MeshClaw

Bring AI to the Mesh — No Internet Required

MeshClaw is an OpenClaw channel plugin that bridges AI agents with Meshtastic LoRa mesh networks. Send and receive AI-powered messages over radio — from the mountains, the ocean, or anywhere the grid doesn't reach.

flowchart LR
    subgraph mesh ["📻 LoRa Mesh Network"]
        N["Meshtastic Nodes"]
    end
    subgraph gw ["⚙️ OpenClaw Gateway"]
        P["Meshtastic Plugin"]
        AI["AI Agent"]
    end
    subgraph llm ["🧠 AI Backend"]
        CLOUD["Cloud (OpenAI, Anthropic, …)"]
        LOCAL["Local (Ollama, llama.cpp, …)"]
    end
    N -- "Serial (USB)" --> P
    N -- "HTTP (WiFi)" --> P
    N -. "MQTT (Broker)" .-> P
    P <--> AI
    AI -- "Cloud API" --> CLOUD
    AI -. "Private" .-> LOCAL

Documentation · Hardware Guide · Report Bug · Request Feature

Features

AI Agent Integration — Bridges OpenClaw AI agents with Meshtastic LoRa mesh networks. Works with cloud AI out of the box; optionally go fully local (see Hardware).
DM & Group Channels with Access Control — Supports both conversation modes with DM allowlists, channel response rules, and mention-gating
Multi-Account Support — Run multiple independent connections simultaneously
Resilient Mesh Communication — Auto-reconnect with configurable retries. Handles connection drops gracefully.

Quick Start

Prerequisites: A running OpenClaw instance (Node.js 22+).

# 1. Install plugin
openclaw plugins install @seeed-studio/meshtastic

# 2. Guided setup — walks you through transport, region, and access policy
openclaw onboard

# 3. Verify
openclaw channels status --probe

Three commands. Your AI is now on the mesh.

Use Cases

Field Research — Scientists and survey teams query AI knowledge bases from remote areas with zero cell coverage
Disaster Response — Emergency crews get AI-assisted decision support when infrastructure is down
Maritime & Aviation — Vessels and aircraft maintain AI interaction far from shore or ground stations
Off-Grid Communities — Rural and frontier settlements access AI tools through community mesh networks
Privacy-First Operations — Pair with a local LLM for air-gapped deployments where data sovereignty matters
Cross-Channel Bridge — Send a message from off-grid LoRa, receive the AI reply on Telegram, Discord, or any OpenClaw channel

Demo

demo.mp4

Fallback: media/demo.mp4

Left: querying AI knowledge offline over LoRa · Right: cross-channel bridge — send from mesh, receive on Telegram

Recommended Hardware

Device	Best for	Link
XIAO ESP32S3 + Wio-SX1262 kit	Entry-level development	Buy
Wio Tracker L1 Pro	Portable field gateway	Buy
SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E	Compact tracker	Buy

Gateway host: reComputer R1024 — Don't need a Mac Mini. The reComputer R1024 (~$189, ~5 W) is a fanless, industrial-grade edge computer that runs OpenClaw 24/7. PoE-powered, DIN-rail mountable, with dual Ethernet and optional LoRa/4G modules — ideal as an always-on gateway in the field. Getting started guide →

Optional: fully offline AI stack — Want zero cloud dependency? Add a reComputer J series running a local LLM (via Ollama, llama.cpp, etc.) and the entire pipeline — radio, gateway, and inference — stays on your own hardware. No API keys, no data leaves your network.

No hardware? MQTT transport connects via broker — no local device required.

Any Meshtastic-compatible device works.

Setup Wizard

Running openclaw onboard launches an interactive wizard that walks you through each configuration step. Below is what each step means and how to choose.

1. Transport

How the gateway connects to the Meshtastic mesh:

Option	Description	Requires
Serial (USB)	Direct USB connection to a local device. Auto-detects available ports.	Meshtastic device plugged in via USB
HTTP (WiFi)	Connects to a device over the local network.	Device IP or hostname (e.g. `meshtastic.local`)
MQTT (broker)	Connects to the mesh via an MQTT broker — no local hardware needed.	Broker address, credentials, and subscribe topic

2. LoRa Region

Serial and HTTP only. MQTT derives the region from the subscribe topic.

