Send want_config_id on connect to trigger initial sync (#6)

Send want_config_id on connect to trigger initial sync (#6)

Firmware only streams myInfo/channels/configComplete after receiving a
ToRadio with want_config_id — the service previously wrote nothing on
connect, so /api/channels stayed [] and myNodeNum null. v0.1.4.

AGENTS.md

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 ## API
 
 1. **Live base URL** — `http://bot.dev.kkhost.pl` (Traefik → docker-compose stack on this host; container port 3000 via external network dev_net, no published ports).
-2. **Endpoints** — all under the `/api` global prefix: `GET /api/status` (`{ connected, myNodeNum, host, port }`), `POST /api/send` (body `{ "text": "...", "to"?: <node number | "!b" | "broadcast"> }`, returns `{ id }`), and `GET /api/channels` (the device's Meshtastic channels as `{ index, name, uplinkEnabled, downlinkEnabled }[]`; psk/keys redacted). Scalar API docs are served at `/` (OpenAPI JSON at `/docs-json`). Keep this list in sync with the controller.
+2. **Endpoints** — all under the `/api` global prefix: `GET /api/status` (`{ connected, myNodeNum, host, port }`), `POST /api/send` (body `{ "text": "...", "to"?: <node number | "!b" | "broadcast"> }`, returns `{ id }`), and `GET /api/channels` (the device's Meshtastic channels as `{ index, name, uplinkEnabled, downlinkEnabled }[]`; psk/keys redacted). Scalar API docs are served at `/` (OpenAPI JSON at `/docs-json`). Keep this list in sync with the controller. All `POST /api/send` traffic targets channel index 2 (`testowy`) on purpose — never the primary channel; override via `MESH_SEND_CHANNEL` (default `2`).
 
 ## Other
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v0.1.4 — 2026-09-23 20:33
+
+- Send a `ToRadio` with `want_config_id` (random non-zero uint32 nonce) on every bridge connect, so the firmware streams its initial sync data (`myInfo`, channels, `config_complete_id`) — previously nothing was written on connect, which is why `/api/channels` stayed empty and `myNodeNum` stayed null in production. New codec helper `buildWantConfigToRadio`; unit test captures the outbound frame on the fake bridge, asserts the `wantConfigId` oneof case with a non-zero value, then feeds back `myInfo` + `configCompleteId` frames and checks service state.
+
+## v0.1.3 — 2026-09-23 19:58
+
+- Sends are now pinned to the test channel `testowy` (channel index 2) instead of the hardcoded primary channel (`channel: 0`). The target channel is configurable via `MESH_SEND_CHANNEL` (default `2`) and parsed once at service construction; `buildTextToRadio` takes the channel index as a parameter. Unit tests now decode the outbound ToRadio frame on the fake bridge and assert `packet.channel === 2` on the default send path.
+
 ## v0.1.2 — 2026-09-23 19:51
 
 - Added a Gitea Actions CI pipeline (`.gitea/workflows/ci.yml`), mirroring flight's runner conventions: on push/PR to `main` (plus manual dispatch) one job runs `npm ci`, `nest build`, the vitest unit suite, and a production Docker image build — with retry loops for the runner's flaky uplink. No app code changed.

README.md

@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 # mesh-bot
 
 Minimal NestJS bot for Meshtastic. Long-running service that TCP-connects to a
-Meshtastic serial bridge (raw socat pipe) at `192.168.1.4:4403`, parses inbound
-protobuf frames, logs received text messages, and exposes HTTP endpoints to send text.
+Meshtastic serial bridge (raw socat pipe) at `192.168.1.4:4403`, sends
+`want_config_id` on connect so the firmware streams its initial sync data,
+parses inbound protobuf frames, logs received text messages, and exposes HTTP
+endpoints to send text.
 
 ## Local run
 
@@ -39,11 +41,15 @@ curl http://localhost:3000/api/channels
 
 `to` omitted, `"!b"`, or `"broadcast"` sends to the broadcast address `0xffffffff`.
 
