];
+    my $account = $event->{event}{args}[0];
     my $id = $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->get_message_account($nick, $user, $host);
 
     $self->{pbot}->{messagehistory}->{database}->update_hostmask_data($mask, {last_seen => scalar gettimeofday});
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Cap.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Cap.pm
index c94f2dd3..1fc3b04c 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Cap.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Cap.pm
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ package PBot::Core::Handlers::Cap;
 use PBot::Imports;
 use parent 'PBot::Core::Class';
 
+use POSIX qw/EXIT_FAILURE/;
+
 sub initialize {
     my ($self, %conf) = @_;
 
@@ -22,28 +24,16 @@ sub initialize {
 sub on_cap {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
 
-    # configure client capabilities that PBot currently supports
-    my %desired_caps = (
-        'account-notify' => 1,
-        'extended-join'  => 1,
-
-        # TODO: unsupported capabilities worth looking into
-        'away-notify'    => 0,
-        'chghost'        => 0,
-        'identify-msg'   => 0,
-        'multi-prefix'   => 0,
-    );
-
     if ($event->{event}->{args}->[0] eq 'LS') {
         my $capabilities;
-        my $caps_done = 0;
+        my $caps_listed = 0;
 
         if ($event->{event}->{args}->[1] eq '*') {
             # more CAP LS messages coming
             $capabilities = $event->{event}->{args}->[2];
         } else {
             # final CAP LS message
-            $caps_done    = 1;
+            $caps_listed    = 1;
             $capabilities = $event->{event}->{args}->[1];
         }
 
@@ -51,36 +41,20 @@ sub on_cap {
 
         my @caps = split /\s+/, $capabilities;
 
+        # store available capabilities
         foreach my $cap (@caps) {
             my $value;
 
-            if ($cap =~ /=/) {
-                ($cap, $value) = split /=/, $cap;
-            } else {
-                $value = 1;
-            }
+            ($cap, $value) = split /=/, $cap;
+            $value //= 1;
 
-            # store available capability
             $self->{pbot}->{irc_capabilities_available}->{$cap} = $value;
-
-            # request desired capabilities
-            if ($desired_caps{$cap}) {
-                $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Requesting client capability $cap\n");
-                $event->{conn}->sl("CAP REQ :$cap");
-            }
         }
 
-        # capability negotiation done
-        # now we either start SASL authentication or we send CAP END
-        if ($caps_done) {
-            # start SASL authentication if enabled
-            if ($self->{pbot}->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'sasl')) {
-                $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Requesting client capability sasl\n");
-                $event->{conn}->sl("CAP REQ :sasl");
-            } else {
-                $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Completed client capability negotiation\n");
-                $event->{conn}->sl("CAP END");
-            }
+        # all capabilities listed?
+        if ($caps_listed) {
+            # request desired capabilities
+            $self->request_caps($event);
         }
     }
     elsif ($event->{event}->{args}->[0] eq 'ACK') {
@@ -89,7 +63,10 @@ sub on_cap {
         my @caps = split /\s+/, $event->{event}->{args}->[1];
 
         foreach my $cap (@caps) {
-            $self->{pbot}->{irc_capabilities}->{$cap} = 1;
+            my ($key, $val) = split '=', $cap;
+            $val //= 1;
+
+            $self->{pbot}->{irc_capabilities}->{$key} = $val;
 
             if ($cap eq 'sasl') {
                 # begin SASL authentication
@@ -111,4 +88,45 @@ sub on_cap {
     return 1;
 }
 
