markqvist/Reticulum

Features

• Decentralized Mesh Network Construction - Builds autonomous, encrypted peer-to-peer networks over diverse physical mediums without central infrastructure.
• Mesh Networking - Configures one or more physical or virtual interfaces so the Reticulum device joins an existing encrypted mesh and automatically discovers peers.
• Mesh Networking Frameworks - Provides a framework that unifies radio, serial, and IP links into a single self-configuring encrypted mesh.
• Cryptographic Key Management - Provides built-in utilities for generating, importing, exporting, and using cryptographic identity keys for encryption and signing.
• Self-Sovereign Identities - Uses self-sovereign cryptographic identities for node authentication and addressing without central authority.
• Routing Protocols - Routes packets using self-sovereign cryptographic addresses instead of numeric IPs for decentralized path discovery.
• Mesh File Synchronization - Synchronizes files between devices automatically without central servers, working over radio, LoRa, WiFi, or internet links on Reticulum.
• Background Daemon Services - Starts the Reticulum networking stack as a background daemon that provides persistent connectivity to local and wider mesh networks.
• Autonomous Path Discovery - Discovers and maintains paths between nodes autonomously without any central server.
• Switched Ethernet Interfaces - Provides communication over any switched Ethernet medium, including fiber optics and virtual adapters.
• Mesh Networking - Provides a Python library for building custom programs that communicate over the encrypted mesh.
• Application Development Libraries - Provides a Python library API for building custom applications that communicate over the encrypted mesh.
• Mesh Network Interfaces - Integrates LoRa and packet radio transceivers as physical links in a decentralized encrypted mesh.
• Distributed Backbone Integration - Joins a volunteer-run mesh of transport nodes that provides worldwide Reticulum internetworking without central coordination.
• Low-Bandwidth Transfer Protocols - Transfers data from bytes to gigabytes with automatic sequencing, compression, and checksumming over low-bandwidth links.
• Heterogeneous Network Connectivity - Connects devices using radio, serial, WiFi, Ethernet, or custom interfaces, bridging heterogeneous links into a single network.
• Interface Announcement - Broadcasts connection details for local Reticulum interfaces to the wider network, allowing other peers to automatically discover and connect.
• IP Network Encapsulation - Operates over existing IP networks such as wired Ethernet, WiFi, or the Internet while maintaining full mesh functionality.
• Local Network Discovery - Discovers and communicates with other nodes on the same local network using IPv6 and UDP without IP infrastructure.
• Medium-Agnostic Network Connectivity - Connects over wired, wireless, radio, or virtual mediums without requiring IP infrastructure or central coordination.
• Network Addressing - Assigns unique, collision-free addresses to nodes automatically without needing a central registry.
• Coordination-Less Global Addresses - Assigns collision-free globally unique addresses to devices without any central authority or coordination.
• Self-Sovereign Address Allocators - Generates globally reachable, portable addresses without any central authority, allowing anyone to create addresses as needed.
• Per-Interface Mode Controllers - Configures per-interface modes, announce rates, and ingress controls to manage traffic, path discovery, and network topology for Reticulum.
• Automatic Interface Discoverers - Automatically finds and connects to available interfaces on the local system to expand Reticulum network reach.
• Multi-Transport Interface Managers - Supports built-in interfaces for Ethernet, LoRa, packet radio, serial, TCP, UDP, and custom hardware via stdio or pipes for Reticulum.
• Bootstrap Connections - Discovers and establishes initial connections to Reticulum peers using temporary links, then automatically forms direct, resilient paths.
• Protocol-Agnostic Transport Layers - Unifies diverse physical mediums into a single self-configuring network through a plugin-based interface system.
• Mesh Network Transfers - Handles data from a few bytes to gigabytes with automatic sequencing, compression, checksumming, and progress reporting for Reticulum.
• Public Mesh Entrypoints - Ships a built-in utility to expose a public entrypoint for remote peers to join the mesh.
• Zero-Configuration Discovery - Automatically finds and connects to peers on local networks without manual setup or IP infrastructure.
• Mesh Network Daemons - Operates the Reticulum stack as an always-available service that maintains connectivity and routing without user intervention.
• Heterogeneous Medium Bridging - Links different physical mediums like LoRa, packet radio, and WiFi into a single self-configuring encrypted mesh.
• Zero-Configuration Routing - Routes encrypted messages with zero configuration, end-to-end encryption, and forward secrecy over any supported medium.
• Mesh Communication Platforms - Provides encrypted messaging, voice calls, and file synchronization over mesh networks without central servers.
• Multi-Medium Encrypted Links - Establishes encrypted links for messaging, voice, and data over radio, serial, WiFi, or Internet connections.
• Per-Session Key Exchanges - Secures every packet with X25519 ECDH key exchanges and forward secrecy.
• Forward Secrecy Implementations - Protects every packet and link with ephemeral keys derived from X25519 ECDH, ensuring past sessions remain secure if a key is compromised.
• Cryptographic Identity Networks - Replaces traditional IP addresses with self-sovereign cryptographic identities for routing and authentication.
• Encrypted Mesh Networks - Creates decentralized, encrypted communication networks over diverse physical mediums without IP.
• Encrypted Messaging Libraries - Ships a Python library for transmitting and receiving encrypted messages across the mesh.
• Traffic Encryption - Applies strong encryption to every packet by default, ensuring confidentiality and integrity across the entire mesh network.
