openclaw-meshtastic

Standalone OpenClaw channel plugin for Meshtastic mesh networks using the official Meshtastic protobuf stack.

Overview

Connects OpenClaw to a Meshtastic device via @meshtastic/core and official transports:

Supported:

• Direct messages (DM) with pairing, allowlist, and open policies
• Mesh broadcast channels with per-channel group policy
• Reply-to threading
• Client-side AES-CTR decryption for TCP/serial transports
• Outbound text chunking for mesh size limits
• Multi-agent binding (separate agent for mesh traffic)

Requirements

• OpenClaw >= 2026.5.26
• A Meshtastic node reachable by HTTP, TCP (4403), or USB serial

Privacy and logging

Inbound mesh traffic can include personal or operational content. By default this plugin logs metadata only (account, DM vs group, sender id, target, message id, text length) — not message bodies.

To include up to 80 characters of inbound text in Gateway logs (debugging only), set:

{
  channels: {
    meshtastic: {
      logInboundMessageContent: true,
    },
  },
}

Review who can read Gateway logs and how long they are retained before enabling this. OpenClaw verbose logging (shouldLogVerbose) does not change this behavior.

Install

From a git checkout (development):

git clone https://github.com/skrashevich/openclaw-meshtastic.git
openclaw plugins install --link /path/to/openclaw-meshtastic

From npm (when published):

openclaw plugins install openclaw-meshtastic

Restart the Gateway after installing or enabling the plugin.

Quick setup

1. Enable the plugin

{
  plugins: {
    allow: ["meshtastic"],
    entries: {
      meshtastic: { enabled: true },
    },
  },
}

For local development, add the plugin path:

{
  plugins: {
    allow: ["meshtastic"],
    load: {
      paths: ["/path/to/openclaw-meshtastic"],
    },
    entries: {
      meshtastic: { enabled: true },
    },
  },
}

2. Configure the channel

HTTP (node API)

{
  channels: {
    meshtastic: {
      enabled: true,
      transport: "http",
      host: "192.168.1.10",
      port: 4433,
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      channels: [0],
      groups: {
        "channel:0": { requireMention: false },
      },
    },
  },
}

TCP (protobuf stream, e.g. serial2tcp)

{
  channels: {
    meshtastic: {
      enabled: true,
      transport: "tcp",
      host: "127.0.0.1",
      port: 4403,
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      channels: [3],
      groups: {
        "channel:3": { requireMention: false },
      },
    },
  },
}

Serial (USB)

{
  channels: {
    meshtastic: {
      enabled: true,
      transport: "serial",
      serialPath: "/dev/ttyUSB0",
      baudRate: 115200,
    },
  },
}

3. Optional: dedicate an agent to mesh traffic

To route Meshtastic messages to a separate agent (different model, workspace, or personality):

{
  agents: {
    list: [
      { id: "main", workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace" },
      {
        id: "meshtastic",
        workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace-meshtastic",
        model: { primary: "openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash" },
        tools: { profile: "messaging" },
      },
    ],
  },
  bindings: [
    { agentId: "main", match: { channel: "telegram", accountId: "default" } },
    { agentId: "meshtastic", match: { channel: "meshtastic", accountId: "default" } },
  ],
}

Without a binding, Meshtastic traffic goes to the default agent.

4. Environment variables (default account)

• MESHTASTIC_TRANSPORT — http, tcp, or serial
• MESHTASTIC_HOST — host for http/tcp (host:port allowed)
• MESHTASTIC_PORT — override port
• MESHTASTIC_TLS — true for HTTPS (http only)
• MESHTASTIC_SERIAL — serial device path

See docs/meshtastic.md for the full configuration reference.

Encryption (TCP / serial)

The HTTP transport decrypts packets server-side on the Meshtastic node. TCP and serial transports receive encrypted payloads (payloadVariant.case === "encrypted") that @meshtastic/core does not decrypt natively.

This plugin handles client-side decryption automatically for non-HTTP transports:

1. On connect, the plugin collects per-channel PSKs from the device's channel settings via onChannelPacket.
2. When an encrypted MeshPacket arrives, it is decrypted with AES-CTR (128 or 256 bit, depending on PSK length) using the nonce layout from the Meshtastic protocol spec.
3. The decrypted payload is dispatched through the normal inbound message pipeline — DM policy, group policy, allowlist checks, and agent delivery all work as with HTTP.

No extra configuration is needed; decryption is transparent.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run typecheck
npm run build

After changing src/config-schema.ts or src/config-ui-hints.ts, regenerate manifest metadata:

npm run sync-manifest

License boundary

Plugin scaffolding: MIT. This plugin depends on @meshtastic/core and official transport packages, which are GPL-3.0-only. Review GPL obligations before redistribution.