configure a meshtastic channel's psk encryption using the python cli
domain: meshtastic.org · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Install the Meshtastic Python CLI and connect it to the target node over USB/serial or TCP.
Set a custom key with meshtastic --ch-set psk <hex-or-base64-key> --ch-index <N>, where N selects which channel slot to modify.
Know that the PSK must be exactly 0 bytes (no crypto), 16 bytes (AES128), or 32 bytes (AES256) — other lengths are rejected.
Use --ch-set psk random --ch-index <N> to generate a fresh high-quality AES256 key, or --ch-set psk none to disable encryption on that channel.
Chain multiple --ch-set values into a single CLI invocation where possible, since the device reboots after each command is applied.
Known gotchas
The built-in default PSK is intentionally weak/public (it ships in the source code), so leaving a channel on it provides no real confidentiality.
Every device that needs to communicate on a channel must be set to the exact same PSK; a single device with a mismatched key will simply fail to decode traffic on that channel with no explicit error to the user.
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