• Background Service Daemonization - Keeps all configured Reticulum interfaces open and handles transport so other programs can immediately use the network without starting their own instance.
• Heterogeneous Carrier Switching - Routes data across heterogeneous carriers simultaneously, bridging LoRa, WiFi, Ethernet, and serial links.
• Text File Interface Definitions - Defines Reticulum network interfaces and their parameters in a configuration file for flexible deployment.
• Multi-Transport Interface Definitions - Defines one or more transport mediums (Ethernet, WiFi, TCP, LoRa, I2P) for the Reticulum mesh to communicate over.
• Hardware Interface Plugins - Loads user-defined transport drivers at runtime to support custom communications hardware.
• Distributed Routing Engines - Automatically discovers and maintains paths between nodes using a distributed routing algorithm.
• Mesh - Ships a built-in bulletin board system for secure, topic-based messaging over the mesh.
• Static File Serving - Serves web pages and files to compatible Reticulum mesh clients, acting as a drop-in node for content distribution.
• Mesh Network Git Hosting - Hosts Git repositories on a Reticulum node and allows standard Git commands to clone, push, and pull over the network using an rns:// URL scheme.
• Low-Bandwidth Mesh File Transfers - Copies files to remote Reticulum nodes over the mesh network, functioning reliably even on very low-bandwidth links.
• External Program Piping Interfaces - Uses any external program as a network interface by piping packets through its standard input and output.
• LoRa Radio Communication - Transmits and receives data over LoRa radio hardware using the RNode interface with full control over radio parameters.
• Remote Command Execution - Sends commands to remote Reticulum systems and returns output with interactive pseudo-shell mode.
• Serial Device Communication - Uses raw serial lines or serial-port communications hardware for direct device-to-device links.
• Serial Port Interfaces - Communicates over a direct serial connection for wire-pair links or devices like data radios and lasers.
• AX.25 Encapsulation - Encapsulates Reticulum traffic in AX.25 frames for amateur radio use, identifying transmissions with a callsign and SSID.
• KISS Protocol Modems - Uses KISS-protocol packet radio modems and TNCs for Reticulum communication, with optional AX.25 encapsulation for amateur radio identification.
• LoRa and Packet Radio Integration - Integrates LoRa and packet radio transceivers as physical mesh links for low-bandwidth wireless communication.
• Mesh Radio Interfaces - Integrates LoRa, packet radio, and other wireless transceivers as physical mesh links.
• Mesh Radio Interface Attachment - Connects supported digital radio transceivers to extend the mesh over long-range wireless links.
• File Transfers - Copies files between Reticulum nodes using the encrypted transport layer, with support for paths and remote destinations.
• Authenticated Mesh - Sends or receives files between authenticated Reticulum peers, with support for identity-based access control and optional compression.
• Mesh - Sends files and arbitrary data between Reticulum nodes using built-in utilities and resource transfer mechanisms.
• Mesh Network - Copies files reliably over the Reticulum mesh using a dedicated command-line tool that works even on very low-bandwidth links.
• Interface Discovery Listeners - Automatically finds and lists available Reticulum network entrypoints announced over the network, including Internet and radio interfaces.
• Mesh Network Bridging - Connects separate mesh instances through TCP, backbone, or I2P interfaces to balance performance and anonymity.
• Mesh Path Management - Provides utilities to view and modify routing path tables to control how data travels through the mesh network.
• Anonymous Addressing - Omits source addresses from packets so the sender's identity is never revealed to the network.
• External Command Piping - Routes Reticulum packets through any external program's standard input and output to create virtual interfaces.
• Interface Announcement Broadcasters - Broadcasts Reticulum interface connection details so other peers can automatically find and connect without static configuration.
• Plugin-Based Interface Loaders - Supports built-in interfaces for Ethernet, LoRa, serial, TCP, UDP, and custom hardware for Reticulum, and allows loading user-defined interface modules.
• Public Entrypoint Discovery - Discovers available public Reticulum entrypoints on the network itself or through community-maintained directories to establish initial connectivity.
• Ephemeral Chat Rooms - Provides ephemeral, room-based group conversations over the mesh without storing message history.
• Real-Time Voice and Video Communication - Makes real-time voice calls with end-to-end encryption over mesh networks, supporting hardware telephones and desktop applications.
• Mesh Voice Calls - Establishes encrypted, low-bandwidth voice calls over a mesh network, supporting hardware telephones and desktop applications.
• I2P Routing - Routes Reticulum traffic over the Invisible Internet Protocol for a globally reachable, portable address.
• Custom Network Interface Drivers - Allows writing and loading custom transport drivers at runtime to support unsupported communications hardware.
• Offline Delivery - Sends encrypted messages with delayed delivery for offline users over mesh networks.
• Encrypted Audio Streams - Streams real-time audio with end-to-end encryption and forward secrecy over any supported medium, powering voice and telephony applications.
• Efficient Encrypted Link Handshakes - Establishes encrypted links with a minimal three-packet handshake and extremely low keep-alive overhead.
• Message Authentication Systems - Verifies message integrity and origin using HMAC-SHA256 and Ed25519 digital signatures across the network.
• Interactive Remote Shells - Establishes fully interactive remote shell sessions over encrypted mesh networks on low-bandwidth links.
• Multi-Transport Routing - Automatically discovers and routes data across heterogeneous physical and virtual links adapting to topology changes.
• Mesh Remote Shells - Provides encrypted interactive shell access and command execution over low-bandwidth mesh links.

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