Styrene

A mesh communications platform built on Reticulum.

Styrene extends Reticulum (RNS) and LXMF into a complete mesh platform. Each instance of styrened — the core daemon — is a full peer on the network: encrypted messaging, service discovery, mesh relay. Identity generation, transport negotiation, and path resolution happen without configuration.

Identity. RNS cryptographic identities, made usable. Ephemeral by default, or pinned to YubiKey for persistence. No accounts, no servers.

Transport. A styrened device uses the best path available — internet, LAN, BATMAN-adv L2 mesh, or LoRa radio. RNS handles the negotiation. Styrene stays out of the way.

Deployment. A local group can stand up a private mesh with no central infrastructure. If the internet goes down, the mesh continues on whatever remains.

Current Capabilities

Encrypted messaging over LXMF with address book management
Automatic peer discovery across the mesh
Device provisioning — opinionated NixOS images for edge devices (Raspberry Pi, x86 laptops) that join the mesh by default
Terminal and web interfaces for mesh interaction
Custom wire protocol (msgpack over LXMF) enabling request/response RPC between styrened instances

Components

Component relationships

styrened is the core — daemon, shared library, and TUI in a single package. It handles RNS identity, LXMF messaging, device discovery, auto-reply, the RPC protocol that styrened instances use to coordinate, and provides the operator’s terminal interface for managing the mesh. Install with pipx install styrene.

New installs connect to the Styrene Community Hub by default — providing both RNS transport relay and LXMF store-and-forward propagation out of the box. No manual configuration required.

styrene-edge is provisioning — NixOS configurations and the Styrene Forge media preparation tool. It provides an opinionated path to stand up mesh-enabled devices, particularly useful for edge hardware where manual setup is tedious.

Vision

Long-term: tighter RNode integration, services beyond messaging, and a mesh experience comparable to Meshtastic but built on Reticulum’s richer protocol stack.

Solo project. Contributions welcome. The architecture docs distinguish what exists from what’s planned.

Quick Links

Getting Started — Install and run Styrene
Architecture — System design and protocols
Components — Detailed component documentation
Hardware — Supported devices and recommendations

Project Status