MeshCore Tower

MeshCore Tower 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.

What it does

• Subscribes to MeshCore MQTT brokers and decodes incoming LoRa packets using meshcore-go
• Stores packets, observations, nodes, observers, and channel messages in PostgreSQL
• 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, 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

---

Stack

Component	Technology
Language	Go 1.26
Router	Chi v5
Database	PostgreSQL 16
DB queries	sqlc + pgx/v5
MQTT	paho.mqtt.golang
WebSocket	coder/websocket
Packet decode	meshcore-go
Config	YAML via gopkg.in/yaml.v3
Env	godotenv

---

Project layout

tower-server/
├── cmd/tower/          entry point
├── db/
│   ├── migrations/     SQL schema (001_schema.sql)
│   ├── queries/        sqlc query definitions
│   ├── sqlc/           generated Go DB code (do not edit)
│   └── store.go        DB interface implementations
├── internal/
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── handlers/   HTTP route handlers
│   │   ├── middleware/  Auth middleware stub
│   │   ├── router/     Chi router wiring
│   │   ├── helpers.go  Node type name helpers
│   │   └── reader.go   Read-only DB interface + response types
│   ├── config/         Config file loading and DB seeding
│   ├── hub/            WebSocket fan-out broker
│   ├── ingest/         MQTT ingest pipeline
│   ├── keystore/       Channel key store
│   └── ws/             WebSocket handler
├── config.yaml.example
├── env.example
├── docker-compose.yml
└── sqlc.yaml

---

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Go 1.26+
• Docker and Docker Compose
• sqlc (only needed if modifying queries)

1. Clone and configure

git clone https://github.com/MeshCore-Tower/tower-server.git
cd tower-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, and channel keys.

2. Start PostgreSQL

docker compose up postgres -d

The schema in db/migrations/001_schema.sql is applied automatically on first start via docker-entrypoint-initdb.d.

3. Run

go run ./cmd/tower

Tower 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)

---

Configuration

Environment variables (.env)

Variable	Default	Description
LISTEN_ADDR	:8080	HTTP listen address
POSTGRES_DSN	—	PostgreSQL connection string
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
REDIS_ADDR	—	Redis address (e.g. localhost:6379)
PACKET_RETENTION_DAYS	30	How many days of packet observations to retain

Config file (config.yaml)

iatas:
  YVR:
    name: Vancouver International
    lat: 49.1967
    lng: -123.1815

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:
  # Hashtag channels: Tower derives the PSK from the tag name automatically.
  hashtags:
    - meshcore

  # Explicit keys: channel hash (hex) and key (hex), with optional display name.
  keys:
    "11":
      key: "8b3387e9c5cdea6ac9e5edbaa115cd72"
      name: "Public"

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

---

WebSocket API

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

On connect the server sends a hello message:

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

Client → Server messages

• Subscribe

{
  "v": 1,
  "type": "subscribe",
  "id": "sub-1",
  "scope": {
    "iatas": ["YOW", "YYZ"],
    "payloadTypes": [4, 5],
    "events": ["packetObservation"]
  }
}

• Ping (send every 30s; connection closes after 90s idle)

{ "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

---

REST API

Base path: /api/v1

Implemented

Method	Path	Description
GET	/iatas	List all known IATA codes
GET	/iatas/{iata}	Get a single IATA code
GET	/regions	List all regions (summary)
GET	/regions/{id}	Get a single region with IATA list
GET	/channels	List channels (optional: ?hash=<hex>&since=<ms>&limit=50)
GET	/channels/{id}	Get channel detail by integer ID
GET	/channels/{id}/messages	List messages for a channel
GET	/messages	List all messages (optional: ?channelId=<int>&channelHash=<hex>&since=<ms>&limit=50)
GET	/observers	List observers
GET	/observers/{observerId}	Get observer detail

Stubbed (501 Not Implemented)

Method	Path	Description
GET	/packets	List packets with filters
GET	/packets/{packetHash}	Get packet with all observations
GET	/nodes	List nodes
GET	/nodes/{nodeId}	Get node detail
GET	/nodes/{nodeId}/observations	List observations for a node
GET	/observers/{observerId}/telemetry	Observer telemetry history
GET	/observers/{observerId}/adverts	Adverts heard by observer
GET	/stats/overview	Network overview stats
GET	/stats/observations	Observation time series
GET	/stats/payloadBreakdown	Observations by payload type
GET	/stats/topNodes	Top nodes by observation count
GET	/stats/topObservers	Top observers by observation count

---

Development

Modifying DB queries

Edit db/queries/queries.sql, then regenerate:

sqlc generate

Running with Docker

docker compose up

This starts PostgreSQL, Redis (reserved for future caching), and the MeshCore Tower server.

---

Road Map

Done

• MQTT ingest pipeline (two brokers, cross-broker dedup)
• Packet decode via meshcore-go
• Observer upsert and status processing
• Node upsert from advert payloads
• Channel message storage with key-based decryption
• Firmware capability detection scaffolding
• Hub-based WebSocket fan-out with subscription filtering
• WebSocket server (hello, subscribe, ping/pong, events)
• Config file loading (regions, IATA overrides, channel keys)
• Observer radio settings on observations
• DB seeding on startup
• REST API: IATAs, Regions
• REST API: Channels (list + detail + messages)

In progress / next

• REST API: Nodes (list + detail + observations)
• REST API: Packets (list + detail)
• REST API: Observers (list + detail done; telemetry + adverts stubbed)
• REST API: Observer telemetry + adverts sub-endpoints
• REST API: Stats
• Path resolution (node short ID lookup)
• Propagation time calculation
• Routes and traces endpoints
• Packet search endpoint (requirements TBD)

Future

• Redis caching for stats endpoints
• Admin authentication middleware
• Channel key rotation / multi-key support (scaffolded)
• Caddy reverse proxy config for production
• Region management via API (currently config-file only)
• WebSocket subscription unsubscribe (scaffolded, not implemented)
• Observer owner tracking (schema exists, API excluded by design)