Sets the radio frequency region on the device. Must match your local regulations and other nodes on the mesh. Common choices:

Region	Frequency
`US`	902–928 MHz
`EU_868`	869 MHz
`CN`	470–510 MHz
`JP`	920 MHz
`UNSET`	Keep device default

See Meshtastic region docs for the full list.

3. Node Name

The device's display name on the mesh. Also used as the @mention trigger in group channels — other users send @OpenClaw to talk to your bot.

Serial / HTTP: optional — auto-detects from the connected device if left empty.
MQTT: required — there is no physical device to read the name from.

4. Channel Access (`groupPolicy`)

Controls whether and how the bot responds in mesh group channels (e.g. LongFast, Emergency):

Policy	Behavior
`disabled` (default)	Ignores all group channel messages. Only DMs are processed.
`open`	Responds in every channel on the mesh.
`allowlist`	Responds only in listed channels. You will be prompted to enter channel names (comma-separated, e.g. `LongFast, Emergency`). Use `*` as a wildcard to match all.

5. Require Mention

Only appears when channel access is enabled (not disabled).

When enabled (default: yes), the bot only responds in group channels when someone mentions its node name (e.g. @OpenClaw how's the weather?). This prevents the bot from replying to every single message in the channel.

When disabled, the bot responds to all messages in allowed channels.

6. DM Access Policy (`dmPolicy`)

Controls who can send direct messages to the bot:

Policy	Behavior
`pairing` (default)	New senders trigger a pairing request that must be approved before they can chat.
`open`	Anyone on the mesh can DM the bot freely.
`allowlist`	Only nodes listed in `allowFrom` can DM. All others are ignored.

7. DM Allowlist (`allowFrom`)

Only appears when dmPolicy is allowlist, or when the wizard determines one is needed.

A list of Meshtastic User IDs allowed to send direct messages. Format: !aabbccdd (hex User ID). Multiple entries are comma-separated.

8. Account Display Names

Only appears for multi-account setups. Optional.

Assigns human-readable display names to your accounts. For example, an account with ID home could be displayed as "Home Station". If skipped, the raw account ID is used as-is. This is purely cosmetic and does not affect functionality.

Configuration

The guided setup (openclaw onboard) covers everything below. For manual config, edit with openclaw config edit.

Serial (USB)

channels:
  meshtastic:
    transport: serial
    serialPort: /dev/ttyUSB0
    nodeName: OpenClaw

HTTP (WiFi)

channels:
  meshtastic:
    transport: http
    httpAddress: meshtastic.local
    nodeName: OpenClaw

MQTT (broker)

channels:
  meshtastic:
    transport: mqtt
    nodeName: OpenClaw
    mqtt:
      broker: mqtt.meshtastic.org
      username: meshdev
      password: large4cats
      topic: "msh/US/2/json/#"

Multi-account

channels:
  meshtastic:
    accounts:
      home:
        transport: serial
        serialPort: /dev/ttyUSB0
      remote:
        transport: mqtt
        mqtt:
          broker: mqtt.meshtastic.org
          topic: "msh/US/2/json/#"

All Options Reference

Key	Type	Default	Notes
`transport`	`serial \| http \| mqtt`	`serial`
`serialPort`	`string`	—	Required for serial
`httpAddress`	`string`	`meshtastic.local`	Required for HTTP
`httpTls`	`boolean`	`false`
`mqtt.broker`	`string`	`mqtt.meshtastic.org`
`mqtt.port`	`number`	`1883`
`mqtt.username`	`string`	`meshdev`
`mqtt.password`	`string`	`large4cats`
`mqtt.topic`	`string`	`msh/US/2/json/#`	Subscribe topic
`mqtt.publishTopic`	`string`	derived
`mqtt.tls`	`boolean`	`false`
`region`	enum	`UNSET`	`US`, `EU_868`, `CN`, `JP`, `ANZ`, `KR`, `TW`, `RU`, `IN`, `NZ_865`, `TH`, `EU_433`, `UA_433`, `UA_868`, `MY_433`, `MY_919`, `SG_923`, `LORA_24`. Serial/HTTP only.
`nodeName`	`string`	auto-detect	Display name and @mention trigger. Required for MQTT.
`dmPolicy`	`open \| pairing \| allowlist`	`pairing`	Who can send direct messages. See DM Access Policy.
`allowFrom`	`string[]`	—	Node IDs for DM allowlist, e.g. `["!aabbccdd"]`
`groupPolicy`	`open \| allowlist \| disabled`	`disabled`	Group channel response policy. See Channel Access.
`channels`	`Record<string, object>`	—	Per-channel overrides: `requireMention`, `allowFrom`, `tools`

