Off-grid radio for sovereign AI. LoRa mesh comms via Meshtastic — no internet required.

Meshtastic Skill

Control a Meshtastic node via USB for off-grid LoRa mesh communication.

Prerequisites

Configuration

Edit CONFIG.md with your node details, MQTT settings, and alert destinations.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    MQTT Bridge                               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  RECEIVE: mqtt.meshtastic.org (global JSON traffic)         │
│  PUBLISH: optional map broker (protobuf)                    │
│  SOCKET:  localhost:7331 (commands: send, status, toggle)   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Files:                                                      │
│  • /tmp/mesh_messages.txt - received messages log           │
│  • /tmp/mesh_nodes.json   - cached node positions           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─────────────┐     USB      ┌─────────────┐
│  LoRa Node  │◄────────────►│ Bridge.py   │
│  (Radio)    │              │  - Serial   │
└─────────────┘              │  - Socket   │
                             │  - MQTT     │
                             └──────┬──────┘
                                    │
           ┌────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐
           │                        │                        │
           ▼                        ▼                        ▼
    localhost:7331           /tmp/mesh_*            MQTT Broker
    (send commands)          (message logs)         (mesh traffic)

Quick Reference

Send Messages

# Via socket (preferred - works while bridge running)
echo '{"cmd":"send","text":"Hello mesh!"}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331
Direct message to specific node
echo '{"cmd":"send","text":"Hey!","to":"!abcd1234"}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331
Check status
echo '{"cmd":"status"}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331
List RF nodes (seen via radio)
echo '{"cmd":"nodes"}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331

Map Visibility (if configured)

# Toggle map publishing on/off
echo '{"cmd":"map"}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331
Explicitly enable/disable
echo '{"cmd":"map","enable":true}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331
echo '{"cmd":"map","enable":false}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331
Force immediate position report
echo '{"cmd":"map_now"}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7331

Read Messages

# Recent messages (last 20)
tail -20 /tmp/mesh_messages.txt
Filter common noise
tail -50 /tmp/mesh_messages.txt | grep -v -E "(Hello!|hey|mqtt-test)"

Message Log Format

TIMESTAMP|CHANNEL|SENDER|DISTANCE|TEXT
2026-02-02T12:43:59|LongFast|!433bf114|1572km|Moin moin!

Bridge Service

# Status
sudo systemctl status meshtastic-bridge
Restart
sudo systemctl restart meshtastic-bridge
View logs
sudo journalctl -u meshtastic-bridge -f
Stop (needed for direct CLI access)
sudo systemctl stop meshtastic-bridge

Monitoring & Alerts

Option 1: Cron Job (Recommended)

cron.add({
  name: "mesh-monitor",
  schedule: { kind: "every", everyMs: 300000 },  // 5 min
  sessionTarget: "isolated",
  payload: {
    kind: "agentTurn",
    message: "Check /tmp/mesh_messages.txt for new messages. Filter out noise (test messages, 'Hello!', 'hey'). Alert me of interesting ones with translations if non-English.",
    timeoutSeconds: 60,
    deliver: true,
    channel: "telegram"  // or your channel
  }
})

Option 2: Digest Summary

cron.add({
  name: "mesh-digest",
  schedule: { kind: "cron", expr: "0 8,14,20 * * *", tz: "Europe/Madrid" },
  sessionTarget: "isolated",
  payload: {
    kind: "agentTurn",
    message: "Read /tmp/mesh_messages.txt. Create a digest of interesting messages from the last 6 hours. Translate non-English, guess country from distance. Post summary.",
    timeoutSeconds: 120,
    deliver: true,
    channel: "telegram"
  }
})

Option 3: Spawned Monitor Agent

sessions_spawn({
  task: "Monitor /tmp/mesh_messages.txt every 30 seconds. Alert me for interesting messages (not noise). Run for 1 hour.",
  label: "mesh-monitor",
  runTimeoutSeconds: 3600
})

Distance Reference

Approximate distances for country guessing (adjust for your location):

| Distance | Typical Regions | |----------|-----------------| | <500km | Neighboring countries/regions | | 500-1000km | Medium range | | 1000-1500km | Long range | | 1500-2000km | Very long range (likely MQTT relay) | | >2000km | MQTT-bridged traffic |

Privacy Notes

Supported Hardware

| Device | Notes | |--------|-------| | RAK4631 | Recommended, reliable USB | | T-Beam | Popular, has GPS | | Heltec V3 | Budget option | | LilyGo T-Echo | E-paper display |

See references/SETUP.md for hardware-specific setup.

Regional Frequencies

| Region | Frequency | Topic Root | |--------|-----------|------------| | Europe | 868 MHz | msh/EU_868/2/json | | Americas | 915 MHz | msh/US/2/json | | Australia/NZ | 915 MHz | msh/ANZ/2/json |

Files

~/.openclaw/skills/meshtastic/
├── SKILL.md           # This file
├── CONFIG.md          # Your configuration
├── scripts/
│   └── mesh.py        # CLI wrapper
└── references/
    └── SETUP.md       # Installation guide

Troubleshooting

"Resource temporarily unavailable"

No messages appearing

Can't send messages

Considering BLE instead of USB?

Further Reading

Edit CONFIG.md with your node details, MQTT settings, and alert destinations.

"Resource temporarily unavailable"

No messages appearing

Can't send messages

Considering BLE instead of USB?