beacon-server/README.md

# MeshCore Beacon

MeshCore Beacon is a MeshCore network observation backend. It connects to one or
more MeshCore MQTT brokers, ingests LoRa packet traffic in real time, stores it
in PostgreSQL, and streams live events to WebSocket clients.

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## What it does

- Subscribes to MeshCore MQTT brokers and decodes incoming LoRa packets using
  [meshcore-go](https://github.com/meshcore-go/meshcore-go)
- Stores packets, observations, nodes, observers, traces, routes and channel
  messages in PostgreSQL (more backends to come)
- Deduplicates observations across multiple brokers (same packet heard by two
  brokers is one observation per observer)
- Decrypts group text messages for known channel keys
- Detects firmware capability flags from path hash sizes
- Streams live events to WebSocket clients with subscription filtering by IATA,
  region, payload type, and event type
- Serves a REST API for querying stored data
- Seeds regions, IATA display names, and channel keys from a YAML config file on
  startup

For deployment instructions including the frontend app, see the deployment docs.

For a bounded private database and saved-config bundle, see
[backup export](docs/backup-export.md). A standalone export tool is available; the
protected download API is opt-in; browser login and import remain separate follow-ups.

---

## Stack

| Component     | Technology                                                      |
| ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Language      | Go 1.26                                                         |
| Router        | [Chi v5](https://github.com/go-chi/chi)                         |
| Database      | PostgreSQL 16                                                   |
| Caching       | Redis 7                                                         |
| DB queries    | [sqlc](https://sqlc.dev) + pgx/v5                               |
| MQTT          | [paho.mqtt.golang](https://github.com/eclipse/paho.mqtt.golang) |
| WebSocket     | [coder/websocket](https://github.com/coder/websocket)           |
| Packet decode | [meshcore-go](https://github.com/meshcore-go/meshcore-go)       |
| Config        | YAML via gopkg.in/yaml.v3                                       |
| Env           | godotenv                                                        |

---

## Getting started

### Prerequisites

- Go 1.26+
- Docker and Docker Compose

### 1. Clone and configure

```bash
git clone https://github.com/MeshCore-Beacon/beacon-server.git
cd beacon-server
cp env.example .env
cp config.yaml.example config.yaml
```

Edit `.env` with your broker credentials and database DSN. Edit `config.yaml` to
define your regions, IATA display names, channel keys, and retention settings.

### 2. Start PostgreSQL

```bash
docker compose up postgres -d
```

Database migrations are applied automatically on startup.

### 3. Run

```bash
go run ./cmd/beacon
```

Or pull and run the Docker image:

```bash
docker pull ghcr.io/meshcore-beacon/beacon-server:latest
```

The image is public on GitHub Container Registry — no `docker login` required.

Beacon will:

- Load `.env` and `config.yaml`
- Connect to PostgreSQL and seed config data
- Connect to the configured MQTT brokers
- Start the HTTP server on `LISTEN_ADDR` (default `:8080`)

### Cold start and path resolution

Path resolution, firmware capability detection, and known route storage all
depend on nodes having advertised at least once to a local observer. On a fresh
deployment `resolvedPath` will show `"confidence": "none"` for all hops and
`supportsMultibytePaths` will be `false` for all nodes until advert traffic
arrives and populates `node_short_ids`. This is expected behaviour — resolution
improves automatically as the mesh is observed over time.

Similarly, GRP_TXT packets whose channel key isn't yet known at ingest time are
stored as hash-only, undecrypted rows. Adding the channel's key to `config.yaml`
doesn't retroactively decrypt that history immediately — it's picked up
automatically on the next restart, when Beacon scans for undecrypted packets
matching a now-known channel and decrypts them. Watch the startup log for
`backfilled N previously-undecrypted channel message(s)`.