+All sends always target channel index 2 (`testowy`) — never the primary
+channel. Override with `MESH_SEND_CHANNEL`.
+
 ## Env vars
 
 - `MESH_HOST` (default `192.168.1.4`) — bridge host
 - `MESH_PORT` (default `4403`) — bridge port
 - `MESH_RECONNECT_MS` (default `5000`) — reconnect interval in ms
+- `MESH_SEND_CHANNEL` (default `2`) — channel index all sends target (`testowy`; never the primary channel)
 - `PORT` (default `3000`) — HTTP listen port
 
 Note: the serial bridge accepts only ONE client at a time — if another app is

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "mesh-bot",
-  "version": "0.1.2",
+  "version": "0.1.4",
   "description": "",
   "author": "",
   "private": true,

src/mesh/codec.ts

@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ export async function decodeFromRadio(
 export async function buildTextToRadio(
   to: number,
   text: string,
+  channelIndex: number,
 ): Promise<{ bytes: Uint8Array; id: number }> {
   const P = await loadProto();
   let id = Math.floor(Math.random() * 0x100000000) >>> 0;
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ export async function buildTextToRadio(
     to,
     id,
     wantAck: true,
-    channel: 0,
+    channel: channelIndex,
     payloadVariant: {
       case: 'decoded',
       value: {
@@ -87,3 +88,13 @@ export async function buildTextToRadio(
   });
   return { bytes: frame(toBinary(P.Mesh.ToRadioSchema, toRadio)), id };
 }
+
+export async function buildWantConfigToRadio(
+  wantConfigId: number,
+): Promise<Uint8Array> {
+  const P = await loadProto();
+  const toRadio = create(P.Mesh.ToRadioSchema, {
+    payloadVariant: { case: 'wantConfigId', value: wantConfigId },
+  });
+  return toBinary(P.Mesh.ToRadioSchema, toRadio);
+}

src/mesh/mesh.service.spec.ts

@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
-import { create, toBinary } from '@bufbuild/protobuf';
+import { create, fromBinary, toBinary } from '@bufbuild/protobuf';
 import * as P from '@meshtastic/protobufs';
 import * as net from 'node:net';
 import type { AddressInfo } from 'node:net';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { frame } from './codec.js';
+import { extractFrames, frame } from './codec.js';
 import { MeshService } from './mesh.service.js';
 
