The hub is one program on ScotMesh's own server, connected to the backbone at rns.scotmesh.net.

• Three front doors. The RRC server, the LXMF group and the chat page each speak their own protocol, so every app works with the door it already knows.

• Identity first. Before a message goes any further, its door checks the Reticulum identity it came from and looks up the name that identity holds. That is why a name is the same everywhere and can't be borrowed, and why messages appear under the author's own name.

• One hub core puts messages in order, stores them once and sends them out through every door. It also handles catching up, who is here, LXMF settings and commands.

• Beside it are the names (one per identity, lookalikes refused), moderation (operators, bans and a log of what operators do) and the store, where messages are kept for 7 days.

• The propagation node holds group messages for LXMF members who are offline until they collect them.

Here is the same conversation seen three ways in MeshChatX. The messages Alex sent from LXMF, RRC and the chat page all turn up in each view, under the same name.

the-rrc-roomThe RRC room

The live chat, with who is here, joins and leaves, and room notices. Use it when you want to talk in real time.

the-lxmf-groupThe LXMF group

The chat arrives as ordinary messages from ScotMesh Chat, each one written as Name: message. What you send goes to everyone. It keeps working when you are offline, because missed messages wait on the propagation node.

the-chat-pageThe chat page

A NomadNet page showing who you are, the recent messages, a box to post, and links to older messages and to your name and settings. When there's something you haven't seen yet, a line marks where it starts.

Once you are connected to ScotMesh:

meshchatxMeshChatX

All three ways in work from MeshChatX, and it uses one identity for all of them, so your name is the same in each. See step by step in MeshChatX below.

sideband-and-columba-or-retichat-on-iphoneSideband, and Columba or Retichat on iPhone

Start a conversation with 625ad393ca4df62a1382f9d936322a0a and send /join. The chat then arrives like any other conversation, as Name: message, and what you send reaches everyone.

nomadnetNomadNet

Open the chat page above to read along. To post, turn on "Identify when connecting" for that node and reload. NomadNet can also join the RRC room from its Channels screen.

These steps match MeshChatX 4.8. Labels in bold are what the app shows.

The hub names you after the display name your app announces, so set that first.

1. Click your account at the bottom of the left sidebar. Until you set a name it says My Identity.

2. Type your name in Display Name and press Enter. It's also in Settings under Profile.

3. Click Announce Now (the radio icon next to it) so the network hears the new name.

Names have no spaces on the hub, so Ellen Smith becomes Ellen_Smith. You can pick a different name later with /nick YourName.

1. In the left sidebar, under Communicate, click Relay Chat. If you can't see it, turn on Relay Chat in Settings → General.

2. On the Connect tab, click + Add a hub.

3. In Add a Relay Chat Hub, paste 004e5a15da221d9a236b0e8d74195f13 into Hub Destination Hash. Type ScotMesh in Hub Name (optional) and click Add Hub. MeshChatX connects straight away. Or open the Discover tab: the ScotMesh hub is listed once its announce has reached you, with an Add button.

4. Under the hub, type scotmesh in the room name box and click + (Join Room). You can also open Available Rooms and click Join.

5. Type in Write a message... and click Send.

• Show members in the room header lists who is here.

• Commands such as /help and /whoami go in the same message box. The answers appear in the room, visible only to you.

• The hub card's cog (Hub Settings) has Nickname override, if you want a name on RRC other than your display name.

1. Click Messages in the left sidebar.

2. Paste 625ad393ca4df62a1382f9d936322a0a into Enter an LXMF address to start a conversation and press Enter.

3. Send /join. The reply welcomes you by name and shows the last few messages.

4. Add ScotMesh Chat to your contacts. The conversation shows a banner, This peer is not in your contacts, with an Add to Contacts button. Click it. MeshChatX's Block Attachments from Strangers setting (in Settings → Messages → Stranger Protection, on by default) refuses any long message from someone who isn't a contact. The hub keeps its messages short so they get through anyway, but adding the group as a contact means nothing is ever held back.

From then on the chat arrives as Name: message, and whatever you send reaches everyone. /lxmf off pauses it without leaving; /help lists the rest.

1. In the left sidebar, under Explore, click Nomad Network.

2. Click Open a Nomadnet URL, or use the address bar at the top once a page is open. Enter c229a2c7d410e00b71f877375ae846bf:/page/index.mu and press Enter.

3. Click the star (Add Favourite) so it's one click away next time.

4. To post, click the fingerprint button in the page toolbar. Its tooltip reads Identify when connecting (off). Confirm, and the page reloads with your identity, showing You are and your name.

