MeshCore BBS

MeshCore-BBS is open source and freely available. The complete source code, detailed documentation, and a ready-to-use Docker image can be found in the GitHub repository:

https://github.com/carsten-walther/MeshCore-BBS

The BBS is operated entirely through direct messages. Each command begins with an exclamation point and is sent as a private message to the BBS node—you don’t need a special app to do this. You can get the complete list of commands at any time while the system is running by sending the BBS a message with !help ; !help <befehl> provides a more detailed explanation of a single command.

Rooms (thematic boards):

• !rooms — Display available rooms with the number of members
• !join <raum> — enter a room
• !leave — leave the current room
• !post <text> — Post a message in the current room
• !read [n] — Read new posts (optionally limited to n posts)
• !search <text> — Search posts in the room
• !undo — retract your own last message

Private messages (the inbox):

• !msg [name] <text> — Send a private message
• !inbox — Check your inbox
• !reply <text> — Reply to the most recently read message

Community and Status:

• !who — Members of the current room
• !users — Most recently active users
• !seen <name> — When someone was last active
• !whoami — the name the BBS recognizes you by
• !whereami (or !pwd) — current room and unread posts
• !stats — User, post, and room counts

Extras (available depending on configuration):

• !weather [ort] — current weather
• !ping — Signal quality of the last message (signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, intermediate stations)
• !solar — Solar activity and shortwave propagation conditions for amateur radio operators

If you want to run the BBS yourself, clone the repository directly from GitHub:

git clone github.com/carsten-walther/MeshCore-BBS.git

Alternatively, you can download the current version as a ZIP archive by clicking the green "Code" button on the repository page. For hassle-free operation on a server or NAS, there’s also a ready-to-use Docker image that’s automatically built from the repository:

ghcr.io/carsten-walther/meshcore-bbs:latest

The README in the repository provides step-by-step instructions on what hardware you need (a MeshCore device with Companion firmware), how to configure the BBS, and how to get it up and running using Docker or directly as a Python program.