---

## Configuration

### Admin authentication

The `/api/v1/admin` subtree requires `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. Set the
operator key with `BEACON_API_KEY` or `auth.api_key` in YAML. A set environment
variable overrides YAML; an explicitly empty value disables admin access.
With no key, admin requests return JSON 503 while public reads and WebSockets
continue normally. With a key, missing, incorrect or duplicate Authorization
headers return JSON 401 with `WWW-Authenticate: Bearer`.

`GET /api/v1/admin/config` returns selected running settings: CORS options with
Beacon defaults applied, `auth.configured`, and `ingest.broker_count` (configured
broker workers, not connection status or a tunable processing-worker pool).
The CORS lists are the options supplied to the middleware; its normal matching
normalization still applies. The response excludes
credential fields, broker addresses, channel material, database settings and
other configuration. Unknown admin paths return 404 and unsupported
methods on the config endpoint return 405 after authentication.
Global CORS preflights remain public. Use a long, randomly generated key, keep
it out of source control and logs, and send it only in the Authorization header,
never the URL or request body. Require HTTPS at the reverse proxy and restrict
direct access to Beacon's HTTP listener to that proxy or a private connection.
Changing the key requires a restart. No API key is issued automatically.

`PUT /api/v1/admin/config` accepts only
`{"cors":{"allowed_origins":["https://example.org"]}}`. It replaces the entire
origin list immediately and updates the reported configuration with the same
policy. Requests already in progress may use the previous policy. Concurrent
valid updates are serialized; updates take effect one at a time. The response
contains `config`, `persisted: false` and `requires_restart: false`.

Updates are **runtime-only**: no file or database is written, and restarting
reloads the saved configuration. Keep 1–32 ASCII HTTP(S) origins, at most 512 bytes
each, with an optional single hostname wildcard; a sole `*` permits all origins.
Empty/null lists, URL paths/queries/credentials, control characters and unknown
fields are rejected. Requests must be JSON, at most 16 KiB. Other CORS options,
auth/credential fields and broker count cannot be changed here; there is no
configurable `ingest.worker_count`. Cross-origin admin clients need PUT allowed
in the saved CORS methods. CORS controls browser access, not authentication.

Operator accounts are available at `GET/POST /api/v1/admin/accounts` and
`GET/DELETE /api/v1/admin/accounts/{id}`. POST accepts a JSON `name` field in a
body up to 4 KiB; names are trimmed, case-sensitive and limited to 128 Unicode
characters without control characters. Active names are unique. DELETE soft
deactivates the record (204); missing IDs return 404 and an already inactive
record returns 409. A deactivated name may be reused by a new account.
Lists include active and inactive records, newest first, without pagination.
These are operator-defined records; no login, session or API token is created.
Cross-origin account clients need both `POST` and `DELETE` in the saved
`cors.allowed_methods`; the default `GET, HEAD, OPTIONS` is read-only. For an
admin UI that also updates configuration, use `[GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, POST, PUT,
DELETE]`, restrict `cors.allowed_origins` to that UI, and allow `Authorization`
and `Content-Type` headers. Otherwise browser preflight blocks these requests
even when the same bearer-authenticated request works with curl.

### Environment variables (`.env`)

| Variable                 | Default       | Description                                                  |
| ------------------------ | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `LISTEN_ADDR`            | `:8080`       | HTTP listen address                                          |
| `POSTGRES_DSN`           | —             | PostgreSQL connection string                                 |
| `REDIS_ADDR`             | —             | Redis address (`host:port`). Leave unset to disable caching. |
| `REDIS_PASSWORD`         | —             | Redis password (optional)                                    |
| `REDIS_DB`               | `0`           | Redis database index                                         |
| `CONFIG_PATH`            | `config.yaml` | Path to YAML config file                                     |
| `MQTT_BROKER_1_URL`      | —             | Broker 1 WebSocket URL (e.g. `wss://mqtt1.example.com:443`)  |
| `MQTT_BROKER_1_USERNAME` | —             | Broker 1 username                                            |
| `MQTT_BROKER_1_PASSWORD` | —             | Broker 1 password                                            |
| `MQTT_BROKER_2_URL`      | —             | Broker 2 WebSocket URL                                       |
| `MQTT_BROKER_2_USERNAME` | —             | Broker 2 username                                            |
| `MQTT_BROKER_2_PASSWORD` | —             | Broker 2 password                                            |