5. Type in Say and click Send. Reload fetches new messages; Your name & settings has your name and LXMF options.

The identify setting belongs to that favourite, so it stays on for the chat page next time. It isn't available in private tabs.

With Reticulum installed yourself, any RRC client works: Ratspeak, rrc-tui, rrc-gui, WeeChat (with the RRC plugin) and Eridanus. Point the client at the hub address, then:

The hub announces itself every 30 minutes, so a client that lists hubs usually shows it without the address being typed.

Your name belongs to your Reticulum identity and is the same in the RRC room, the LXMF group and on the page.

• Claiming one. The first name you use becomes yours. That can be your RRC nickname, the display name your LXMF app announces (spaces become _), a name given with /join Name, or /nick Name. On the page, use "Your name & settings".

• Nobody else can take it, or anything that looks like it: A1ex, Al.ex and ALEX all count as Alex. If your name is taken you are told, and shown as guest- plus four characters of your identity until you choose a free one.

• The rules. 2 to 24 characters, starting with a letter. Letters (accents are fine), digits, -, _ and ., with no spaces. A few words such as admin and scotmesh are reserved.

• Giving it up. /leave frees your name and takes you out of the LXMF group. Messages you already sent keep the name they were sent under.

• One identity, one name. Each app normally makes its own identity, so a phone and a laptop are two identities and need two names, unless you restore the same identity on both.

When you come back to the room over RRC, you get exactly what was said since you last left, with the times it was said:

• Nothing you have already seen is sent again. If nothing was said while you were away, there is no replay.

• The first time you visit, you get the last 10 messages.

• If more than 50 were said, you get the latest 50 and a note to use /history for the rest.

• The chat page marks "new since your last visit" in the same way.

• Messages are kept for 7 days.

Messages arrive as Name: message, and /me waves arrives as * Name waves. You never get your own messages back from the app you sent them with.

Your LXMF settings, from any way in (see Chat commands):

• /lxmf on gets every message. This is the default.

• /lxmf off stops group messages but keeps your name and membership.

• /lxmf auto pauses group messages while you are in the room over RRC with the same identity, and starts them again when you leave.

• /lxmf mine on also sends you your own messages from RRC and the page, so your messenger shows the whole conversation.

• When delivery starts again after a pause, you get one note saying how many messages you missed.

• It shows the last 30 messages, with "Older" to page back and your own name in green.

• To post, identify to the node first, then use the Say box. /me waves works there. Other commands don't work from the page; use its Your name & settings page instead.

• Your name & settings lets you claim or change your name, set LXMF delivery (on, auto or off), choose whether your own messages come to you by LXMF, and leave.

• How to join lists the three ways in with their addresses.

• scotmesh is the main room and always exists. Anyone on RRC can make another room with /join newname. A room exists while someone is in it, unless its founder keeps it with /register.

• Room operators can set the topic, set modes and remove people. Hub operators can ban people from the whole hub and free a name someone is squatting on.

• If you would like to help look after scotmesh, ask in the room or on the ScotMesh Discord (discord.gg/ytxfyuDmSt).

• Messages for 7 days, then they are deleted. Nightly backups are kept for 7 days.

• For each identity it has seen: the identity and public key, when it was first and last seen, the name it holds, its settings, and how far it has read in each room. That is what makes names and catching up work.

• Bans, and a log of operator actions.

• It is all on ScotMesh's own server. Nothing is shared with anyone else.

the-hub-or-the-group-isn-t-in-my-appThe hub or the group isn't in my app

Wait up to 30 minutes for the announce, or add the address by hand. Check you are connected to ScotMesh.

nomadnet-s-rrc-screen-says-unknown-commandNomadNet's RRC screen says "Unknown command"

NomadNet handles most slash commands itself and only passes a few to the hub; see Chat commands#NomadNet. For the others, message the LXMF group or use the chat page's settings.

i-m-shown-as-guestI'm shown as guest-…

Your name was taken, or you haven't claimed one. Send /nick YourName.

i-stopped-getting-group-messagesI stopped getting group messages

Send /whoami to the group to check your settings. /lxmf on turns delivery back on.

it-s-quietIt's quiet

Scotland is not a big place for Reticulum yet. Leave it open, or ask on the ScotMesh Discord (discord.gg/ytxfyuDmSt).

The Reticulum community runs its own RRC hub at 28c7c1a68c735693aa8e6b8193ed44b2. See Learning resources for that and the other places people talk.