Skip to content

CLI reference

COMMAND LINE · ROLES · DEFAULTS · DISCREPANCIES

Repeaters, room servers and sensors have a command line, on the serial console or remotely from an app. This section describes every command the firmware knows, by category: which role it works for, the default value, an example and, where one is agreed, the Dutch setting. The companion has no such command line, only an emergency console.

Note

Source. This page was verified against the firmware itself: MeshCore v1.17.1, commit d929643, 14 August 2026 — files src/helpers/CommonCLI.cpp, src/helpers/CommonCLI.h, examples/simple_repeater/MyMesh.cpp, examples/simple_repeater/main.cpp, examples/simple_room_server/MyMesh.cpp, examples/simple_sensor/SensorMesh.cpp, examples/simple_sensor/main.cpp, platformio.ini, and the official docs/cli_commands.md. Line numbers refer to this commit and can be reproduced with tools/cli-commands.py.

Where the commands come from

Repeater, room server and sensor use the same command handling: src/helpers/CommonCLI.cpp. Before that, each role handles a few commands in its own handleCommand(): setperm and get acl in all three, discover.neighbors in the repeater, and io and magic in the sensor. CommonCLI never looks at the role. Differences between roles arise in two other places: callbacks that each role fills in differently, and settings that only some roles read.

The companion does not use CommonCLI. Its settings go through the companion protocol, see The companion interface. There is an emergency console: Companion: CLI Rescue.

How to give a command

On the serial console you type the command and press Enter. The repeater puts -> in front of each reply (simple_repeater/main.cpp r.154); a reply is at most 159 characters (r.144). When a reply spans several lines, only the first line gets that prefix.

Remotely, an admin sends the same command from an app, see Remote Control and Requests and CLI. The sender time is then not 0, and so the commands in the Serial only column do not work. A command may start with a three-character prefix such as 01|; the node puts it back in front of the reply (repeater r.1211, room server r.897, sensor r.382).

Markers

Each category page starts with an overview table. The Role column is empty when the command works the same on repeater, room server and sensor. Otherwise it holds one of these markers:

Marker Meaning
<role> only Only that role carries out the command; the other roles do not know it or reply not supported
not <role> That role accepts the command, but it does not work there
effect: <role> Every role accepts and stores the setting, but only the named role uses it
build flag The command exists only in a build with a specific option; the page names which

Whether a role uses a setting was established by searching where the role reads the setting outside its constructor. In the Default column R stands for repeater, RS for room server and S for sensor. The Serial only column is filled when the firmware checks that the command comes from the serial console.

The categories

Defaults per role

The firmware sets these values in each role's constructor (simple_repeater/MyMesh.cpp r.861–941, simple_room_server/MyMesh.cpp r.630–694, simple_sensor/SensorMesh.cpp r.700–741). They apply to a freshly flashed node; if the node already has a settings file, loadPrefs() overrides them (CommonCLI.cpp r.30–47). Since v1.17.0 that file is JSON, in /prefs.json; if it does not exist yet, loadPrefs() reads the old binary /com_prefs once and writes out the JSON version. The old file is left in place. A ⚠ means the official documentation states something else.

Setting Repeater Room server Sensor
radio ⚠ 869.618,62.5,8,5 same same
tx per board, fallback 20 per board, fallback 20 per board, fallback 20
radio.rxgain ⚠ on (SX1262/SX1268) on (SX1262/SX1268) off
radio.fem.rxgain on on on
radio.fem.txgain off off off
name repeater Test BBS sensor
lat / lon 0.0 0.0 0.0
password password password password
guest.password ⚠ empty ROOM_PASSWORD or empty empty
owner.info empty empty empty
adc.multiplier 0.0 0.0 0.0
powersaving off off off
repeat ⚠ on off off
path.hash.mode 0 0 0
loop.detect off off off
txdelay 0.5 0.5 0.5
direct.txdelay ⚠ 0.3 0.2 0.2
rxdelay 0.0 0.0 0.0
dutycycle / af 50 / 1.0 50 / 1.0 50 / 1.0
int.thresh 0 0 0
cad off off off
agc.reset.interval 0 0 0
multi.acks 0 0 0
flood.advert.interval ⚠ 47 47 0
advert.interval ⚠ 2 → 0 2 → 0 2 → 0
flood.max 64 64 64
flood.max.unscoped ⚠ 64 64 0
flood.max.advert 8 8 0
allow.read.only off off off
gps / gps advert off / prefs off / prefs off / prefs
bridge.enabled ⚠ on — —
bridge.delay / bridge.source 500 / logTx — —
bridge.baud / bridge.channel 115200 / 1 — —
bridge.secret ⚠ LVSITANOS — —

advert.interval is 2 minutes until the first saved change and 0 after that; see Routing. The name is the fallback value of ADVERT_NAME; most builds set a name of their own.

Discrepancies with the official documentation

This reference follows the firmware. Where docs/cli_commands.md at the same commit says something else, this is noted at the command. The overview:

Topic Official documentation Firmware at d929643 Page
default radio 869.525,250,11,5 869.618,62.5,8,5 Radio
default radio.rxgain on on on repeater and room server in SX1262/SX1268 builds, off on the sensor Radio
extra.sf missing get and set exist, set only in USE_LR2021 builds Radio
eth.status under Ethernet not in CommonCLI.cpp but in nrf52/EthernetCLI.h Ethernet
limits tempradio 300–2500 MHz, 7.8–500 kHz 150–2500 MHz, 7–500 kHz Radio
neighbors, second field timestamp seconds ago Neighbors
set prv.key 64 hex characters 128 hex characters System
default guest.password empty ROOM_PASSWORD on the room server, if that flag is set System
default repeat on off on room server and sensor Routing
default direct.txdelay 0.2 0.3 on the repeater Routing
default flood.advert.interval 12 (repeater) 47 Routing
default advert.interval 0 2, 0 after the first saved change Routing
flood.max.unscoped 0xFF follows flood.max no 0xFF logic Routing
setperm without permissions removes the client Err - bad params; removal uses 0 ACL
region list serial only also remote Regions
region load <name> [flag] arguments arguments are ignored Regions
default bridge.enabled off on Bridge
values bridge.source logRx, logTx only a value starting with rx sets logRx Bridge
default bridge.secret per board LVSITANOS Bridge
bootloader.ver, pwrmgt.* under Bridge nRF52 platform Power management
io, magic missing sensor commands Sensors

Dutch settings at a glance

The agreements come from Regulations & Duty Cycle and Getting Started. Each command's category page repeats the setting.

Command Dutch setting Page
set radio 869.618,62.5,7,5 Radio
set dutycycle 10 Routing
set af 9 (firmware older than v1.15.0) Routing
set loop.detect minimal Routing
set flood.advert.interval 49 Routing
set advert.interval 240 Routing
set flood.max.advert 8 Routing
set flood.max.unscoped for example 3 Routing
set txdelay / set direct.txdelay default Routing
set repeat on on a repeater Routing
region put / region default eu → nl → province Regions

Newer firmware

This section is pinned to release v1.17.1. The commands that used to sit apart under "After the pinned commit" — cad, radio.fem.rxgain, radio.fem.txgain, extra.sf and eth.status — belong to this release and are now on Radio and Ethernet. That page has therefore been dropped.

Whatever lands on main and dev after v1.17.1 is not covered here. See Changes in v1.17.1 for what this release changes relative to the previous pin.

Sources

Translated from Dutch by Anthropic Claude