Mesh BBS is a community bulletin board you can read and write through a browser, MeshCore, Meshtastic, or Reticulum. It runs on a computer or Pi connected to your networks. People can share newsletters, create boards, and hold conversations without everyone using the same radio protocol or app.
Each host saves its own copy. Operators can pair trusted hosts over Reticulum so posts catch up after an outage. A region name alone does not connect hosts; community setup explains pairing.
This is pilot software. Tests cover storage, retries, real Reticulum links, browsers, and radio SDKs connected to protocol emulators. Community-scale RF reliability and airtime still need field testing. See project status.
Ask your operator for the BBS node or address, then:
| Connection | Start here |
|---|---|
| MeshCore | Open a private chat with the BBS companion and send help. |
| Meshtastic | Send the BBS node a direct message containing help. |
| Reticulum messaging | Send help to the BBS's LXMF address. |
| NomadNet | Open the BBS node's /page/index.mu page. |
| Web | Open the host's web address. Reading needs no account. |
The DM menu is the same on all three messaging protocols: 1 News, 2 Boards,
3 Write/resume. Reply with a number. To write, choose a board or create one,
send a title and text, then send done to review and publish to save it.
menu returns to the start; 3 resumes your draft. Long posts arrive one page
at a time when you request them. If a reply is missing, send resend to
repeat it without skipping a page or submitting your text twice.
News is reserved for automatic imports. Human posts and replies belong on community boards, including when the author has an editor key.
Optional channel notices tell you what changed and how to read it:
New post in running:
"mesh runners!"
To read it, send me a private message: read #7
Send read #7 to the node that posted the notice, then next when prompted.
The number stays attached to that post on that host. For the full walkthrough,
see reading and posting.
Posts can use Micron formatting in the web reader and NomadNet,
with plain-text reading over the radio protocols. Choose Micron in the composer
or start the body with #!micron from a radio.
On Linux or macOS, install as your normal user. Intel Mac users need the source-build prerequisites first.
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Colorado-Mesh/mesh-bbs/main/install.sh | shThe setup wizard offers Colorado Mesh or another community, then helps
configure radios, Reticulum, feeds, and web access. You can rerun connection
setup with mesh-bbs --region YOUR-REGION configure.
For Colorado Mesh, the next steps are:
mesh-bbs --region colorado-mesh init
mesh-bbs --region colorado-mesh web-access create alice
mesh-bbs --region colorado-mesh serveReplace alice with your name and save the printed key privately. Open
http://127.0.0.1:8080, or the address printed by your configuration. Sign in
at /connect to create boards and posts. Another community uses its chosen
region in those commands. Setup prints commands for custom paths and ports.
The Colorado preset imports full blog articles and the published newsletters' Markdown text every 15 minutes. Other communities can supply their own RSS or Atom feeds. Paired hosts share posts and new boards; drafts, keys, radio settings, and short reading numbers stay local.
Use standard MeshCore companion or Meshtastic firmware. The BBS needs neither custom firmware, MeshCore Room Servers, nor Mesh Client. An operator-managed packet terminal is also available.
To follow new main commits after CI passes, run mesh-bbs --region colorado-mesh updates enable and restart the host. Setup also offers 6 Automatic updates.
Updates prepare a separate installation while the BBS runs, then briefly restart
it. The updater guide covers status, disabling updates,
snapshots, and recovery. Existing hosts stay opted out.
| I want to… | Guide |
|---|---|
| Read, post, reply, or recover a draft | Commands |
| Format a post with headings, colors, and links | Micron |
| Install or update the application | Installation |
| Start another community or pair hosts | Community setup |
| Run a service, use Tailscale, back up, or diagnose a connection | Operations |
| Enable automatic updates or recover a failed update | Updates |
| Edit configuration by hand | Annotated configuration |
| Understand identity, deduplication, and replication | Architecture |
| Add a transport or packet gateway | Transport integration |
| Build and test a change | Development |
Project status, radio recovery, and web design record implemented behavior and remaining work. AGENTS.md contains contributor instructions.