Files
MeshTerm/docs
Jean-Pierre MartineauandClaude Opus 5.5 2d30e8e392 Channels export to a file, and import onto another device
A new device ships with Public and nothing else, so changing devices
meant adding every channel again by hand: each private key pasted, each
# name typed, each send scope and mute set again. The Channels page now
has an "Export and import" section. Export writes every channel to one
TOML file, in slot order, with its key, its send scope and its mute.
Import reads such a file and adds its channels to the device.

Import never removes a channel. The channels of the file go first, in
the file's order, and whatever else the device holds follows them. A
channel with no free slot is reported, not forced in. Before anything is
written, a dialog shows the plan (what is added into which slot, what
moves) and ends on "Nothing is removed from the device." The slots are
read again in full before the plan is made, because a probe cut short
makes an occupied slot look free.

The file uses the same [[channels]] table as config backup, so a config
backup imports too. A # channel carries no secret, since the device
derives its key from the name. A private channel carries its key, so the
file is written readable by its owner only, and the export says how many
private keys it holds.

On the command line, `channels export FILE` writes the file and prints
its path, and `channels import --file FILE [--dry-run]` prints the
device's layout after the import, one row per channel with add, move,
keep or skip. `channels import INDEX URL` still imports a single link.

Refs: #25
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-07 01:15:58 -04:00
..

MeshTerm documentation

This folder has everything that does not belong on the front page. The README is the front door. It says what MeshTerm is, how to install it, and how to start a first session. This folder has the other documents, in four parts:

Folder What is in it
guide/ How to use MeshTerm: what each screen does, how to configure it, how to connect a companion, and terminals.
cli/ The manual of the command line, and a cookbook of one-line commands.
devices/ How to run MeshTerm on a handheld's own screen, with one manual for each device.
development/ How the code is laid out, how we write, and a historical survey.

Using MeshTerm

Read For
What MeshTerm does Each screen that the menu has, in the same groups as the menu, with the command that does the same job without the menu.
Configuring MeshTerm The difference between preferences and config, the device profiles, and all the files that MeshTerm keeps in ~/.meshterm.
When a companion does not connect Bluetooth pairing on each system, how to find the PIN, and each connection error that MeshTerm reports, with the action to take.
Terminals, icons, and the Windows console Why the icons and charts draw correctly on some terminals and not on others, and what MeshTerm does about it on Windows.

The command line

Read For
The command line The manual. Each subcommand and option, what each prints on the plain face and on the JSON face, the exit statuses, and recipes that use jq.
The CLI cookbook Common one-line commands, in groups by task. Use it when you want the form of a command and not its specification.

Running it on a handheld

Read these documents only if you want to run MeshTerm on a handheld's own screen. A MeshCore companion on USB, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi does not need them.

Read For
MeshTerm on hardware Start here. It says which of the manuals below is the correct one for you, and what the scripts on the device do.
MeshTerm on the PicoCalc How to change a stock ClockworkPi PicoCalc into a Linux handheld that has a LoRa radio soldered inside: the shopping list, the change to a Luckfox Lyra core, Calculinux, and the radio.
MeshTerm on the uConsole A uConsole (CM4 or CM5) with the hackergadgets AIO LoRa board. Its SX1262 is on the computer's own SPI bus. MeshTerm can control it directly with --spi. Or a small bridge can make it a companion for a node that is always on.
MeshTerm on the Cardputer Zero ⚠️ Not supported yet. What exists for M5Stack's Linux Cardputer, and how to try it in the desktop emulator.

Reading the code

Read For
How the code is laid out The layers of the code, and where to put a new feature.
How we write How we write: the ASD-STE100 rules and the glossary for docstrings, comments, and documents.
CLAUDE.md The real style guide: the terms, the UX standards, and the building blocks that you can use again. It is written for AI assistants, and it has the house rules for everyone.
CONTRIBUTING.md How to propose a change, the rules for the use of AI, the dev install, the three checks that a change must pass, and what happens to the licensing of your contribution.

Historical record

This is a survey of the code. We keep it, because a project that writes down its own problems is easier to trust than a project that does not. But it is a snapshot of one date, not a list of tasks. Some of the problems that it describes are corrected now, and the survey does not say which.

Read For
UI consistency survey Each other point of the CLAUDE.md UX standard. Six sweeps found nothing, and this is the useful result.

Also here

screenshots/ has the captures that the README shows. It also has the captures from which meshterm.net builds its landing page. Thus more than one place refers to each file in this folder.