The chat room

ScotMesh has one chat, the room scotmesh, with three ways into it. Use whichever suits you: everyone sees the same messages, under the same names, whichever way they came in. It is the place to say hello, ask for help, and find out who else is on.

  MeshChatX, NomadNet, rrc-tui ──── RRC room #scotmesh ────┐
                                                           │
  Sideband, Columba, MeshChatX ──── LXMF group ────────────┼──►  ScotMesh chat hub  ──►  one conversation
                                                           │     (names, history,        everyone sees
  NomadNet, MeshChatX ───────────── chat page ─────────────┘      settings, 7 days)      every message

Way in	Address
RRC room	hub 004e5a15da221d9a236b0e8d74195f13, room scotmesh
LXMF group	625ad393ca4df62a1382f9d936322a0a
Chat page	c229a2c7d410e00b71f877375ae846bf:/page/index.mu

Every command is listed on Chat commands.

How it fits together

How the ScotMesh chat hub fits together

The hub is one program on ScotMesh's own server, connected to the backbone at rns.scotmesh.net.

• Three front doors. The RRC server, the LXMF group and the chat page each speak their own protocol, so every app works with the door it already knows.
• Identity first. Before a message goes any further, its door checks the Reticulum identity it came from and looks up the name that identity holds. That is why a name is the same everywhere and can't be borrowed, and why messages appear under the author's own name.
• One hub core puts messages in order, stores them once and sends them out through every door. It also handles catching up, who is here, LXMF settings and commands.
• Beside it are the names (one per identity, lookalikes refused), moderation (operators, bans and a log of what operators do) and the store, where messages are kept for 7 days.
• The propagation node holds group messages for LXMF members who are offline until they collect them.

Out of the box

Once you are connected to ScotMesh:

MeshChatX

Open the chat section, pick the ScotMesh hub (or add it by the hub address above) and join scotmesh. You can also message the LXMF group. MeshChatX uses one identity for both, so your name is the same in each.

Sideband, and Columba or Retichat on iPhone

Start a conversation with 625ad393ca4df62a1382f9d936322a0a and send /join. The chat then arrives like any other conversation, as Name: message, and what you send reaches everyone.

NomadNet

Open the chat page above to read along. To post, turn on "Identify when connecting" for that node and reload. NomadNet can also join the RRC room from its Channels screen.

Full installation

With Reticulum installed yourself, any RRC client works: Ratspeak, rrc-tui, rrc-gui, WeeChat (with the RRC plugin) and Eridanus. Point the client at the hub address, then:

/join scotmesh

The hub announces itself every 30 minutes, so a client that lists hubs usually shows it without the address being typed.

Your name

Your name belongs to your Reticulum identity and is the same in the RRC room, the LXMF group and on the page.

  your identity 178c1f39…  ──holds──►  "Alex"
                                         │
            ┌────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┐
            ▼                            ▼                            ▼
       RRC room: Alex             LXMF group: "Alex: hi"         chat page: Alex

• Claiming one. The first name you use becomes yours. That can be your RRC nickname, the display name your LXMF app announces (spaces become _), a name given with /join Name, or /nick Name. On the page, use "Your name & settings".
• Nobody else can take it, or anything that looks like it: A1ex, Al.ex and ALEX all count as Alex. If your name is taken you are told, and shown as guest- plus four characters of your identity until you choose a free one.
• The rules. 2 to 24 characters, starting with a letter. Letters (accents are fine), digits, -, _ and ., with no spaces. A few words such as admin and scotmesh are reserved.
• Giving it up. /leave frees your name and takes you out of the LXMF group. Messages you already sent keep the name they were sent under.
• One identity, one name. Each app normally makes its own identity, so a phone and a laptop are two identities and need two names, unless you restore the same identity on both.

Catching up

When you come back to the room over RRC, you get exactly what was said since you last left, with the times it was said:

  18:02  you disconnect
           │   Rab: anyone near Stirling?
           │   Ellen: got it, 2 hops
           │   … 10 more …
  19:30  you reconnect ──►  "— 12 messages since you were here (Sat 18:02) —"
                             the 12 messages, in order
                            "— end of history —"

• Nothing you have already seen is sent again. If nothing was said while you were away, there is no replay.
• The first time you visit, you get the last 10 messages.
• If more than 50 were said, you get the latest 50 and a note to use /history for the rest.
• The chat page marks "new since your last visit" in the same way.
• Messages are kept for 7 days.

The LXMF group

Messages arrive as Name: message, and /me waves arrives as * Name waves. You never get your own messages back from the app you sent them with.

  hub ──direct──► your messenger                      (normally within seconds)
   │
   └─ no answer twice? ──► you're marked away for 10 minutes
                            │
                            ▼
                 ScotMesh propagation node ──► your messenger collects it
                 c283b754…                     when it next syncs

Your LXMF settings, from any way in (see Chat commands):

• /lxmf on gets every message. This is the default.
• /lxmf off stops group messages but keeps your name and membership.
• /lxmf auto pauses group messages while you are in the room over RRC with the same identity, and starts them again when you leave.
• /lxmf mine on also sends you your own messages from RRC and the page, so your messenger shows the whole conversation.
• When delivery starts again after a pause, you get one note saying how many messages you missed.

  /lxmf auto:   RRC connected ───────────── LXMF paused
                RRC disconnected ─────────► LXMF resumes  +  "12 messages were said while it was paused"

The chat page

• It shows the last 30 messages, with "Older" to page back and your own name in green.
• To post, identify to the node first, then use the Say box. /me waves works there. Other commands don't work from the page; use its Your name & settings page instead.
• Your name & settings lets you claim or change your name, set LXMF delivery (on, auto or off), choose whether your own messages come to you by LXMF, and leave.
• How to join lists the three ways in with their addresses.

Rooms and operators

• scotmesh is the main room and always exists. Anyone on RRC can make another room with /join newname. A room exists while someone is in it, unless its founder keeps it with /register.
• Room operators can set the topic, set modes and remove people. Hub operators can ban people from the whole hub and free a name someone is squatting on.
• If you would like to help look after scotmesh, ask in the room or on the ScotMesh Discord.

What the hub keeps

• Messages for 7 days, then they are deleted. Nightly backups are kept for 7 days.
• For each identity it has seen: the identity and public key, when it was first and last seen, the name it holds, its settings, and how far it has read in each room. That is what makes names and catching up work.
• Bans, and a log of operator actions.
• It is all on ScotMesh's own server. Nothing is shared with anyone else.

When something doesn't work

The hub or the group isn't in my app

Wait up to 30 minutes for the announce, or add the address by hand. Check you are connected to ScotMesh.

NomadNet's RRC screen says "Unknown command"

NomadNet handles most slash commands itself and only passes a few to the hub; see Chat commands#NomadNet. For the others, message the LXMF group or use the chat page's settings.

I'm shown as guest-…

Your name was taken, or you haven't claimed one. Send /nick YourName.

I stopped getting group messages

Send /whoami to the group to check your settings. /lxmf on turns delivery back on.

It's quiet

Scotland is not a big place for Reticulum yet. Leave it open, or ask on the ScotMesh Discord.

The wider community

The Reticulum community runs its own RRC hub at 28c7c1a68c735693aa8e6b8193ed44b2. See Learning resources for that and the other places people talk.