From 1835b91d47e7ac28bd84a06d8d4e72168af4ef68 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jason Murray <15822260+scruplelesswizard@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:57:42 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Rewrite README with requirements and quick start
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## Summary
- Describe what the flow does and why, with the flow image up top.
- Add Position and Neighbors subflows to the feature and subflow lists
(they exist in `meshtastic.json` but were missing from the README).
- Add Requirements (including InfluxDB 1.x), a step-by-step Quick start
with the config nodes to edit, a measurements table, and a compatibility
note (last updated for firmware 2.2.15).

Facts were taken from `meshtastic.json` (broker, topic `msh/+/c/#`,
InfluxDB database `msh`, subflow list) and the commit history.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---
 README.md | 84 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 68 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 05d1374..327751f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,28 +1,80 @@
 # meshtastic-node-red
-Node-RED Configuration for Meshtastic Packets
+
+A ready-made [Node-RED](https://nodered.org) flow that turns [Meshtastic](https://meshtastic.org) mesh
+traffic into time-series data. It subscribes to your MQTT broker, decodes the protobuf packets,
+deduplicates them, resolves node names, and writes measurements to InfluxDB so you can chart your mesh in
+Grafana.
+
+![meshtastic-flow](./meshtastic-flow.png)
 
 ## Features
-- Ingestion from MQTT
-- Protobufs decoding
-- Message deduplication by ID
-- Annotate integer-based node ids to hex
-- Annotate packets with known NodeInfo
-- Split for all current port numbers
-- Writing Mesh, Packet, Device, Environment and Position measurements to InfluxDB
-- Debug nodes for all outputs
 
-### Included Subflows
+- Ingestion from MQTT
+- Protobuf decoding
+- Message deduplication by packet ID (5 minute window, so one packet heard by several gateways is stored once)
+- Annotate integer-based node IDs as hex
+- Annotate packets with known NodeInfo (long name, short name, hardware model)
+- Split by every current port number
+- Writing Mesh, Packet, Position, Device, Environment and Neighbor measurements to InfluxDB
+- Debug nodes on all outputs
+
+### Included subflows
+
 - Ingest from MQTT
 - Measurement: Mesh
 - Measurement: Packet
+- Measurement: Position
 - Measurement: Device Telemetry
 - Measurement: Environment Telemetry
+- Measurement: Neighbors
 
-## Dependencies
-The following Node-RED modules need to be added to the palette before importing the workflow:
-- [@meshtastic/node-red-contrib-meshtastic](https://flows.nodered.org/node/@meshtastic/node-red-contrib-meshtastic)
-- [node-red-contrib-influxdb](https://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-influxdb)
+## Requirements
 
-## Flow Preview
-![meshtastic-flow](./meshtastic-flow.png)
+- Node-RED
+- An MQTT broker that your Meshtastic nodes publish to (Mosquitto works well)
+- InfluxDB **1.x** (the flow uses the `influxdb` node with a database, not a v2 bucket)
+- These Node-RED palette modules, installed before importing the flow:
+  - [@meshtastic/node-red-contrib-meshtastic](https://flows.nodered.org/node/@meshtastic/node-red-contrib-meshtastic)
+  - [node-red-contrib-influxdb](https://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-influxdb)
 
+## Quick start
+
+1. Install the two palette modules above (Menu, Manage palette, Install).
+2. Import [`meshtastic.json`](./meshtastic.json) (Menu, Import, paste or select the file).
+3. Edit the two config nodes to match your environment. The defaults assume a Docker network:
+
+   | Node | Default | Change to |
+   |------|---------|-----------|
+   | MQTT broker (`Mosquito`) | `mqtt-mosquitto:1883` | your broker host and port, plus credentials if you use them |
+   | InfluxDB (`Local InfluxDB`) | `influxdb:8086`, database `msh` | your InfluxDB host, and a database you have created |
+
+4. Make sure your Meshtastic nodes publish to the broker. The flow subscribes to `msh/+/c/#`.
+5. Deploy. Packets should start appearing in the debug sidebar and in InfluxDB.
+
+## Measurements written
+
+| Measurement | Fields |
+|-------------|--------|
+| `Mesh` | Links between nodes (source, target) with SNR and RSSI |
+| `Packet` | Receive time, SNR, RSSI, hop limit, priority, delayed |
+| `Position` | Latitude, longitude, altitude, satellites in view, ground speed and track, PDOP |
+| `Device` | Battery level, voltage, channel utilization, TX air utilization |
+| `Environment` | Temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, gas resistance |
+| `Neighbor` | Neighbor links from NeighborInfo packets, with SNR |
+
+Every point is tagged with the sender and receiver (hex ID, short name, long name, hardware model), the
+channel and the gateway.
+
+## Status: archived
+
+This project is archived and read-only. It is kept as a working reference for decoding Meshtastic MQTT
+traffic into InfluxDB with Node-RED.
+
+It was last updated for Meshtastic firmware **2.2.15**. Firmware 2.3.0 and later changed the MQTT
+payloads (see [#11](https://github.com/scruplelesswizard/meshtastic-node-red/issues/11)), so the
+"Ingest from MQTT" subflow needs modification before it will work with current firmware. You are welcome
+to fork it.
+
+## License
+
+[The Unlicense](LICENSE). Public domain.