> A significant number of hastily launched, incorrect, dubious, directly harmful and, in most cases, entirely LLM-generated fakes of Reticulum implementations, "documentation", "guides" and user-facing applications are currently being marketed under polished, but ultimately misleading or outright deceptive claims.
> For more detailed information, see the relevant sections of the [Brandolini's Reference](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html) chapter of the manual. Known good community implementations are listed in the [Community Implementations](#community-implementations) section of this readme. For software and projects recognized by the Reticulum community, see the [Programs Using Reticulum](https://reticulum.network/manual/software.html) chapter of the manual.
> Machine-generated content derived from the RNS source code or documentation (such as "implementations", "guides" for sale, et cetera), are in several, well-documented cases violating the open source licenses that granted rights of copying and distribution.
>
> Any claimed assertion of copyright or grant of license (Apache, GPL, et cetera) that such projects are making are [void grants](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html#void-grants-legal-foundations-of-machine-generated-code). Both the forgers themselves, and all downstream projects using the violating derivatives, are **directly** and personally liable for the legal consequences.
>
> Do **not** use these "projects", they are a hazard to the entire ecosystem we have been carefully building over the last ten years.
You can also download the [Reticulum manual as a PDF](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum/releases/latest/download/Reticulum.Manual.pdf) or [as an e-book in EPUB format](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum/releases/latest/download/Reticulum.Manual.epub).
For more info, see [reticulum.network](https://reticulum.network/) and [the FAQ section of the wiki](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions).
The references listed here are not run, managed or moderated by the Reticulum project or its maintainer. They are provided by dedicated, independent volunteers in the community, for the benefit of anyone interested in learning more about Reticulum.
- [Reticulum Community Wiki](https://reticulum.miraheze.org/wiki)
- [RNS Recipes](https://rns.recipes/)
- [RNS Moscow](https://rns.moscow/)
- [RMAP.world](https://rmap.world/)
If you find anything that is no longer accurate, incorrect or simply not quite up to date, do not demand or complain towards the maintainers of these resources. Instead, take the task upon yourself to help out and improve things by working on, and offering the contributions you would like to see, like the creators of the above did themselves.
No second-order protocol specification derivatives currently do, or will ever exist. You can't get a better specification than one that is executable, functional, testable, deployed and operating 24/7 across the planet.
The implementations listed here have demonstrated wire-compatibility, sufficient feature parity, sensible security and development practices, long-term commitment and care for implementation quality. Additionally, they have a track record of at least 18 months of active development.
Most importantly, their developers and maintainers are recognized by the community to actually know what they are doing, and as having a commitment to improving the overall Reticulum ecosystem.
- [Chad Atterman's](https://github.com/attermann) [microReticulum](https://github.com/attermann/microReticulum/) is a C++ implementation targeting 32-bit micro-controllers.
- [Quad4's](https://quad4.io/) [Reticulum-Go](https://reticulum-go.quad4.io/) is a Go implementation targeting both desktop, mobile and embedded systems.
*If you are the maintainer of an implementation not listed above, and believe that it deserves inclusion by following the same standards of rigor and commitment, your proposal will be welcomed.*
**Warning!** A significant number of hastily launched, incorrect, dubious, directly harmful and, in most cases, entirely LLM-generated fakes of Reticulum implementations (and user facing applications) are currently being marketed and pushed under polished, but ultimately misleading or outright deceptive claims. Most of these are either quick attention or money grabs, completely unreviewed, incompatible, without maintenance or human oversight, actively trying to fragment the community, or a combination thereof.
For more extensive information on this topic, read the [Brandolini's Reference](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html) chapter of the manual (for the legal foundations, see [Void Grants](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html#void-grants-legal-foundations-of-machine-generated-code) specifically). The chapter is very long, very detailed, and is the polite, measured analysis, intended as an evolving, sectioned reference on these issues.
If you would rather just have the short, unfiltered and quite angry version, which consists of an enacted response to one particular manifestation of the phenomenon as a whole, used as an example, you can read [Yes, I am Angry](docs/history/2026_09_18_Yes_I_am_Angry.md). It gets the same point across, in a very different language, if you can handle that sort of communication.
The core Reticulum maintainers and developers **strongly advise against using any such "implementation"**. The [deceitful and self-serving behavior](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html#a-persistent-but-fragile-triad) of a small number of either malintented, attention-seeking or incompetent individuals has caused significant [damage and waste of time and resources](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html#intent-consequence) for both developers, node operators, users and the community and Reticulum project at large.
We kindly, but urgently ask all users to excercise caution, common sense and healthy skepticism when [evaluating](https://reticulum.network/manual/brandolinis.html#evaluating-a-reticulum-implementation) the potential use of any implementation not listed above; and to accept that **choosing to do so regardless translates the responsibility for potential damage from an irresponsible or malicious individual onto yourself**.
If you want to quickly get an idea of what Reticulum can do, take a look at the [Programs Using Reticulum](https://reticulum.network/manual/software.html) section of the manual, or the following resources:
- The [LXST](https://github.com/markqvist/lxst) protocol and framework provides real-time audio and signals transport over Reticulum. It includes primitives and utilities for building voice-based applications and hardware devices, such as the `rnphone` program, that can be used to build hardware telephones.
- The Android, Linux, macOS and Windows app [Sideband](https://github.com/markqvist/Sideband) has a graphical interface and many advanced features, such as file transfers, image and voice messages, real-time voice calls, a distributed telemetry system, mapping capabilities and full plugin extensibility.
- [MeshChatX](https://git.quad4.io/RNS-Things/MeshChatX) is a full-featured LXMF client with many built-in tools and functionalities, that also supports image and voice messages, file transfers and voice calls. It also includes a built-in page browser for browsing Nomad Network nodes.
- You can use the included [rnsh](https://reticulum.network/manual/using.html#the-rnsh-utility) program to establish remote shell sessions over Reticulum.
- The included [rngit](https://reticulum.network/manual/git.html) system provides a full solution for managing, hosting, collaborating on and interacting with Git repositories over Reticulum.
If you have an old version of `pip` on your system, you may need to upgrade it first with `pip install pip --upgrade`. If you no not already have `pip` installed, you can install it using the package manager of your system with `sudo apt install python3-pip` or similar.
To learn how to establish initial connectivity over Reticulum, read the [Bootstrapping Connectivity](https://reticulum.network/manual/gettingstartedfast.html#bootstrapping-connectivity) section of the manual.
***Important!** Historically, a developer-targeted testnet was made available by the Reticulum project itself. As the amount of global Reticulum nodes and entrypoints have grown to a substantial quantity, this public testnet, including the Amsterdam Testnet entrypoint, has now been decommissioned. If your still have instances that relied on this entrypoint for connectivity, transition to using the distributed backbone instead. Reticulum now includes a full on-network interface discovery and connectivity bootstrapping system. Read the [Bootstrapping Connectivity](https://reticulum.network/manual/gettingstartedfast.html#bootstrapping-connectivity) section of the manual for pointers.*
For this to be possible, I need your help. Please support the continued development of open, free and private communications systems by donating via one of the following channels:
- [Curve25519.py](https://gist.github.com/nickovs/cc3c22d15f239a2640c185035c06f8a3#file-curve25519-py) by [Nicko van Someren](https://gist.github.com/nickovs), *Public Domain*