### Config file (`config.yaml`)

```yaml
# Optional IATA overrides — auto-created on first packet arrival,
# only needed if you want to customise display name or coordinates.
# borderFile points to a GeoJSON Feature (Polygon or MultiPolygon) for the
# region border map feature; relative paths resolve against this config
# file's own directory. Validated at boot — invalid geometry fails startup.
iatas:
  YVR:
    name: Vancouver International
    lat: 49.1967
    lng: -123.1815
    borderFile: borders/yvr.geojson # optional

# Super-regions grouping multiple IATAs.
regions:
  - slug: western-canada
    name: Western Canada
    display_order: 1
    center_lat: 51.0
    center_lng: -114.0
    zoom_level: 5
    iatas: [YVR, YYJ, YYC, YEG]

# Channel keys for decrypting group messages.
channel_keys:
  # Hashtag channels: Beacon derives the PSK from the tag name automatically.
  # secret = SHA256("#tag")[:16], channel_hash = SHA256(secret)[0]
  # Tag names should be provided without the # prefix.
  hashtags:
    - meshcore

  # Explicit keys: channel hash (hex) and key (hex), with optional display name.
  # The public MeshCore channel key is included in config.yaml.example.
  keys:
    "11":
      key: "8b3387e9c5cdea6ac9e5edbaa115cd72"
      name: "Public"

# Regional transport scopes for matching TRANSPORT_FLOOD packets.
# Plain names have # prepended automatically (e.g. "bc" → "#bc").
scopes:
  - name: bc
  - name: "#west"

# Observer telemetry storage settings.
telemetry:
  retention: 672h # how long to keep telemetry snapshots (default: 4 weeks)
  resolution: 1h # snapshot frequency per observer; duplicates within window are dropped (default: 1h)

# Packet and observation retention.
packets:
  retention: 720h # how long to keep packets and observations (default: 30 days)

# Presence write coalescing.
# Observer last_seen and packet last_heard_at bumps are batched in memory and
# flushed on an interval instead of writing one row per observation. An
# unclean shutdown loses at most one interval of presence freshness.
presence:
  flush_interval: 30s # how often coalesced bumps are flushed (default: 30s)
  packet_ttl: 30s # how long a quiet packet stays coalesced before writing through again (default: 30s)

# WebSocket settings.
websocket:
  max_connections_per_ip: 5 # default: 5

# Node staleness, deletion, and clock-drift thresholds.
nodes:
  mark_foreign: false # optional indication for repeaters outside configured IATA borders
  stale_threshold: 24h # mark a node "stale" in the API after this long unseen (default: 24h)
  delete_after: 720h # delete a node entirely after this long unseen (default: 30 days, same default as packets.retention)
  clock_drift_threshold: 5m # |device clock - server clock| above which clockOutOfSync=true for a repeater/room server (default: 5m)

# Optional observer age-out (disabled by default; set e.g. 720h to opt in).
# Enable only when one Beacon ingest process owns the database: presence-cache
# preparation is local to that process, including both of its MQTT workers.
# Deletes at most 1000 observers per background.cleanup interval, only when
# last_seen/last_status_at are old and no observations, telemetry or ownership remain.
# Broker/location/scope metadata cascades; a returning observer receives a new ID.
observers:
  delete_after: 0s # omitted or nonpositive disables deletion

# Redis caching layer (optional).
# Caches read-heavy, slow-changing responses to reduce PostgreSQL load.
# Connection details (address, password, database) are set via environment
# variables. Leave REDIS_ADDR unset to disable caching entirely.
# TTLs are duration strings e.g. "30m", "1h". Per-category TTLs override
# the global ttl. Any unset category inherits ttl. Default: 1h.
cache:
  ttl: "1h"
  ttls:
    stats: "1h" # stats endpoints (backed by materialized views)
    reference: "1h" # IATAs, regions, scopes
    nodes: "1h" # node detail (also explicitly invalidated on upsert)
    observers: "1h" # observer detail (also explicitly invalidated on upsert)

# Geographic ingest filter (optional).
# Drop packets from observers outside the specified area.
# Country codes are ISO 3166-1 alpha-2. Continent codes: AF AN AS EU NA OC SA.
# If both are set an IATA passes if it matches either (OR semantics).
# Omit entirely to accept all IATAs (default).
ingest:
  allow_countries: [CA, US] # only store packets from these countries
  allow_continents: [NA] # or: accept all of North America
```

