Hacking & Extending MeshCore

MeshCore's open protocol and Python SDK have sparked a fast-growing ecosystem of community tools, experiments, and integrations. Here's a tour of what people are building — and how to get involved.

Notable Community Projects

87+ public repositories tag themselves meshcore on GitHub. These are some of the most active and interesting:

AI / API

mesh-api

Off-grid AI & API router with 30+ extensions — connects LM Studio, Ollama, OpenAI, Claude, Home Assistant, and Twilio SMS to your LoRa mesh. Custom commands, Discord routing, GPS emergency alerts via SMS or email.

Python · mr-tbot · very active
Home Automation

meshcore-ha

Official Home Assistant integration for monitoring and controlling MeshCore radio networks. Bring your mesh nodes into your smart-home dashboard with device entities, sensors, and automations.

Python · meshcore-dev · official
MQTT / Bridge

Repeater MQTT Gateway

Firmware that bridges MeshCore LoRa networks with MQTT brokers, enabling bidirectional message flow between LoRa devices and any MQTT-based application — Node-RED, Grafana, InfluxDB, you name it.

C++ · jmead · firmware-level
Remote Terminal

Remote Terminal

A rich remote client with packet capture, store-and-decrypt, bots, and MQTT support. Great for debugging and administering your mesh nodes without being physically present.

Python · jkingsman · very active
Web UI

mc-webui

A lightweight web interface wrapping the MeshCore CLI — chat, node management, and diagnostics from a browser tab. v2 actively in development. Runs in Docker on any Linux machine.

Python / Flask · MarekWo · active

Bidirectional bridge that lets Meshtastic and MeshCore nodes talk to each other — handy for communities that run mixed fleets, or for testing cross-firmware interoperability.

Python · AkitaEngineering · active
SAR / Field Ops

meshcore-sar

A Flutter app purpose-built for search-and-rescue operations — team tracking, incident management, and offline maps over a MeshCore radio backbone. Real field use by SAR teams.

Dart / Flutter · dz0ny · active
File Transfer

Zmodem over MeshCore

Reliable file and directory transfers over low-bandwidth, high-latency LoRa using the venerable Zmodem protocol. Because why not send files across a mesh radio network?

Python · AkitaEngineering · active
Dashboard

meshcore-hub

Complete solution for monitoring, collecting, and interacting with MeshCore networks — API, MQTT, statistics, database, and a dashboard. Community focus in Suffolk/Ipswich, UK.

Python · ipnet-mesh · active
Navigation

Trail Mate

Offline-first handheld GPS navigation with LoRa comms and real-time team situational awareness — think TAK-lite for hikers and backcountry teams. MeshCore radio backend.

C · vicliu624 · active

Local Member Projects

Islanders and PNW neighbors building on the mesh:

mcoreutils

A CLI toolkit that generates maps from your device's contact list and provides a TCP bridge for the serial device. Great first tool for scripting around your node.

raincityio

mcorechat

Bridges a MeshCore device to a local Matrix Synapse server — then use Element (or any Matrix client) for chatting instead of the web app. Self-hosted, no cloud required.

raincityio

VashonMesh.org

This site itself — built with Astro, open source on GitHub. Firmware extraction scripts, device catalogs, automated repeater maps, and more. Contributions welcome.

community

Have a project to share? Submit a PR or post in the PugetMesh Discord #vashon-mesh.

Getting Started with MeshCore Development

1

Install pymc_core

The official Python SDK is your gateway to scripting against any MeshCore device over serial, BLE, or TCP. Powers most community tools above.

pip install pymc_core
2

Read the source

MeshCore firmware is open — ripplebiz/MeshCore on GitHub. The C++ codebase is well-structured and surprisingly approachable for embedded firmware.

3

Join the Discord

The MeshCore Discord is where the core developers hang out and where new ideas get incubated fastest. Protocol questions get answered in hours.

4

Browse GitHub topics

Search github.com/topics/meshcore — 87+ repos and growing. Filter by language (Python, C++, JS) to find what matches your skills.

Where to Follow the Action