Environment Variable Overrides

These override the default account's config (YAML takes precedence for named accounts):

Variable	Equivalent config key
`MESHTASTIC_TRANSPORT`	`transport`
`MESHTASTIC_SERIAL_PORT`	`serialPort`
`MESHTASTIC_HTTP_ADDRESS`	`httpAddress`
`MESHTASTIC_MQTT_BROKER`	`mqtt.broker`
`MESHTASTIC_MQTT_TOPIC`	`mqtt.topic`

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check
Serial won't connect	Device path correct? Host has permission?
HTTP won't connect	`httpAddress` reachable? `httpTls` matches device?
MQTT receives nothing	Region in `mqtt.topic` correct? Broker credentials valid?
No DM responses	`dmPolicy` and `allowFrom` configured? See DM Access Policy.
No group replies	`groupPolicy` enabled? Channel in allowlist? Mention required? See Channel Access.

Found a bug? Open an issue with transport type, config (redact secrets), and openclaw channels status --probe output.

Roadmap

We plan to ingest real-time node data (GPS location, environmental sensors, device status) into OpenClaw's context, enabling the AI to monitor mesh network health and broadcast proactive alerts — without waiting for user queries.

Development

git clone https://github.com/Seeed-Solution/MeshClaw.git
cd MeshClaw
npm install
openclaw plugins install -l ./MeshClaw

No build step — OpenClaw loads TypeScript source directly. Use openclaw channels status --probe to verify.

Contributing

We welcome contributions of all kinds!

Bug reports & feature requests — Open an issue
Code contributions — Fork the repo, create a branch, and submit a PR. Keep code aligned with existing TypeScript conventions.
Documentation & translations — Improvements to docs and new language translations are always appreciated.

See Development for local setup instructions.

If you find MeshClaw useful, give us a star ⭐ — it helps others discover the project!

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 81 Commits
.github		.github
media		media
src		src
.DS_Store		.DS_Store
.gitignore		.gitignore
.npmignore		.npmignore
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.es.md		README.es.md
README.fr.md		README.fr.md
README.ja.md		README.ja.md
README.md		README.md
README.pt.md		README.pt.md
README.zh-CN.md		README.zh-CN.md
index.ts		index.ts
openclaw.plugin.json		openclaw.plugin.json
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json

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MeshClaw

Table of Contents

Features

Quick Start

Use Cases

Demo

Recommended Hardware

Setup Wizard

1. Transport

2. LoRa Region

3. Node Name

4. Channel Access (`groupPolicy`)

5. Require Mention

6. DM Access Policy (`dmPolicy`)

7. DM Allowlist (`allowFrom`)

8. Account Display Names

Configuration

Serial (USB)

HTTP (WiFi)

MQTT (broker)

Multi-account

Troubleshooting

Roadmap

Development

Contributing

About

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Contributors

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Repository files navigation

MeshClaw

Table of Contents

Features

Quick Start

Use Cases

Demo

Recommended Hardware

Setup Wizard

1. Transport

2. LoRa Region

3. Node Name

4. Channel Access (groupPolicy)

5. Require Mention

6. DM Access Policy (dmPolicy)

7. DM Allowlist (allowFrom)

8. Account Display Names

Configuration

Serial (USB)

HTTP (WiFi)

MQTT (broker)

Multi-account

Troubleshooting

Roadmap

Development

Contributing

About

Topics

Resources

License

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Releases 3

Contributors

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Languages

4. Channel Access (`groupPolicy`)

6. DM Access Policy (`dmPolicy`)

7. DM Allowlist (`allowFrom`)