IATAs are auto-created on first packet arrival. The config file adds display
names, coordinates, and optional region borders. Regions and channel keys
must be defined here — they are not auto-created.

---

### Foreign repeater indication

Set `nodes.mark_foreign: true` to expose `possiblyForeign` on repeater nodes.
The local operating area is the union of **all configured**
`iatas.<code>.borderFile` GeoJSON Polygon/MultiPolygon features. IATAs without
border files do not add an area; airport coordinates and the current API region
filter are not boundaries. Enabling this with no borders, missing files or
invalid geometry fails startup. Border changes require a restart.

Inside any polygon (including its edges) means `false`; outside the entire union
means `true`. Hole interiors are outside; hole edges are local. Other node roles,
missing/invalid positions and the 0/0 location reset have no classification.
This is a hint based on reported position, not proof of a repeater's origin.
Packet ingestion, heard-in IATAs and route matching remain unchanged.

Node list/detail reads apply the current geometry after cache reads, so existing
historical nodes need no backfill. A `nodeUpdate` includes `possiblyForeign`
when its advert provides a position: a boolean for known positions, `null` to
clear an unknown/reset position. Omission retains the previous value when a
repeater's advert omits its position. A change to another role also sends `null`.
The field is omitted everywhere when the feature is disabled (the default).

Use longitude/latitude coordinate order and split antimeridian-crossing borders
into MultiPolygons as described in [RFC 7946 section 3.1.9](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7946#section-3.1.9).
Classification rejects unsplit edges spanning more than 180 degrees rather than
silently treating them as the complementary global area.

## Authentication

API authentication is not yet implemented. Beacon is intended for trusted
internal network or reverse-proxy deployments. Do not expose it directly to the
public internet without an authentication layer in front of it.

---

## WebSocket API

Connect to `ws://host:8080/ws`.

On connect the server sends a `hello`:

```json
{ "v": 1, "type": "hello", "serverTime": 1234567890000, "connectionId": "uuid" }
```

The connection closes after 90 seconds of inactivity. Clients should send a
`ping` every 30 seconds.

### Client → Server messages

**Subscribe** — add a filter to this connection. Multiple subscriptions are
unioned (OR semantics): an event matches if it satisfies any active
subscription. The server replies with a `subscriptionId` to use for
unsubscribing.

```json
{
  "v": 1,
  "type": "subscribe",
  "id": "sub-1",
  "scope": {
    "iatas": ["YOW", "YYZ"],
    "regionIds": ["1"],
    "regionSlugs": ["western-canada"],
    "payloadTypes": [4, 5],
    "channelHashes": ["11"],
    "events": ["packetObservation", "channelMessage"]
  }
}
```

All scope fields are optional. Omitted means no filter on that dimension (match
everything). Empty array means match nothing on that dimension. `regionIds` and
`regionSlugs` are both expanded to their member IATAs server-side.

