murphy360/meshtastic_mesh_monitor

Meshtastic Mesh Monitor

A comprehensive monitoring system for Meshtastic mesh networks that provides RSS feed monitoring, web scraping, AI-powered responses, weather alerts, and situational reporting capabilities.

Features

• 🌐 RSS Feed Monitoring: Automatically monitor RSS feeds and relay updates to the mesh
• 📄 Web Scraping: Monitor websites for changes and new content
• 🤖 AI Integration: Generate intelligent responses using Google Gemini AI
• 🌦️ Weather Alerts: Monitor and relay weather alerts from weather.gov
• 📊 Situational Reports: Generate and track network status reports
• 👍 Message Reactions: Visual feedback with emoji reactions
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration: File-based configuration with automatic loading

Quick Start

Docker Installation (Raspberry Pi 4 64bit)

bash
# Install Docker
curl -sSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
sudo systemctl enable docker

Running the Monitor

1. Clone the repository:

   bash
   git clone https://github.com/murphy360/meshtastic_mesh_monitor.git
   cd meshtastic_mesh_monitor
   

2. Create configuration (see Configuration section):

   bash
   cp config.json.example config.json
   # Edit config.json with your feeds and settings
   

3. Build and run:

   bash
   # Quick deployment script
   ./build_and_deploy.sh
   
   # Or manually:
   docker build -t meshtastic_mesh_monitor .
   docker run -d --name meshtastic_mesh_monitor \
     -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json \
     -v $(pwd)/data:/data \
     meshtastic_mesh_monitor
   

Configuration

The monitor uses automatic configuration loading - simply create a config.json file and the interfaces load it automatically.

Connection Configuration

Configure how to connect to your Meshtastic device:

bash
# Environment Variables
export CONNECTION_TYPE="tcp"          # or "serial"
export TCP_SERVER="meshtastic.local"  # IP/hostname for TCP
export SERIAL_PORT="/dev/ttyUSB0"     # Serial port path

RSS Feeds and Web Scrapers

Create a config.json file in the project root:

json
{
  "rss_feeds": [
    {
      "id": "tech_news",
      "name": "Tech News",
      "url": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/TechCrunch",
      "enabled": true,
      "check_interval_hours": 2
    }
  ],
  "web_scrapers": [
    {
      "id": "local_government",
      "name": "City Website",
      "url": "https://www.example.gov/news",
      "enabled": true,
      "check_interval_hours": 24,
      "extractor_type": "links"
    }
  ]
}

Configuration Properties

RSS Feeds:

• id: Unique identifier (required)
• name: Human-readable name (optional)
• url: RSS feed URL (required)
• enabled: Enable/disable monitoring (default: true)
• check_interval_hours: Check frequency in hours (default: 1)

Web Scrapers:

• id: Unique identifier (required)
• name: Human-readable name (optional)
• url: Website URL to scrape (required)
• enabled: Enable/disable monitoring (default: true)
• check_interval_hours: Check frequency in hours (default: 1)
• extractor_type: Content extraction method (generic, links, twinsburg_links)
• css_selector: CSS selector for targeted content (optional)

Automatic Loading

The system automatically loads configuration:

python
# No manual setup required - config loads automatically
rss_interface = RSSInterface()
web_scraper = WebScraperInterface()

Backward Compatibility

Environment variables are still supported for RSS feeds:

bash
export RSS_FEED_NEWS="https://example.com/news.rss"
export RSS_FEED_TECH="https://techsite.com/feed.xml"

Docker Configuration

Environment Variables

bash
# Connection settings
CONNECTION_TYPE=tcp
TCP_SERVER=meshtastic.local
SERIAL_PORT=/dev/ttyUSB0

# AI Integration (optional)
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Legacy RSS feeds (optional)
RSS_FEED_NEWS=https://example.com/rss.xml

Volume Mounts

bash
docker run -d \
  -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/data \
  -e CONNECTION_TYPE=tcp \
  -e TCP_SERVER=your.meshtastic.device \
  --name mesh_monitor \
  meshtastic_mesh_monitor

AI Integration

The monitor can generate intelligent responses using Google Gemini AI:

1. Get an API key from https://aistudio.google.com/
2. Set the environment variable:

   bash
   export GEMINI_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
   

3. Send messages to the bot and it will respond with AI-generated content

Monitoring Features

RSS Feed Monitoring

• Automatic detection of new RSS items
• Configurable check intervals per feed
• Rich message formatting with titles, links, and descriptions

Web Scraping

• Monitor websites for new content and changes
• Extract links, PDFs, and text content
• Support for custom extractors
• Automatic PDF download and processing

Weather Alerts

• Integration with weather.gov API
• Automatic alert monitoring and relay
• Geographical filtering for relevant alerts

Network Monitoring

• Track node status and connectivity
• Generate situational reports (SITREP)
• Monitor mesh health and performance

Logging and Monitoring

View logs in real-time:

bash
# Follow logs
docker logs -f meshtastic_mesh_monitor

# View recent logs
docker logs --tail 100 meshtastic_mesh_monitor

Logs include:

• RSS feed check results
• Web scraper activity
• AI response generation
• Network events and status
• Configuration loading status

Development

Running Locally

bash
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run the monitor
python src/mesh-monitor.py

Adding New Features

The monitor is designed for extensibility:

• RSS feeds: Add new feeds to config.json
• Web scrapers: Create custom extractors in web_scraper_interface.py
• AI responses: Customize prompts in gemini_interface.py
• Monitoring: Add new data sources following existing patterns

Testing Configuration

Use the example script to test your configuration:

bash
python example_config_usage.py

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Configuration not loading

   • Verify config.json is in the project root
   • Check JSON syntax is valid
   • Review logs for error messages

2. Feeds not updating

   • Check enabled flag is set to true
   • Verify check_interval_hours setting
   • Ensure feed URLs are accessible

3. Connection issues

   • Verify CONNECTION_TYPE environment variable
   • Check TCP server address or serial port path
   • Ensure Meshtastic device is accessible

4. AI responses not working

   • Verify GEMINI_API_KEY is set correctly
   • Check API quota and billing status
   • Review logs for API error messages

Log Analysis

Key log messages to monitor:

• RSS Interface initialized with X feeds
• Web Scraper Interface initialized with X websites
• Configuration loaded successfully
• New RSS Item Detected / Update Detected

Build and Deployment

The build_and_deploy.sh script automates deployment:

bash
./build_and_deploy.sh

This script:

1. Builds the Docker image
2. Stops any existing container
3. Starts a new container with updated code
4. Follows logs for monitoring

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Areas for improvement:

• Additional RSS feed sources
• New web scraper extractors
• Enhanced AI response capabilities
• Mobile-friendly interfaces
• Performance optimizations

Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.