+sub request_caps {
+    my ($self, $event) = @_;
+
+    # configure client capabilities that PBot currently supports
+    my %desired_caps = (
+        'account-notify' => 1,
+        'account-tag'    => 1,
+        'extended-join'  => 1,
+        'message-tags'   => 1,
+        # sasl is gated by the irc.sasl registry entry instead
+
+        # TODO: unsupported capabilities worth looking into
+        'away-notify'    => 0,
+        'chghost'        => 0,
+        'identify-msg'   => 0,
+        'multi-prefix'   => 0,
+    );
+
+    foreach my $cap (keys $self->{pbot}->{irc_capabilities_available}->%*) {
+        # request desired capabilities
+        if ($desired_caps{$cap}) {
+            $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Requesting client capability $cap\n");
+            $event->{conn}->sl("CAP REQ :$cap");
+        }
+    }
+
+    # request SASL capability if enabled, otherwise end cap negotiation
+    if ($self->{pbot}->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'sasl')) {
+        if (not exists $self->{pbot}->{irc_capabilities_available}->{sasl}) {
+            $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("SASL is not supported by this IRC server\n");
+            $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+        }
+
+        $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Requesting client capability sasl\n");
+        $event->{conn}->sl("CAP REQ :sasl");
+    } else {
+        $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Completed client capability negotiation\n");
+        $event->{conn}->sl("CAP END");
+    }
+}
+
 1;
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Chat.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Chat.pm
index 0979cca7..44c04bbf 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Chat.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Chat.pm
@@ -52,18 +52,19 @@ sub on_notice {
 sub on_public {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
 
-    my ($from, $nick, $user, $host, $text) = (
+    my ($from, $nick, $user, $host, $text, $tags) = (
         $event->{event}->{to}->[0],
         $event->{event}->nick,
         $event->{event}->user,
         $event->{event}->host,
         $event->{event}->{args}->[0],
+        $event->{event}->{args}->[1],
     );
 
     ($nick, $user, $host) = $self->{pbot}->{irchandlers}->normalize_hostmask($nick, $user, $host);
 
     # send text to be processed for bot commands, anti-flood enforcement, etc
-    $event->{interpreted} = $self->{pbot}->{interpreter}->process_line($from, $nick, $user, $host, $text);
+    $event->{interpreted} = $self->{pbot}->{interpreter}->process_line($from, $nick, $user, $host, $text, $tags);
 
     return 1;
 }
@@ -82,17 +83,18 @@ sub on_action {
 sub on_msg {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
 
-    my ($nick, $user, $host, $text) = (
+    my ($nick, $user, $host, $text, $tags) = (
         $event->{event}->nick,
         $event->{event}->user,
         $event->{event}->host,
         $event->{event}->{args}->[0],
+        $event->{event}->{args}->[1],
     );
 
     ($nick, $user, $host) = $self->{pbot}->{irchandlers}->normalize_hostmask($nick, $user, $host);
 
     # send text to be processed as a bot command, in "channel" $nick
-    $event->{interpreted} = $self->{pbot}->{interpreter}->process_line($nick, $nick, $user, $host, $text, 1);
+    $event->{interpreted} = $self->{pbot}->{interpreter}->process_line($nick, $nick, $user, $host, $text, $tags, 1);
 
     return 1;
 }
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm
index c22575b7..bde5f9c6 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ package PBot::Core::Handlers::SASL;
 use PBot::Imports;
 use parent 'PBot::Core::Class';
 
-use POSIX qw/EXIT_SUCCESS EXIT_FAILURE/;
+use POSIX qw/EXIT_FAILURE/;
 use Encode;
 use MIME::Base64;
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ sub on_sasl_authenticate {
 
 sub on_rpl_loggedin {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
-    $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log($event->{event}->{args}->[1] . "\n");
+    $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log($event->{event}->{args}->[3] . "\n");
     return 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/IRC.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/IRC.pm
index fb8ead26..b9de2cc7 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/IRC.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/IRC.pm
@@ -260,6 +260,23 @@ sub timeout {
     return $self->{_timeout};
 }
 
+# parses message tags into a hashref
+sub get_tags {
+    my ($self, $tags) = @_;
+
+    $self->{_pbot}->{logger}->log("Message tags: [$tags]\n");
+
+    my @list = split ';', $tags;
+    my %hash;
+
+    foreach my $tag (@list) {
+        my ($key, $val) = split '=', $tag;
+        $hash{$key} = $val;
+    }
+
+    return \%hash;
+}
+
 1;
 