**Unsubscribe** — remove a specific subscription by ID.

```json
{
  "v": 1,
  "type": "unsubscribe",
  "id": "unsub-1",
  "subscriptionId": "<uuid from subscribed reply>"
}
```

**Configure** — toggle connection-wide settings. Currently just `resolvePath`,
which enables per-hop node resolution on `packetObservation` events (see
below). Unlike `subscribe`, this is a single flag for the whole connection,
not additive across calls — each `configure` sets it to exactly the value
sent, and it can be flipped on or off as many times as you like for the life
of the connection. Default is `false`.

```json
{ "v": 1, "type": "configure", "id": "cfg-1", "resolvePath": true }
```

The server replies:

```json
{ "v": 1, "type": "configured", "id": "cfg-1", "resolvePath": true }
```

**Ping**

```json
{ "v": 1, "type": "ping", "id": "ping-1" }
```

### Server → Client events

| Type                | Description                                         |
| ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `packetObservation` | New observation written to DB                       |
| `observerStatus`    | Observer status update                              |
| `nodeUpdate`        | Node upserted from advert                           |
| `channelMessage`    | Decrypted channel message (scope must include hash) |

When `resolvePath` is enabled via `configure`, `packetObservation` events
include a `resolvedPath` array: one entry per hop in the packet's path, each
with a `confidence` (`"high"` for exactly one candidate node, `"ambiguous"`
for multiple, `"none"` for zero) and the matching node(s)' id, name,
lat/lng, and public key. Without `resolvePath` enabled, `resolvedPath` is
`null` — this keeps the default event payload small; only opt in if you're
actually rendering path connections (e.g. drawing hops on a map).

### Backpressure

The server write buffer per connection is bounded at 256 events. If a client
falls behind, the server drops the oldest queued events and sends a `lagged`
notice:

```json
{ "v": 1, "type": "lagged", "droppedCount": 12, "since": 1234567890000 }
```

Clients should respond by re-fetching the relevant REST endpoint using `afterId`
to backfill missed events, then resume streaming.

### Reconnection

Subscriptions are not persisted — they exist only for the lifetime of the
connection. On any disconnect the client should reconnect with backoff, re-issue
all subscriptions, and backfill via REST using
`afterId=<last seen observation id>`.

### Connection limits

By default a maximum of 5 concurrent WebSocket connections are allowed per IP
address. Connections beyond this limit receive `HTTP 429`. The limit is
configurable via `websocket.max_connections_per_ip` in `config.yaml`.

---

## REST API

Base path: `/api/v1`

All list endpoints support cursor-based pagination via `cursor` and `limit`
query params. See the Swagger UI at `http://localhost:8080/swagger/index.html`
for full parameter documentation.

### Authentication

Not yet implemented — see the Authentication section above.

