Meshprobe

CLI toolkit for probing, inspecting, and interacting with Meshtastic networks over MQTT.

Features

• Listen to and decode Meshtastic MQTT traffic with hex dumps
• Send text messages, positions, node info, and telemetry
• Publish to map reporting topics
• Decrypt packets with channel PSK or OpenSSL encryption
• Filter and analyze specific packet types
• Track and log node database locally

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Packages: paho-mqtt, meshtastic (protobufs)
• Optional: argcomplete (for tab completion)

Installation

pip install paho-mqtt meshtastic argcomplete

Quick Start

1. Create default configs:

   python3 meshprobe.py --create-configs
   # Or run as module:
   python3 -m meshprobe --create-configs

   This creates server_config.json, node_config.json, and client_config.json.

2. Edit node_config.json and set a valid node ID (e.g., "!da548c90"). Optionally configure channel PSKs.

3. Listen to messages:

   python3 meshprobe.py listen --duration 60
   # Or run as module:
   python3 -m meshprobe listen --duration 60

Usage

Meshprobe can be run in two ways:

• As a script: python3 meshprobe.py <command>
• As a module: python3 -m meshprobe <command>

Basic Commands

Listen and inspect MQTT traffic:

python3 meshprobe.py listen --hex-dump decrypted --colored --filter text,position

Hex dump modes: full, payload, encrypted, decrypted, raw Filter types: text, position, nodeinfo, telemetry, routing, neighbor, map, encrypted, ascii

Send text message:

python3 meshprobe.py text @da548c90 "hello" --channel 0 --hops 3

Optional encryption: --openssl-password <pwd>, --pbkdf2-iter 10000, --base64

Publish to map:

python3 meshprobe.py map --hex-dump

Send position:

python3 meshprobe.py position @da548c90 --randomize

Broadcast node info or telemetry:

python3 meshprobe.py nodeinfo
python3 meshprobe.py telemetry
python3 meshprobe.py telemetry:env

Global Options

• --root-topic msh/US - Override MQTT root topic (e.g., msh/EU_868)
• --psk <base64> - Override PSK for all channels

Configuration Files

server_config.json - MQTT broker settings (host, port, credentials)

node_config.json - Node identity and channel configuration

• node_id must start with ! (e.g., "!12345678")
• Define channels: { "0": { "name": "LongFast", "psk": "AQ==" } }

client_config.json - Local behavior (node DB flush interval, nodes/ directory)

Output

Messages display with clear separators showing:

• MQTT topic
• From/to node IDs
• Channel and packet ID
• Message type and parsed content
• Optional hex dumps (when enabled)

On exit, a summary shows packet counts by type and decryption success/failure statistics.

Tips

• Tab completion is available with argcomplete for --root-topic and filter options
• Node data is automatically logged to the nodes/ directory
• Use --colored for ANSI color output in hex dumps

Troubleshooting

Import errors:

pip install meshtastic paho-mqtt

Connection failures:

• Verify broker settings in server_config.json
• Check network access to MQTT host/port
• Ensure credentials are correct