 __END__
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/IRC/Connection.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/IRC/Connection.pm
index 51243805..548ae05b 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/IRC/Connection.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/IRC/Connection.pm
@@ -508,9 +508,9 @@ sub handler {
         croak "Not enough arguments to handler()";
     }
 
-    print STDERR "Trying to handle event '$ev'.\n" if $self->{_debug};
+    print STDERR "--- Trying to handle event '$ev'.\n" if $self->{_debug};
 
-    if ($self->{_debug}) {
+    if ($self->{_debug} > 1) {
         use Data::Dumper;
         print STDERR "ev: ", Dumper($ev), "\nevent: ", Dumper($event), "\n";
     }
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@ sub handler {
         confess "Bad parameter passed to handler(): rp=$rp";
     }
 
-    print STDERR "Handler for '$ev' called.\n" if $self->{_debug};
+    print STDERR "--- Handler for '$ev' called.\n" if $self->{_debug};
 
     return 1;
 }
@@ -838,7 +838,7 @@ sub oper {
 # appropriate handler. Takes no args, really.
 sub parse {
     my ($self) = shift;
-    my ($from, $type, $message, @stuff, $itype, $ev, @lines, $line);
+    my ($from, $type, $message, @stuff, $itype, $ev, @lines, $line, $tags);
 
     my $n;
 
@@ -920,7 +920,9 @@ sub parse {
             # Spurious backslashes are for the benefit of cperl-mode.
             # Assumption:  all non-numeric message types begin with a letter
         } elsif (
-            $line =~ /^:?
+            $line =~ /^
+            (?:\@\S+\s)?             # Optional message tags
+            :?                       # Initial colon
             (?:[][}{\w\\\`^|\-]+?    # The nick (valid nickname chars)
              !                       # The nick-username separator
              .+?                     # The username
@@ -932,6 +934,8 @@ sub parse {
             /x
           )    # That ought to do it for now...
         {
+            $tags = undef;
+            $tags = $1 if $line =~ s/^@(\S+)\s//;
             $line = substr $line, 1 if $line =~ /^:/;
 
             # Patch submitted for v.0.72
@@ -939,7 +943,7 @@ sub parse {
             # ($from, $line) = split ":", $line, 2;
             ($from, $line) = $line =~ /^(?:|)(\S+\s+[^:]+):?(.*)/;
 
-            print STDERR "from: [$from], line: [$line]\n" if $self->{_debug};
+            print STDERR "from: [$from], line: [$line]\n" if $self->{_debug} > 2;
 
             ($from, $type, @stuff) = split /\s+/, $from;
             $type = lc $type;
@@ -986,8 +990,9 @@ sub parse {
             #                  quotemeta($_)));  /$from/ }
             # ($self->ignore($type), $self->ignore("all"));
 
-            # Add $line to @stuff for the handlers
+            # Add $line and $tags to @stuff for the handlers
             push @stuff, $line if defined $line;
+            push @stuff, $tags if defined $tags;
 
             # Now ship it off to the appropriate handler and forget about it.
             if ($itype eq "ctcp") {    # it's got CTCP in it!
@@ -1251,6 +1256,9 @@ sub privmsg {
 
     my $buf    = CORE::join '', @_;
     my $length = $self->{_maxlinelen} - 11 - length($to);
+
+    print STDERR "privmsg trunc length: $length; msg len: " . (length $buf) . "\n" if $self->{_debug};
+
     my $line;
 
     if (ref($to) =~ /^(GLOB|IO::Socket)/) {
@@ -1261,8 +1269,11 @@ sub privmsg {
     } else {
         while (length($buf) > 0) {
             ($line, $buf) = unpack("a$length a*", $buf);
-            if   (ref $to eq 'ARRAY') { $self->sl("PRIVMSG ", CORE::join(',', @$to), " :$line"); }
-            else                      { $self->sl("PRIVMSG $to :$line"); }
+            if (ref $to eq 'ARRAY') {
+                $self->sl("PRIVMSG ", CORE::join(',', @$to), " :$line");
+            } else {
+                $self->sl("PRIVMSG $to :$line");
+            }
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1319,7 +1330,7 @@ sub schedule {
     unless ($coderef)                { croak 'Not enough arguments to Connection->schedule()'; }
     unless (ref($coderef) eq 'CODE') { croak 'Second argument to schedule() isn\'t a coderef'; }
 
