Meshtastic Python CLI installation
This library provides a command line interface (CLI) for managing the user settings of Meshtastic nodes and provides an easy API for sending and receiving messages over mesh radios. Events are delivered using a publish-subscribe model, and you can subscribe to only the message types you are interested in.
The Meshtastic-python repo and API documentation are excellent sources of information.
If you wish to view the code or contribute to development of the python library or the command line interface, please visit the Meshtastic python GitHub page.
There are standalone executables for Windows and Ubuntu if you do not want to install python and/or the python libraries required to run the meshtastic CLI tool. See Standalone for more information.
Installation can also be easily done through the Python package installer pip:
You must use pip version 20 or later. To upgrade to the latest pip, do: pip install --upgrade pip
Make sure that the PATH variable
also gets installed by checking the box while installing python. If you don't, python may not be available and you may not be able to call meshtastic
from your CLI. If you do forget to check that box, you will need to install the path environment variable for python on your operating system.
You may need to install a driver from Silicon Labs for the CP210X USB to UART bridge
Some newer boards may require the drivers for the CH9102 or Direct Download for Windows 7.
- Linux
- macOS
- Windows
- Termux for Android
-
Check that your computer has the required serial drivers installed
- Connect your Meshtastic device to your USB port
- Use the command
lsusb
- You should see something like:
ID 10c4:ea60 Silicon Labs CP210x UART Bridge
for CP210XID 1a86:55d4 QinHeng Electronics USB Single Serial
for CH9102
-
Check that your computer has Python 3 installed.
- Use the command
python3 -V
- If this does not return a version, install python
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3
- Use the command
-
Pip is typically installed if you are using python 3 version >= 3.4
- Check that pip is installed using this command
pip3 -V
- If this does not return a version, install pip
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
- Check that pip is installed using this command
-
Optional: use a python virtual environment (otherwise jump to step "Install pytap2")
- Install python-virtualenvwrapper (arch based distros as an example)
sudo pacman -Syu python-virtualenvwrapper
- Create a virtual environment
source /usr/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh
mkvirtualenv meshtastic
workon meshtastic
- Install python-virtualenvwrapper (arch based distros as an example)
-
Install pytap2
pip3 install --upgrade pytap2
-
Install meshtastic:
pip3 install --upgrade meshtastic
-
Check that your computer has the required serial drivers installed
- Connect your Meshtastic device to your USB port
- Navigate to
Apple Menu > About This Mac > System Report... > Hardware > USB
- You should see something like
CP210X USB to UART Bridge Controller
- If not download the drivers from Silicon Labs.
-
Check that your computer has Python 3 installed.
- Use the command
python3 -V
- If this does not return a version, install python
- The following uses Homebrew to install
python3
which includespip3
. - Check if you have Homebrew installed with the following command
If it's not installed, follow the instructions on the Homebrew website before continuing.
brew -v
- Install Python3
brew install python3
- The following uses Homebrew to install
- Use the command
-
Pip is typically installed if you are using python 3 version >= 3.4
- Check that pip is installed using this command
pip3 -V
- If this does not return a version, install pip
- Check that pip is installed using this command
-
Install pytap2
sudo pip3 install --upgrade pytap2
-
Install meshtastic:
sudo pip3 install --upgrade meshtastic
- Check that your computer has the required serial drivers installed
- Connect your Meshtastic device to your USB port
- Open Device Manager
- Under
Ports (COM & LPT)
you should see something likeSilicon Labs CP210X USB to UART Bridge (COM5)
- If not download the drivers from Silicon Labs or use the direct link below.
warning
You must install the CP210x Universal Windows Driver. If you do not install this driver, your device may not work and the driver may need to be uninstalled from device manager before installing the correct driver.
- Check that your computer has Python 3 installed.
- Use the command
py -V
- If this does not return a version, install python
- Use the command
- Pip is typically installed if you are using python 3 version >= 3.4
- Check that pip is installed using this command
pip3 -V
- If this does not return a version, install pip
- Check that pip is installed using this command
- Install pytap2
pip3 install --upgrade pytap2
- Install meshtastic:
pip3 install --upgrade meshtastic
Wifi connection is currently under development and may not be working properly just yet. If you would like to provide feedback or test this feature, please visit our forum or join our Discord server for more information.
- Install Termux from the F-Droid app store (Google play does not currently support the latest builds)
- Load Termux and update the package list
pkg update
- Upgrade the installed packages
pkg upgrade
- Install python
pkg install python
- Upgrade pip and installed meshtastic and some of its dependencies
pip install --upgrade pip pygatt pytap2 wheel meshtastic
Be aware that the Meshtastic CLI is not able to control the nodes over USB through termux, but you can control devices over Wifi using the --host x.x.x.x
option with the device IP address. However, only ESP32 devices can use Wifi currently.
You may need to close and re-open the CLI. The path variables may or may not update for the current session when installing.
Standalone
There are standalone executable files for Windows and Ubuntu. A single file is all you need to run the command line interface (CLI) Meshtastic tool. There is a zip file per operating system. To use, see the operating system specific notes below:
They can be found on the Releases page.
- Ubuntu
- Windows
-
Download meshtastic_ubuntu
-
Run the following command to make the file executable and rename it 'meshtastic':
chmod +x meshtastic_ubuntu && mv meshtastic_ubuntu meshtastic
- To run the cli:
./meshtastic
Copy (or move) this binary somewhere in your path.
-
Download meshtastic_windows
-
Rename to meshtastic.exe
-
To run, open a windows command prompt, navigate to the location of the executable and run:
meshtastic.exe