A lightweight Meshtastic firmware module that responds to simple slash commands via direct message to provide quick link health diagnostics. Officially included in the 2.7.19 release. It is disabled by default and must be manually configured in a code editor.
ReplyBot adds a friendly, low-overhead auto-responder to your Meshtastic node. When enabled, it listens for simple slash commands and replies with useful diagnostics so you can quickly verify mesh connectivity and link health.
In a mesh network, it’s not always obvious whether your messages are reaching other nodes—or how good the link actually is.
ReplyBot acts as a quick “mic check” for your mesh. You send a command from any Meshtastic device and get an immediate response with real link diagnostics.
Each reply includes:
- Hop count — how many relays delivered your message
- RSSI — received signal strength (dBm, normalized if needed)
- SNR — how far above the noise floor your signal is
This module is intentionally human-facing, optimized for clarity and usefulness rather than packet efficiency.
Commands are case-insensitive and must be prefixed with a slash (/). Any extra text after the command is ignored.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/ping |
Confirms the bot is alive and returns diagnostics |
/hello |
Alias for /ping |
/test |
Alias for /ping |
- Direct Message → Bot replies directly
- Primary Channel broadcast → Bot sees it and replies via DM
- Secondary channels → Ignored
ReplyBot runs in promiscuous mode so it can see primary‑channel broadcasts without spamming the network.
Command:
/ping
Reply:
🎙️ Mic Check: 1 Hop away | RSSI -75 | SNR 9.4
To keep the mesh responsive, ReplyBot enforces per‑sender cooldowns:
| Message Type | Cooldown |
|---|---|
| Direct Message | 15 seconds |
| Primary Channel broadcast | 60 seconds |
If you’re rate‑limited, just wait a bit and try again.
Developers can tune ReplyBot behavior via constants in the source:
REPLYBOT_DM_COOLDOWN_MSREPLYBOT_LF_COOLDOWN_MSREPLYBOT_COOLDOWN_SLOTS
Defaults:
- 15‑second DM cooldown
- 60‑second primary channel cooldown
Adjust these based on mesh size and traffic density.
ReplyBot is written in C++ as part of the Meshtastic firmware.
When compiled in, it:
- Registers as a text message handler
- Listens for incoming text packets
- Filters messages addressed to it or broadcast on the primary channel
- Parses supported slash commands
- Applies per‑sender cooldowns
- Computes hop count, RSSI, and SNR
- Sends a direct message reply to the sender
The reply format is customizable, including optional emoji.
ReplyBot is not enabled by default.
To enable it:
-
Open
Variant.hin the Meshtastic firmware source. -
Add the following line:
#undef MESHTASTIC_EXCLUDE_REPLYBOT -
Build and flash firmware as usual for your board.
To disable the module, remove the #undef line and rebuild.
If replies aren’t working:
- Confirm the module is compiled in
- Use the primary channel for broadcasts
- Respect cooldown limits
- Verify mesh connectivity
Huge thanks to lzmesh.com for helping me in my advancement of learning Meshtastic.
Meshtastic is a community‑driven project.
Contributions are welcome—code, documentation, testing, or feedback.
Open an issue or submit a pull request via the Meshtastic firmware repository.
Meshtastic firmware, including this module, is licensed under the
GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.