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Crosstalk logo

Crosstalk

A field-focused fork of Reticulum MeshChat with clearer network visibility, easier interface setup and a redesigned UI.

Crosstalk interface

What Crosstalk adds

Crosstalk keeps MeshChat's LXMF messaging, attachments, audio calls, propagation-node support and Nomad Network browser, then makes Reticulum easier to understand, configure and use.

Transport and infrastructure visibility

  • A dedicated Infrastructure view for signed Reticulum interface advertisements.
  • Visibility into relay-only infrastructure, including MicroReticulum transport nodes such as SkyMesh and RTNode devices.
  • Infrastructure nodes, hop counts, radio parameters and connection state in the network map.

Easier interface setup

  • Public-backbone onboarding, including a disabled-by-default RMAP World connection.
  • Improved interface import, export, editing and deletion.
  • Automatic backend restarts after configuration changes.
  • An isolated Crosstalk Reticulum configuration so another local Reticulum instance cannot leave the app using stale settings.
  • Failed interfaces are turned off on startup instead of taking the whole app down. See Interface startup recovery.
  • Adding Local Network (Auto) warns if an AutoInterface is already enabled, so a second copy does not bind the same LAN ports.

Better everyday UI

  • A redesigned, higher-contrast desktop and mobile UI.
  • Clearer navigation, deterministic identicons and improved network-map controls.
  • Consistent in-app dialogs, notifications and status feedback.
  • Better attachment previews, attachment-only messages and mobile chat controls.
  • Path-status dots in the chats list so you can see who currently has a delivery route.

Reliability improvements and bug fixes

  • More predictable startup and configuration behavior.
  • Fixes for stale Reticulum settings, attachment-only messages and mobile chat interactions.
  • Clearer feedback when interfaces restart, connections change or message delivery needs attention.

Exotic interfaces

Templates for proven but uncommon Reticulum transports, such as Iridium IMT, so they can be added like any other interface instead of as one-off forks.

Optional 10 m HF hop

Crosstalk can opt a conversation onto a licensed amateur HF hop when there is no Reticulum path. The radio hop is plaintext; encrypted Reticulum never goes on the air. The on-air recipe is public: 10 m HF codec.

Install

Download a packaged build for Windows, macOS or Linux from Releases.

The desktop packages are not yet Developer ID or Authenticode signed. On macOS, try opening Crosstalk once, then use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. On Windows, you may need to choose More info and then Run anyway in SmartScreen.

Other supported setups:

To run from source, install Python 3 and Node.js 22.12 or newer, then:

git clone https://github.com/buildwithparallel/crosstalk.git
cd crosstalk
npm install --omit=dev
npm run build-frontend
python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python3 crosstalk.py

Open http://localhost:8000. Run python3 crosstalk.py --help for server, identity, storage and Reticulum configuration options.

Development

python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
npm install
npm run build-frontend
python3 crosstalk.py --headless

Use npm run electron to build and launch the Electron app locally, or npm run dist to create a packaged build for the current platform.

Maintainers can use the release workflow to build downloadable packages for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome when they improve something Crosstalk already does, or add a capability other users would actually use. Fixes, clearer UI, reliability, and features that help the broader Reticulum community are a good fit. Very personal or one-off customizations are better kept in a fork.

Upstream and compatibility

Crosstalk is based on Reticulum MeshChat and remains compatible with LXMF clients such as Sideband and NomadNet.

It uses the Reticulum Network Stack and can communicate over any configured Reticulum interface, including TCP, local networks, RNode/LoRa, and templates for exotic links such as Iridium IMT.

License

MIT