-function startBridge(): Promise<{
+function startBridge(onSocket?: (s: net.Socket) => void): Promise<{
   port: number;
   sockets: net.Socket[];
   close: () => void;
 }> {
   const sockets: net.Socket[] = [];
-  const server = net.createServer((socket) => sockets.push(socket));
+  const server = net.createServer((socket) => {
+    onSocket?.(socket); // attached at accept time, before any data can arrive
+    sockets.push(socket);
+  });
   return new Promise((resolve) => {
     server.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', () => {
       resolve({
@@ -116,3 +119,114 @@ describe('MeshService channel pipeline', () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe('MeshService connect', () => {
+  it('sends want_config_id on connect and applies the initial sync', async () => {
+    const out: Uint8Array[] = [];
+    const bridge = await startBridge((s) => s.on('data', (c) => out.push(c)));
+    process.env.MESH_HOST = '127.0.0.1';
+    process.env.MESH_PORT = String(bridge.port);
+    const svc = new MeshService();
+    try {
+      svc.onModuleInit();
+      await waitFor(() => svc.status().connected && out.length > 0);
+
+      const merged = new Uint8Array(out.reduce((n, c) => n + c.length, 0));
+      let off = 0;
+      for (const c of out) {
+        merged.set(c, off);
+        off += c.length;
+      }
+      const { packets } = extractFrames(merged);
+      expect(packets.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      const tr = fromBinary(P.Mesh.ToRadioSchema, packets[0]);
+      expect(tr.payloadVariant?.case).toBe('wantConfigId');
+      const nonce =
+        tr.payloadVariant && tr.payloadVariant.case === 'wantConfigId'
+          ? tr.payloadVariant.value
+          : -1;
+      expect(nonce).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+      // feed back the initial sync: myInfo, then configCompleteId echoing the nonce
+      bridge.sockets[0].write(
+        frame(
+          toBinary(
+            P.Mesh.FromRadioSchema,
+            create(P.Mesh.FromRadioSchema, {
+              payloadVariant: { case: 'myInfo', value: { myNodeNum: 1234 } },
+            }),
+          ),
+        ),
+      );
+      bridge.sockets[0].write(
+        frame(
+          toBinary(
+            P.Mesh.FromRadioSchema,
+            create(P.Mesh.FromRadioSchema, {
+              payloadVariant: { case: 'configCompleteId', value: nonce },
+            }),
+          ),
+        ),
+      );
+
+      await waitFor(() => svc.status().myNodeNum === 1234);
+    } finally {
+      svc.onModuleDestroy();
+      bridge.close();
+    }
+  });
+});
+
+describe('MeshService send', () => {
+  it('sends on the test channel (index 2) by default, never primary', async () => {
+    const bridge = await startBridge();
+    process.env.MESH_HOST = '127.0.0.1';
+    process.env.MESH_PORT = String(bridge.port);
+    delete process.env.MESH_SEND_CHANNEL; // default path: "testowy" (index 2)
+    const svc = new MeshService();
+    try {
+      svc.onModuleInit();
+      await waitFor(
+        () => bridge.sockets.length === 1 && svc.status().connected,
+      );
+
+      const out: Uint8Array[] = [];
+      bridge.sockets[0].on('data', (c) => out.push(c));
+      const id = await svc.sendText(42, 'hello testowy');
+      expect(id).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+      const readOutbound = (): P.Mesh.MeshPacket | undefined => {
+        const merged = new Uint8Array(out.reduce((n, c) => n + c.length, 0));
+        let off = 0;
+        for (const c of out) {
+          merged.set(c, off);
+          off += c.length;
+        }
+        const { packets } = extractFrames(merged);
+        // outbound now starts with the want_config_id frame — find the text packet
+        for (const p of packets) {
+          const tr = fromBinary(P.Mesh.ToRadioSchema, p);
+          if (tr.payloadVariant?.case === 'packet')
+            return tr.payloadVariant.value;
+        }
+        return undefined;
+      };
+
+      await waitFor(() => readOutbound() !== undefined);
+      const pkt = readOutbound()!;
+      expect(pkt.channel).toBe(2); // "testowy" — never the primary channel (0)
+      expect(pkt.to).toBe(42);
+      const decoded =
+        pkt.payloadVariant?.case === 'decoded'
+          ? pkt.payloadVariant.value
+          : undefined;
+      expect(
+        new TextDecoder().decode(decoded?.payload ?? new Uint8Array()),
+      ).toBe('hello testowy');
+    } finally {
+      delete process.env.MESH_SEND_CHANNEL;
+      svc.onModuleDestroy();
+      bridge.close();
+    }
+  });
+});

src/mesh/mesh.service.ts

@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ import * as net from 'node:net';
 import {
   PORT_TEXT_MESSAGE_APP,
   buildTextToRadio,
+  buildWantConfigToRadio,
   decodeFromRadio,
   extractFrames,
+  frame,
 } from './codec.js';
 
 @Injectable()
@@ -23,6 +25,11 @@ export class MeshService implements OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy {
     process.env.MESH_RECONNECT_MS ?? '5000',
     10,
   );
+  // sends are pinned to the test channel ("testowy", index 2) on purpose — never the primary channel
+  private readonly sendChannel = parseInt(
+    process.env.MESH_SEND_CHANNEL ?? '2',
+    10,
+  );
 
   private socket: net.Socket | null = null;
   private buffer: Uint8Array = new Uint8Array(0);
@@ -75,7 +82,7 @@ export class MeshService implements OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy {
   async sendText(to: number, text: string): Promise<number> {
     if (!this.connected || !this.socket)
       throw new ServiceUnavailableException('bridge not connected');
-    const { bytes, id } = await buildTextToRadio(to, text);
+    const { bytes, id } = await buildTextToRadio(to, text, this.sendChannel);
     this.socket.write(bytes);
     return id;
   }
@@ -89,6 +96,13 @@ export class MeshService implements OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy {
       // fresh sync on every (re)connect — drop stale channels from the old session
       this.channelMap = new Map();
       this.logger.log(`bridge connected ${this.host}:${this.port}`);
+      const nonce = Math.floor(Math.random() * 0xffffffff) || 1;
+      buildWantConfigToRadio(nonce)
+        .then((bytes) => socket.write(frame(bytes)))
+        .catch((err: unknown) =>
+          this.logger.error(`want_config failed: ${String(err)}`),
+        );
+      this.logger.log(`requested initial sync (want_config_id=${nonce})`);
     });
     socket.on('data', (chunk) => {
       const merged = new Uint8Array(this.buffer.length + chunk.length);