Reticulum MeshChatX

Warning

Backup your reticulum-meshchat folder before using! MeshChatX will attempt to auto-migrate whatever it can from the old database without breaking things, but it is best to keep backups.

Contact me for any issues or ideas:

LXMF: 7cc8d66b4f6a0e0e49d34af7f6077b5a

A Reticulum MeshChat fork from the future.

This project is separate from the original Reticulum MeshChat project, and is not affiliated with the original project.

Goal

To provide everything you need for Reticulum, LXMF, and LXST in one beautiful and feature-rich application.

• Desktop app (Linux, Windows, macOS)
• Self-host on your server easily with or without containers
• Mobile app (one can dream)
• Reliable, secure, fast and easy to use.

Note on macOS: You will need to manually build or use containers since I do not have a macOS machine or runner.

Quick Start (Docker - Recommended)

The easiest way to get MeshChatX running is using Docker. Our official image is multi-arch and supports linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 (Raspberry Pi, etc.).

# Pull and run the latest image
docker pull git.quad4.io/rns-things/meshchatx:latest

# Run MeshChatX in a Docker container
docker run -d \
  --name=meshchatx \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  -v $PWD/storage:/app/storage \
  # --network=host \  # Uncomment for autointerface support
  git.quad4.io/rns-things/meshchatx:latest

# Or use Docker Compose for an even easier setup
docker compose up -d

Check releases for pre-built binaries (AppImage, DEB, EXE) if you prefer standalone apps. (coming soon)

Major Features

• Full LXST Support: Custom voicemail, phonebook, contact sharing, and ringtone support.
• Interface Discovery and auto-connecting - Discover interfaces, auto-connect or connect to trusted ones, map them all!
• Multi-Identity: Switch between multiple Reticulum identities seamlessly.
• Modern UI/UX: A completely redesigned, intuitive interface.
• Integrated Maps: OpenLayers with MBTiles support for offline maps.
• Security: Read more about it in the Security section.
• Offline Docs: Access Reticulum documentation without an internet connection.
• Expanded Tools: Includes dozens of more tools.
• Page Archiving: Built-in crawler and browser for archived pages offline.
• Banishment: Banish LXMF users, Telephony, and NomadNet Nodes.
• i18n: Support for English, German, Italian, and Russian.

Screenshots

Telephony & Calling

Phone

Active Call

Call Ended

Voicemail

Ringtone Settings

Networking & Visualization

Network Visualiser

Page Archives

Archives Browser

Viewing Archived Page

Tools & Identities

Tools

Identity Management

Pipx / Global Installation

If you prefer to install MeshChatX globally using pipx, pip or uv, you can do so directly from the repository. However, you must specify the path to your built frontend files using the --public-dir flag or MESHCHAT_PUBLIC_DIR environment variable, as the static files are not bundled with the source code. The release .whl packages include the built frontend files and also there is a seperate frontend zip to grab and use.

1. Install MeshChatX:

   pipx install git+https://git.quad4.io/RNS-Things/MeshChatX
   

2. Run with Frontend Path:

   # Replace /path/to/MeshChatX/meshchatx/public with your actual path
   meshchat --public-dir /path/to/MeshChatX/meshchatx/public
   

Manual Installation (From Source)

If you want to run MeshChatX from the source code locally:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://git.quad4.io/RNS-Things/MeshChatX
   cd MeshChatX
   

2. Build the Frontend: Requires Node.js and pnpm.

   corepack enable
   pnpm install
   pnpm run build-frontend
   

3. Install & Run Backend: Requires Python 3.10+ and Poetry.

   pip install poetry
   poetry install
   poetry run meshchat --headless --host 127.0.0.1
   

Cross-Platform Building (Linux to Windows)

If you are on Linux and want to build the Windows .exe and installer locally, you can use Wine.

1. Install Windows Python and Git inside Wine:

   # Download Python installer
   wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.13.1/python-3.13.1-amd64.exe
   # Install Python to a specific path
   wine python-3.13.1-amd64.exe /quiet InstallAllUsers=1 TargetDir=C:\Python313 PrependPath=1
   
   # Download Git installer
   wget https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/download/v2.52.0.windows.1/Git-2.52.0-64-bit.exe
   # Install Git (quietly)
   wine Git-2.52.0-64-bit.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART
   

2. Install Build Dependencies in Wine:

   wine C:/Python313/python.exe -m pip install cx_Freeze poetry
   wine C:/Python313/python.exe -m pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Run the Build Task:

   # Build only the Windows portable exe
   WINE_PYTHON="wine C:/Python313/python.exe" task build-exe-wine
   
   # Or build everything (Linux + Windows) at once
   WINE_PYTHON="wine C:/Python313/python.exe" task build-electron-all-wine
   

Configuration

MeshChatX can be configured via command-line arguments or environment variables.

Argument	Environment Variable	Default	Description
--host	MESHCHAT_HOST	127.0.0.1	Web server address
--port	MESHCHAT_PORT	8000	Web server port
--no-https	MESHCHAT_NO_HTTPS	false	Disable HTTPS
--headless	MESHCHAT_HEADLESS	false	Don't launch browser
--auth	MESHCHAT_AUTH	false	Enable basic auth
--storage-dir	MESHCHAT_STORAGE_DIR	./storage	Data directory
--public-dir	MESHCHAT_PUBLIC_DIR	-	Frontend files path

Development

We use Task for automation.

Task	Description
task install	Install all dependencies
task run	Run the application
task dev	Run the application in development mode
task lint	Run all linters (Python & Frontend)
task lint-python	Lint Python code only
task lint-frontend	Lint frontend code only
task format	Format all code (Python & Frontend)
task format-python	Format Python code only
task format-frontend	Format frontend code only
task test	Run all tests
task test:cov	Run tests with coverage reports
task test-python	Run Python tests only
task test-frontend	Run frontend tests only
task build	Build frontend and backend
task build-frontend	Build only the frontend
task wheel	Build Python wheel package
task compile	Compile Python code to check for syntax errors
task build-docker	Build Docker image using buildx
task run-docker	Run Docker container using docker-compose
task build-appimage	Build Linux AppImage
task build-exe	Build Windows portable executable
task build-exe-wine	Build Windows portable (Wine cross-build)
task build-electron-linux	Build Linux Electron app
task build-electron-windows	Build Windows Electron apps
task build-electron-all-wine	Build all Electron apps (Wine cross-build)
task android-prepare	Prepare Android build
task android-build	Build Android APK
task build-flatpak	Build Flatpak package
task clean	Clean build artifacts and dependencies

Security

• ASAR Integrity (Stable as of Electron 39)
• Built-in automatic integrity checks on all files (frontend and backend)
• HTTPS by default (automated locally generated certs)
• Redundant CORS protection (loading.html, python backend server, electron main.js)
• Updated dependencies and daily scanning (OSV)
• Container image scanning (Trivy)
• SBOM for dependency observability and tracking
• Extensive testing and fuzzing.
• Rootless docker images
• Pinned actions and container images (supply chain security and deterministic builds)

Credits

• Liam Cottle - Original Reticulum MeshChat
• RFnexus - micron-parser-js
• Marqvist - Reticulum, LXMF, LXST