6.9 KiB
CLI Availability by Firmware Build
MeshCore command availability is determined in three layers:
- Role - repeater, room server, sensor, companion, bridge, or KISS modem.
- Build profile - standard, portable, logging, OTA, or FULL.
- Compiled hardware features - WiFi, MQTT, GPS, external sensors, PSRAM, Ethernet, and similar optional support.
The complete command descriptions are in CLI Commands. This page describes the commands intentionally omitted or limited by build profile. The CLI Command Availability Matrix expands this summary into separate nRF52 and ESP32 command tables.
Role comes first
| Role | Text administration CLI |
|---|---|
| Repeater | Full repeater administration surface, subject to the profile differences below |
| Room server | Room-server administration surface, subject to the profile differences below |
| Sensor | Sensor command surface; it does not acquire the repeater administration tree |
| Serial, USB, BLE, or WiFi companion | Uses the companion protocol; any serial diagnostics are target-specific |
| KISS modem | Uses the KISS/TNC frame interface, not the repeater text CLI |
| Bridge | Uses its base role plus commands for the bridge transport compiled into that target |
A command belonging to a different role is not considered a profile cut. For example, adding FULL features to a sensor does not turn it into a repeater administrator.
Repeater profiles use 254 neighbor entries across supported platforms. The classic T-Beam SX1262 and SX1276 MQTT observer repeaters are the exception and retain 50 because their MQTT discovery tables are constrained by internal DRAM.
Profile matrix
| Build/profile | Command availability |
|---|---|
| Standard non-MQTT repeater or room server | Keeps the normal role CLI. Size-constrained ESP32 artifacts can omit WebConfig and browser WiFi OTA, so their WebConfig/WiFi commands are unavailable. |
| Standard logging | Logging does not remove commands by itself. It has the same CLI as the selected role/profile and adds the compiled logging behavior. |
LoRa-OTA (-ota-) |
LoRa OTA adds the ota ... commands; it does not otherwise reduce the role CLI. ESP32 no_external_sensors artifacts retain the compact browser WiFi uploader and use a 254-entry neighbor table. A portable OTA artifact can still have the other portable restrictions described below. |
| Portable MQTT observer | Keeps MQTT/WiFi commissioning, bridge control, radio essentials, update commands, basic identity/status commands, neighbors, discover.neighbors, outpath, and altpath. The large repeater administration tree is omitted to fit the legacy ESP32 application slot. |
| Portable ESP-NOW bridge | Keeps the repeater's role-specific handlers and a reduced common configuration surface containing radio and bridge essentials, including rxdelay, txdelay, outpath, and altpath. |
| FULL ESP32 | Uses the matching MQTT target with logging off, removes size-based CLI cuts, and restores the complete command surface supported by that role and hardware. |
| FULL ESP32 logging | Uses the matching non-MQTT target with debug and packet logging enabled and the complete command surface supported by that role and hardware. |
no_external_sensors |
Removes optional external-sensor drivers and their settings; it does not remove core repeater discovery or routing commands. |
logging, OTA, and FULL describe independent build features. Do not infer
that a command is missing merely because logging appears in the filename.
Portable MQTT observer retained surface
The portable MQTT observer keeps these command groups:
- lifecycle and identity:
reboot,poweroff,shutdown,ver,board,password, anderaseon the local console; - radio operation:
advert,advert.zerohop,clock,clock sync,time,memory,neighbors,discover.neighbors, and the remote-client routing controlsoutpathandaltpath; - browser/update control when compiled:
start ota,stop ota,ota check, andota update; - radio essentials through
get/set: radio parameters, TX power, CAD, interference threshold, AGC reset interval, RX gain,rxdelay,txdelay, repeat state, and applicable FEM controls; - MQTT, WiFi, NTP, bridge, and alert commands implemented by the observer feature set;
- region and onboard-GPS commands that fit and are compiled into the selected target.
Everything in the repeater-only administration tree that is not listed above is intentionally cut from this portable profile. The main omissions include ACL editing, flood filter/moderation/scope administration, advanced mesh-clock controls, recent-repeater/path administration, battery-alert/RX-watchdog controls, stored-log management, and external-sensor administration. Use the matching FULL ESP32 build when those commands are required.
Some observer commands have their own hardware limit:
- MQTT neighbor-table publishing and
discover.scopesrequire the compiledWITH_MQTT_NEIGHBORSfeature. PSRAM boards enable it automatically; selected non-PSRAM variants opt in withMQTT_NEIGHBORS_WITHOUT_PSRAM. The commands can therefore be present in either portable or FULL MQTT profiles. discover.neighborsdoes not require MQTT or PSRAM.- full NTP connectivity diagnostics are omitted from the portable profile.
Discovery invariant
discover.neighbors sends the zero-hop node-discovery request used to refresh
the repeater neighbor table. It is available in every repeater build profile,
including portable MQTT, standard, logging, OTA, FULL, and FULL logging builds.
The exact command is:
discover.neighbors
It accepts no options and returns:
OK - Discover sent
Some MQTT room-server targets also expose the command as part of their compiled neighbor-table feature. It is not a cross-role guarantee: companion, KISS, sensor, and ordinary room-server firmware use different interfaces or do not maintain the repeater administrator neighbor table.
Feature-dependent commands
Even in a FULL build, a command can be unavailable when its underlying feature does not exist on that target:
- WebConfig and the
wifi.ssid,wifi.status,wifi.powersave, andwifi.clicommand family require an ESP32 WebConfig build. FULL standalone repeater and room-server builds support the corresponding WiFi setters and status commands. - MQTT commands require an MQTT observer target.
discover.scopesrequires an MQTT observer with compiled neighbor support; it does not independently require PSRAM or the FULL parser.- GPS and external-sensor commands require their drivers and pins.
- Ethernet and bridge commands require the corresponding transport.
- LoRa OTA commands require an artifact with OTA enabled.
uf2resetapplies only to nRF52.
When diagnosing an unavailable command, check the role first, then the filename profile, and finally the target's compiled hardware features.