-    print STDERR "Scheduling event with time [$time]\n" if $self->{_debug};
+    print STDERR "Scheduling event with time [$time]\n" if $self->{_debug} > 1;
     $time += time;
     $self->parent->enqueue_scheduled_event($time, $coderef, $self, @_);
 }
@@ -1332,7 +1343,7 @@ sub schedule_output_event {
     unless ($coderef)                { croak 'Not enough arguments to Connection->schedule()'; }
     unless (ref($coderef) eq 'CODE') { croak 'Second argument to schedule() isn\'t a coderef'; }
 
-    print STDERR "Scheduling output event with time [$time] [$_[0]]\n" if $self->{_debug};
+    print STDERR "Scheduling output event with time [$time] [$_[0]]\n" if $self->{_debug} > 1;
     $time += time;
     $self->parent->enqueue_output_event($time, $coderef, $self, @_);
 }
@@ -1395,6 +1406,10 @@ sub sl {
     if ($self->{_slcount} < 10) {
         $self->{_slcount}++;
         $self->{_lastsl} = time;
+
+        ### DEBUG DEBUG DEBUG
+        if ($self->{_debug} > 1) { print STDERR "S-> 0 " . (length ($line) + 2) . " $line\n"; }
+
         return $self->schedule_output_event(0, \&sl_real, $line);
     }
 
@@ -1413,7 +1428,7 @@ sub sl {
     }
 
     ### DEBUG DEBUG DEBUG
-    if ($self->{_debug}) { print STDERR "S-> $seconds $line\n"; }
+    if ($self->{_debug} > 1) { print STDERR "S-> $seconds " . (length ($line) + 2) . " $line\n"; }
 
     $self->schedule_output_event($seconds, \&sl_real, $line);
 }
@@ -1428,7 +1443,7 @@ sub sl_real {
     unless ($line) { croak "Not enough arguments to sl_real()"; }
 
     ### DEBUG DEBUG DEBUG
-    if ($self->{_debug}) { print STDERR ">>> $line\n"; }
+    if ($self->{_debug}) { print STDERR ">>> (" . (length ($line) + 2) . ") $line\n"; }
 
     return unless defined $self->socket;
 
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
index f4bdf679..34b9c0b9 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ sub initialize {
 # this is the main entry point for a message to be parsed into commands
 # and to execute those commands and process their output
 sub process_line {
-    my ($self, $from, $nick, $user, $host, $text, $is_command) = @_;
+    my ($self, $from, $nick, $user, $host, $text, $tags, $is_command) = @_;
 
     # lowercase `from` field for case-insensitivity
     $from = lc $from;
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ sub process_line {
         host     => $host,                 # hostname/ip address
         hostmask => "$nick!$user\@$host",  # full hostmask
         text     => $text,                 # message contents
+        tags     => $tags,                 # message tags
     };
 
     # add hostmask to user/message tracking database and get their account id
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/StdinReader.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/StdinReader.pm
index ace9ccba..531ded05 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/StdinReader.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/StdinReader.pm
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ sub stdin_reader {
     my $botnick = $self->{pbot}->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'botnick');
 
     # process input as a bot command
-    return $self->{pbot}->{interpreter}->process_line('stdin@pbot', $botnick, "stdin", "pbot", $input, 1);
+    return $self->{pbot}->{interpreter}->process_line('stdin@pbot', $botnick, "stdin", "pbot", $input, undef, 1);
 }
 
 1;
diff --git a/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm b/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
index c6ee7ad9..678e26b6 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ use PBot::Imports;
 # These are set by the /misc/update_version script
 use constant {
     BUILD_NAME     => "PBot",
-    BUILD_REVISION => 4605,
-    BUILD_DATE     => "2023-01-24",
+    BUILD_REVISION => 4606,
+    BUILD_DATE     => "2023-01-27",
 };
 
 sub initialize {}