LoBBS is a Meshtastic plugin that runs a complete bulletin board system entirely inside the Meshtastic firmware. Once installed and built into your node, you can create user accounts, exchange private mail, broadcast news posts, and remotely administer the device without any sidecar services or host computer.

Features

User directory with username registration and secure password storage
Private mail inbox with paging, read receipts, and inline @mention delivery
News feed with threaded announcements and per-user read tracking
Session-aware command parser with contextual help
Backed by LoDB for on-device storage so the entire BBS persists across reboots

Installation

Using Mesh Forge (easy)

Use our Mesh Forge build profile to flash a LoBBS-enabled version of Meshtastic to your device.

Build it yourself (experimental)

LoBBS is a Meshtastic plugin that is automatically discovered and integrated by the Mesh Plugin Manager (MPM). To install LoBBS:

Install the Mesh Plugin Manager:

pip install mesh-plugin-manager

Install LoBBS and its dependencies:

cd /path/to/meshtastic/firmware
mpm init
mpm install lobbs

Note: mpm automatically installs dependencies such as LoDB which is required by LoBBS.

Build and flash:

The Mesh Plugin Manager automatically discovers both plugins, generates protobuf files, and integrates them into the build. Simply build and flash as usual:

pio run -e esp32 -t upload

After flashing, reboot the node. LoBBS registers automatically, so no additional firmware configuration is required.

Note: For detailed information about Meshtastic plugin development, see the Plugin Development Guide.

Using LoBBS

Joining the BBS — Send a direct message to your node containing /hi <username> <password>. The command logs you in if the account exists or creates a new account if it does not.
Logging out — Use /bye to terminate the current session and clear the binding between your node ID and account.
Mail — /mail lists the 10 most recent messages, /mail 3 reads message 3, and /mail 5- starts the listing at item 5. Mention another user in any authenticated message using @username to deliver instant mail.
News — /news mirrors the mail workflow for public announcements. Append a message after the command (for example /news Hello mesh!) to post a new item.
User discovery — /users returns the directory. Supply an optional filter string (e.g. /users mesh) to narrow the results.

LoBBS replies inline with human-readable summaries. Unread content is flagged with an asterisk in list views, and relative timestamps (for example, 2h ago) provide context for each entry.

Storage Layout

All user, mail, and news data is persisted via LoDB in the device filesystem. Clearing the filesystem, reflashing without preserving SPIFFS/LittleFS, or performing a full factory reset will delete the BBS contents. Regular backups of the filesystem are recommended for production deployments.

Troubleshooting

Verify your node clock is roughly correct. Timestamps in mail and news rely on the RTC and GPS time sources provided by the firmware.
Confirm that your node stays logged in (no /bye issued) if you expect to receive @mentions. Unauthenticated nodes receive only the login help banner.
If protobuf generation fails, ensure both LoBBS and LoDB plugins are properly installed in src/plugins/ and that the Meshtastic Plugin Manager can discover them.

License

LoBBS is distributed under the MIT license. See the accompanying LICENSE file within this module for full text.