Mesh Community Planner

April 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

A desktop application for planning LoRa mesh network deployments with terrain-aware RF propagation, hardware selection, and bill of materials generation.

Version License Platforms

What It Does

Mesh Community Planner helps you design LoRa mesh networks before buying hardware. Place nodes on a map, simulate RF coverage using real terrain data, pick from a catalog of real devices, and generate a shopping list. Everything runs locally on your computer — no accounts, no cloud, no telemetry.

Downloads

Download the latest release from the GitHub Releases page.

PlatformFormatFile
WindowsPortable (.zip)MeshCommunityPlanner-1.3.5-win.zip
macOS (Apple Silicon — M1/M2/M3/M4)Disk image (.dmg)MeshCommunityPlanner-1.3.5.dmg
macOS (Intel x86_64)Disk image (.dmg)MeshCommunityPlanner-1.3.5-x86_64.dmg
Linux (x86_64)AppImageMeshCommunityPlanner-1.3.5-x86_64.AppImage
Linux (aarch64 / arm64)AppImageMeshCommunityPlanner-1.3.5-aarch64.AppImage

All downloads are self-contained — no Python or Node.js installation required.

Linux architecture note: Download the file matching your CPU. Run uname -m if unsure — x86_64 is the standard PC/laptop architecture; aarch64 covers Raspberry Pi 4/5, Qualcomm Snapdragon X, and other 64-bit ARM boards and devices.

macOS note: On first launch, macOS will show a security warning — this is expected for unsigned apps. See Opening on macOS below.

Features

  • Interactive Map — Place nodes on OpenStreetMap with drag-and-drop
  • Node Configuration Wizard — Guided setup: Region, Firmware, Device, Radio, Antenna, Power
  • Hardware Catalog — 11+ real LoRa devices across Meshtastic, MeshCore, and Reticulum/RNode
  • Terrain-Aware Propagation — Longley-Rice/ITWOM with SRTM 30m elevation data
  • Elevation Heatmap — On-demand terrain visualization with hypsometric tinting, adjustable opacity, and min/max range sliders
  • Line-of-Sight Analysis — Terrain profiles with Fresnel zone clearance visualization
  • Network Topology — Graph view with critical node detection and resilience metrics
  • Power Budgeting — Battery and solar deployment recommendations per node
  • Bill of Materials — Component list with pricing, CSV/PDF export, and deployment cards
  • Regulatory Presets — US FCC 915, EU 868, EU 433, ANZ
  • Internet Map Import — Pull live node positions from MeshCore Map (map.meshcore.dev) and Reticulum Network (directory.rns.recipes) directly into your plan; auto-disables when offline
  • Meshtastic MQTT Import — Pull live node positions directly from a Meshtastic MQTT broker (public mqtt.meshtastic.org or your own local broker); configure listen duration and import by name
  • Lock Node Positions — Prevent accidental node moves with a per-plan toggle; state saved in .meshplan.json
  • Import/Export — .meshplan JSON format, CSV node import, KML export
  • Offline Operation — Works without internet after initial map/terrain caching
  • Privacy-First — All data stays on your machine, no accounts or analytics
  • Accessibility — WCAG 2.2 AA compliant with full keyboard navigation
  • Sample Plans — 4 built-in example plans to explore on first launch

Supported Firmware

  • Meshtastic — Community mesh networking firmware
  • MeshCore — Custom mesh protocol
  • Reticulum / RNode — Cryptographic mesh networking

🍎 Opening on macOS

This is NOT a virus warning. macOS blocks any app without a paid Apple code-signing certificate. Mesh Community Planner is free, non-commercial open-source software.

Option A — Right-click method (no Terminal needed):

  1. Open Finder → Applications
  2. Right-click MeshCommunityPlanner → Open
  3. Click Open in the dialog
  4. Done — macOS remembers this permanently

Option B — Terminal (required on macOS 13 Ventura and older if right-click fails):

xattr -cr /Applications/MeshCommunityPlanner.app

xattr -cr clears the quarantine flag macOS places on downloaded files. It does not modify the app — it performs the same action as clicking "Open" in the right-click dialog. After running it, double-click the app to launch normally.

Build from Source

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.9+ with pip
  • Node.js 18+ with npm
  • PyInstaller 6.x (pip install pyinstaller)

Build

git clone https://github.com/PapaSierra555/MeshCommunityPlanner.git
cd MeshCommunityPlanner

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install pyinstaller

cd frontend && npm install && npx vite build && cd ..

python -m PyInstaller installers/mesh_planner.spec --noconfirm

Run

# Windows
dist\MeshCommunityPlanner\MeshCommunityPlanner.exe

# macOS / Linux
./dist/MeshCommunityPlanner/MeshCommunityPlanner

The app starts a local server and opens your browser to http://127.0.0.1:8321.

See docs/INSTALLATION_GUIDE.md for platform-specific details, DMG/AppImage packaging, and troubleshooting.

Tech Stack

ComponentTechnology
FrontendReact 18 + TypeScript + Vite
State ManagementZustand
MappingLeaflet + OpenStreetMap
VisualizationD3.js
BackendPython 3.9+ + FastAPI
DatabaseSQLite (local)
PropagationLongley-Rice / ITWOM
Terrain DataSRTM 1-arc-second (30m resolution)
PackagingPyInstaller

Documentation

All documentation lives in the docs/ folder. Start with the User Guide for a comprehensive walkthrough of every feature.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on reporting bugs, requesting features, and submitting pull requests.

Please read our Code of Conduct before participating.

License

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

  • Share — Copy and redistribute in any medium or format
  • Adapt — Remix, transform, and build upon the material
  • Attribution — Give appropriate credit
  • NonCommercial — Not for commercial use
  • ShareAlike — Distribute under the same license

See LICENSE for full terms.

Acknowledgments

  • Signal-Server by Alex Farrant — Open-source RF propagation engine
  • OpenStreetMap contributors — Map data
  • USGS — SRTM terrain elevation data
  • Meshtastic, MeshCore, Reticulum projects — Inspiring this planning tool