Meshtastic Link Decoder

A browser-based tool for decoding Meshtastic URLs with channels or contacts into human-readable JSON.

All decoding happens locally in the browser. No data is sent to any server.

Demo

Open Meshtastic Link Decoder

Types of Meshtastic URLs

Meshtastic uses special URL formats to share configuration data in a compact and portable way. These links can be exchanged between devices or users to quickly set up networks or contacts.

The most common types are:

• Channel Links contain channel settings, such as frequency, encryption keys, and modulation parameters.
• Contact Links share a single contact identity or node information (e.g., long name, short name, hardware ID).

How Meshtastic URLs Are Encoded

Meshtastic URLs are a compact, URL-safe representation of binary protobuf messages. The encoding process works as follows:

1. Protobuf Serialization Configuration objects (channel, contact, etc.) are serialized using Meshtastic’s protobuf schema.

2. Base64-URL Encoding The binary blob is encoded using a URL-safe variant of Base64 (replacing + and / with - and _). This ensures compatibility with browsers and messaging apps.

3. Prefixing with Path Identifier The encoded data is appended to a base URL, typically https://meshtastic.org/, with a single-letter path to indicate the type:

• /e/ → Encoded channel
• /c/ → Encoded contact

4. Decoding To reverse the process:

• Extract the Base64 string from the URL.
• Decode it back into binary.
• Parse the protobuf message into JSON.

This tool automates that decoding process entirely within your browser.