📡 LXMF Signal Echo Bot

LXMF Bot for Reticulum — Echo, Signal Stats & Network Info

Author: F (Reticulum Italia) — Based on MeteoBot v1.0 GitHub: github.com/fr33n0w/meteobot

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📖 Description

Signal Echo Bot is an LXMF bot for the Reticulum network offering:

Command	Description
🔁 ECHO	Echoes back the received message with latency and hops
📶 SIG	Shows RSSI, SNR and Link Quality (with RNode LoRa)
📊 STATUS	Full report with all available information
❓ HELP	Command guide

The bot automatically creates a persistent RNS identity (saved to disk) and listens on Reticulum as an LXMF peer reachable from any compatible client.

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🧩 Requirements

• 🐍 Python 3.7+
• 📡 Reticulum Network Stack (RNS) already installed and configured
• ✉️ LXMF (included with RNS or installable separately)

Install dependencies:

pip install rns

If LXMF is not included:

pip install lxmf

⚠️ Note: the bot requires Reticulum to be already configured on the system (config files in ~/.reticulum or /etc/reticulum). For RNode LoRa, configure the interface in the Reticulum configuration file.

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⚙️ Installation

1. Create the directory and copy the file:

mkdir ~/rns_sig_bot
cd ~/rns_sig_bot
# copy rns_sig_bot.py here

2. Verify RNS is installed:

python3 -c "import RNS; print(RNS.__version__)"

3. Verify LXMF is available:

python3 -c "import LXMF; print('OK')"

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🚀 Launch as User (Interactive Mode)

Launch the bot in interactive mode with guided setup:

cd ~/rns_sig_bot
python3 rns_sig_bot.py

The bot will show an intro screen and ask for:

• 🏷️ Bot display name
• ⏱️ Auto-announce interval (seconds)
• 💰 Incoming message stamp cost (0 = free)

Finally it will display the bot's LXMF address, visible to all clients on the Reticulum network.

🛑 To exit: press Ctrl + C

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🤖 Launch as User (Service Mode, No Prompts)

To launch the bot without interaction (e.g. from screen, tmux, or a script):

cd ~/rns_sig_bot
python3 rns_sig_bot.py --service --display_name "Signal Echo Bot" --announce_time 300 --stamp_cost 0

Available parameters

Parameter	Description
--display_name "Bot Name"	Display name on the network
--announce_time 300	Seconds between auto-announces
--stamp_cost 0	Stamp cost (0-256, 0 = disabled)
--identity ./rns_sig_bot_identity	Path to persistent identity file
--storage ./tmp_rns_sig_bot	LXMF storage path
--service	Enable service mode (no prompts)

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🖥️ Launch as systemd Service (Auto-Start on Boot)

1. Create the service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/rns_sigbot.service

2. Paste the following content (adjust User and WorkingDirectory):

[Unit]
Description=LXMF Signal Echo Bot
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/rns_sig_bot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/rns_sig_bot/rns_sig_bot.py --service --display_name "Signal Echo Bot" --announce_time 300 --stamp_cost 0
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

3. Reload systemd and enable the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable rns_sigbot
sudo systemctl start rns_sigbot

4. Check status:

sudo systemctl status rns_sigbot
sudo journalctl -u rns_sigbot -f

5. Useful commands:

sudo systemctl stop rns_sigbot       # Stop the service
sudo systemctl restart rns_sigbot    # Restart the service
sudo systemctl disable rns_sigbot    # Disable auto-start

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💬 Available Commands

From any LXMF client (Sideband, NomadNet, Terminal, etc.) send:

Command	Alias	Action
echo <text>	e <text>	🔁 Echo the message
sig	s	📶 Signal statistics
status	st	📊 Full report
help	h	❓ Command guide

ℹ️ Note: the remote client can be any LXMF-compatible application, not just Sideband. Works with NomadNet, custom LXMF clients, etc.

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📶 Signal Stats (RSSI / SNR / Q)

Signal values are available ONLY when the bot is connected to Reticulum via an RNode LoRa interface. On TCP/IP, AutoInterface or other non-radio interfaces, values will be N/A.

The displayed signal is INBOUND to the bot: how the bot "hears" the remote node that sent the message.

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📁 Generated Files

File / Directory	Description
rns_sig_bot_identity	Persistent identity private key
./tmp_rns_sig_bot/	LXMF storage (messages, cache, etc.)

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'RNS'	➡️ pip install rns
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'LXMF'	➡️ pip install lxmf
RSSI/SNR always N/A	➡️ Normal without RNode LoRa. Connect an RNode via USB/serial.
Hops = Unknown	➡️ Normal if sender is direct or no transport is active.
Bot does not appear in clients	➡️ Verify Reticulum is running (rnsd or master instance). Verify announce_time is > 0.

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📜 License

Based on LXMF Meteo Bot v1.0 by F, Reticulum Italia. Open source code. Modify and distribute freely. 🆓

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Made with ❤️ for the Reticulum network 📡