### Endpoints

| Method | Path                                | Description                                                                                        |
| ------ | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `GET`  | `/brokers`                          | List MQTT brokers and connection status                                                            |
| `GET`  | `/channels`                         | List channels (optional: `?hash=<hex>&iata=<code>&limit=50`)                                       |
| `GET`  | `/channels/{id}`                    | Get channel detail by integer ID                                                                   |
| `GET`  | `/channels/{id}/messages`           | List messages for a channel (optional: `?since=<ms>&iata=<code>&limit=50`)                         |
| `GET`  | `/iatas`                            | List all known IATA codes                                                                          |
| `GET`  | `/iatas/{iata}`                     | Get a single IATA code                                                                             |
| `GET`  | `/iatas/{iata}/border`              | Get an IATA's GeoJSON region border, if configured (204 if not)                                    |
| `GET`  | `/messages`                         | List all messages (optional: `?channelId=<int>&channelHash=<hex>&iata=<code>&since=<ms>&limit=50`) |
| `GET`  | `/messages/backfill`                | Backfill messages after a given message ID                                                         |
| `GET`  | `/nodes`                            | List nodes (optional: `?pubkeyPrefix=<hex>&neighbors&iatas=<codes>&pubkey=<hex>`)                  |
| `GET`  | `/nodes/{nodeId}`                   | Get node detail                                                                                    |
| `GET`  | `/nodes/{nodeId}/neighbors`         | List neighboring nodes observed in the mesh                                                        |
| `GET`  | `/nodes/{nodeId}/observations`      | List observations for a node                                                                       |
| `GET`  | `/observers`                        | List observers (optional: `?iata=<code>&type=<str>&broker=<name>&status=online\|offline`)          |
| `GET`  | `/observers/{observerId}`           | Get observer detail including broker last-seen timestamps                                          |
| `GET`  | `/observers/{observerId}/adverts`   | Adverts heard by observer                                                                          |
| `GET`  | `/observers/{observerId}/telemetry` | Observer telemetry history (optional: `?range=24h&interval=1h\|6h\|24h`)                           |
| `GET`  | `/packets`                          | List packets (optional: `?payloadTypes=<csv>&routeTypes=<csv>&scopes=<csv>` accept plural, comma-separated values alongside the singular params) |
| `GET`  | `/packets/backfill`                 | Backfill packets after a given observation ID                                                      |
| `GET`  | `/packets/{packetHash}`             | Get packet with all observations                                                                   |
| `GET`  | `/regions`                          | List all regions (summary)                                                                         |
| `GET`  | `/regions/{id}`                     | Get a single region with IATA list                                                                 |
| `GET`  | `/routes`                           | List known routes (all hops high confidence)                                                       |
| `GET`  | `/routes/search`                    | Search routes by source and destination hash                                                       |
| `GET`  | `/routes/cross`                     | Search for routes crossing IATA boundaries                                                         |
| `GET`  | `/scopes`                           | List transport scopes                                                                              |
| `GET`  | `/scopes/{name}`                    | Get scope detail                                                                                   |
| `GET`  | `/stats/observations`               | Hourly observation time series (last 7 days by default)                                            |
| `GET`  | `/stats/overview`                   | Network overview stats                                                                             |
| `GET`  | `/stats/payload-breakdown`          | Observation counts by payload type (last 24h by default)                                           |
| `GET`  | `/stats/scopes`                     | Configured region scopes and breakdown of packets, nodes, observers                                |
| `GET`  | `/stats/top-advertisers`            | Top N nodes by distinct ADVERT packet count (last 24h by default, from materialized view)          |
| `GET`  | `/stats/top-nodes`                  | Top N nodes by observation count (from materialized view)                                          |
| `GET`  | `/stats/top-observers`              | Top N observers by observation count (last 24h by default)                                         |
| `GET`  | `/stats/top-talkers`                | Top N companion names by decrypted channel message count (last 24h by default, from materialized view) |
| `GET`  | `/traces`                           | List trace tags with filters (optional: ?type=TRACE\|PING)                                         |
| `GET`  | `/traces/{tag}`                     | Get full trace detail with resolved routes                                                         |

---

## Acknowledgements

See [CONTRIBUTORS.md](CONTRIBUTORS.md) for the people who have helped build
Beacon.

Beacon stands on the shoulders of giants. See [SHOULDERS.md](SHOULDERS.md) for
the full list of open source projects that make this possible.

## Application logging

Beacon writes application logs to stderr. Configure the minimum level and output format in `config.yaml`:

```yaml
log:
  level: info   # debug, info, warn, error
  format: text  # text or json
```

`LOG_LEVEL` and `LOG_FORMAT` override file settings; empty settings use `info` and `text`. Invalid values prevent startup. Configuration-loading failures can use the bootstrap text logger before file settings are available; failures after initialization retain error severity at every supported level.

Records include a component field. Ingest workers also include their broker name, and HTTP completion records include the validated client address, route, status and duration. Query strings and protocol hello payloads are excluded. Expected ingest skips and routine WebSocket lifecycle details are debug-level. Changing the application's format does not change Caddy/Apache access logs or their fail2ban configuration. Collect/rotate stderr through Docker or systemd.