WHOIS %|[<server>] [<nicks>]

Shows whois information of the specified nick. By default, this is aliased to /WI.

/WHOIS nick1 nick1 also queries the idle time of the user. This is aliased to /WII by default.

If given nick is not in the IRC, irssi automatically sends a WHOWAS query. Read carefully the reply to see if it is a WHOIS or WHOWAS reply. :)

See also: WHO, CHANNEL