MeshCore Email Gateway

Bridge the gap between traditional email and the MeshCore mesh network. This gateway allows you to send and receive messages from MeshCore RF nodes using ordinary email, and comes with a web‑based management interface for easy configuration, monitoring, and debugging.

Features

• Bidirectional communication

  • Email → RF: Send an email to a special address; the subject (6‑char hex node prefix) determines the destination MeshCore node, and the body becomes the RF message.
  • RF → Email: Incoming RF messages starting with # followed by an email address are forwarded to that address via SMTP.

• Flexible connection to MeshCore devices

  • BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)
  • Serial port (UART)
  • TCP (with auto‑reconnect)

• IMAP IDLE monitoring

  • Listens for new emails in real time and processes them immediately.

• Customisable error and reply templates

  • All delivery failure messages and the RF‑to‑email reply format are defined in the configuration and can be freely edited.

• Live status and logging

  • WebSocket connection pushes real‑time status, statistics, and logs to any connected web client.

• RESTful management API

  • Configure, start/stop the gateway, test SMTP, manually send messages, and more.

• Built‑in static frontend

  • Place your compiled frontend in the frontend/ folder and it will be served automatically.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9 or higher
• A MeshCore device (or use simulation mode for testing)
• An email account with SMTP and IMAP access (e.g., Gmail, QQ Mail)

Steps

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/MeshCore-Email-Gateway.git
   cd MeshCore-Email-Gateway
   

2. Create a virtual environment (recommended)

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate   # Linux/macOS
   venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows
   

3. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

   If you don’t have a requirements.txt yet, generate one:

   pip install fastapi uvicorn aioimaplib pydantic
   # optional: if you have MeshCore Python bindings, install them too
   

4. Configure the gateway
   Edit config.json (it will be created automatically with defaults on first run). See Configuration below.

5. Prepare the frontend (optional)
   Place your built frontend files in the frontend/ directory. The server will serve index.html from there. If no frontend is found, the API root returns a simple JSON message.

6. Run the server

   python server.py
   

   The server will start at http://localhost:8765. Open this URL in your browser to access the management interface.

Configuration

All settings are stored in config.json. The first time you run the gateway, a default configuration is created. Below is a description of each field.

Connection settings

Field	Description
connection_type	"ble", "serial", or "tcp"
ble_address	BLE MAC address of the MeshCore device (optional)
ble_pin	PIN for BLE pairing (if required)
serial_port	Serial port, e.g. "/dev/ttyUSB0" or "COM3"
serial_baudrate	Baud rate for serial communication
tcp_host	IP/hostname of the TCP‑connected MeshCore device
tcp_port	TCP port
tcp_auto_reconnect	Whether to automatically reconnect on TCP disconnect

Email settings

Field	Description
agent_email	The email address that the gateway uses (from address for outgoing mails)
smtp_server	SMTP server hostname
smtp_port	SMTP port (usually 587 for STARTTLS, 465 for SSL)
smtp_user	SMTP username (usually the full email address)
smtp_password	SMTP password or app‑specific password
smtp_use_tls	Use STARTTLS (true) or plain (false)
imap_server	IMAP server hostname
imap_port	IMAP port (usually 993 for SSL)
imap_user	IMAP username
imap_password	IMAP password

RF & misc

Field	Description
rf_max_message_bytes	Maximum allowed length (in bytes) for an RF message (including sender email and body)
idle_timeout	IMAP IDLE timeout in seconds (renewal interval)
debug	Enable verbose debug logging
error_formats	Dictionary of templates for various error/notification emails. See below.

Error / Reply templates

The error_formats key holds sub‑dictionaries for each situation. The following keys are used:

• invalid-subject – subject line not a 6‑char hex prefix.
• node-not-found – no contact matches the prefix.
• msg-too-long – message exceeds RF limit.
• delivery-fail – RF transmission failed.
• rf-reply – format for forwarding an RF message to an email.

Each template can contain subject and body strings with placeholders like {{node_name}}, {{node_prefix}}, {{rf_message}}, {{gateway_email}}, etc. See the default configuration in server.py for examples.

Usage

Starting / Stopping the gateway

• Use the web interface (if available) or call the REST API:
  • POST /api/connect – start the gateway (connects to MeshCore and IMAP)
  • POST /api/disconnect – stop the gateway

Sending an RF message via email

1. Compose an email to the gateway’s monitored inbox.
2. Set the subject to the 6‑character hex prefix of the target MeshCore node (e.g., a1b2c3).
3. Write your message in the email body.
4. Send the email. The gateway will forward it to the RF node.

Receiving email from an RF node

1. On your MeshCore device, send a message starting with # followed by an email address, e.g.:

   #user@example.com Hello from the mesh!
   

2. The gateway will forward this message to user@example.com using the configured SMTP server.

Manual send via API

You can also trigger a message programmatically:

POST /api/send_email
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "to_prefix": "a1b2c3",
  "from_email": "sender@example.com",
  "body": "Hello node!"
}

Requires the gateway to be running.

API Reference

The backend provides a RESTful API at /api/*. Below are the most important endpoints.

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/config	GET/POST	Get or update configuration.
/api/connect	POST	Start the gateway (connects to MeshCore and IMAP).
/api/disconnect	POST	Stop the gateway.
/api/status	GET	Return current running status, stats, and contacts.
/api/contacts	GET	Return list of known MeshCore contacts.
/api/logs	GET	Return recent log entries (max 200).
/api/test/smtp	POST	Send a test email to agent_email to verify SMTP settings.
/api/send_email	POST	Manually send a message to an RF node.

WebSocket

Connect to ws://localhost:8765/ws to receive real‑time updates. On connection you will receive an initial payload containing current status, stats, logs, and contacts. Subsequent messages are pushed for new logs, status changes, and statistics updates.

Message format is JSON with a type field:

• init – initial data dump
• log – new log entry (time, level, message)
• status – status update (running, rf, imap, simulation, optional error)
• stats – updated statistics

Simulation mode

If the meshcore Python package is not installed, the gateway runs in simulation mode. In this mode, no actual RF communication occurs; all sends are logged and treated as successful. This is useful for testing the email side without a physical device.

Docker

A Dockerfile is not provided by default, but you can easily containerise the application:

FROM python:3.10-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY . .
CMD ["python", "server.py"]

Build and run:

docker build -t mesh-email-gateway .
docker run -p 8765:8765 -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json mesh-email-gateway

Troubleshooting

• IMAP login fails – Many email providers require an app‑specific password instead of your regular password. For Gmail, enable 2‑factor authentication and generate an app password. For QQ Mail, use the authorisation code.
• SMTP connection refused – Check if your provider blocks SMTP on the default ports; try port 587 with STARTTLS.
• RF messages not arriving – Verify that the MeshCore device is correctly paired/connected and that the destination node is in range.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.

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Happy meshing!