Components

Styrene has four operator-facing components and a shared crate ecosystem.

nex

Machine lifecycle tool. Manages packages, operator identity, and provisioning. Published on crates.io as nex-pkg.

Capabilities

• Package management — nex install, nex remove, nex adopt, nex migrate over nix-darwin, NixOS, and Homebrew
• Identity — nex identity init/show/ssh/git/link — create and manage StyreneIdentity
• Provisioning — nex init, nex forge, nex polymerize, nex profile, nex build-image
• Health — nex doctor, nex self-update

See nex + styrene for how it fits with the runtime tools.

styrene CLI

Unified binary for mesh operations. Combines the daemon, TUI, and one-shot CLI in a single tool with feature flags.

Commands

See Styrene CLI for full documentation.

styrened

Unified daemon, shared library, and TUI for the Styrene mesh. The TUI is bundled as a subpackage (styrened.tui), installed via the [tui] extra.

Installation

pipx install styrene                    # Recommended (daemon + TUI, isolated env)
pip install styrened                    # Daemon + library only (no TUI, for edge devices)
nix run github:styrene-lab/styrened     # Nix flake

Entry Points

As Daemon (runs on edge devices)

• RPCServer — fleet management commands
• AutoReplyHandler — responds to NomadNet/MeshChat users
• LXMFService — messaging with optional propagation node mode
• Device Discovery + NodeStore — persistent mesh topology
• TerminalService — remote shell via PTY over RNS Link
• IPC Control Server — Unix socket for local CLI/TUI
• HTTP API — optional REST endpoints

As TUI (operator interface)

The TUI (styrened.tui) is a Textual-based terminal application using the Imperial CRT theme.

Screens:

• Dashboard — Fleet overview with mesh device table, activity feed
• Chat — Encrypted LXMF conversations with delivery tracking
• Device Detail — Mesh node info, actions (Message, Add Contact, Copy Hash)
• Settings — Tabbed: Identity, Network, Fleet, System
• Exploration — Non-Styrene RNS announces
• Upgrade — In-app self-update with live progress
• First-Run Wizard — Initial setup and daemon connection

Network Settings (7 panels):

• STYRENE COMMUNITY HUB — Single toggle (default ON), controls both transport peer and LXMF propagation destination
• TRANSPORT — Mode, transport toggle, announce interval
• PEERS — Dynamic add/remove of RNS transport peers
• PROPAGATION — LXMF propagation destination hash (auto-synced with community hub toggle, accepts custom 32-char hex)
• LOCAL DISCOVERY — AutoInterface toggle
• SERVER — Server interface (IP/port)
• BATMAN-ADV MESH — mesh_id, channel, gateway_mode

As Library

• RPC client/server implementations
• Wire protocol v2 encoding/decoding
• Message models and data structures
• Service lifecycle management (LXMFService, ConfigService, NodeStore)
• Device discovery and conversation services

Community Hub Integration

New installs default to the Styrene Community Hub (rns.styrene.io:4242):

• RNS transport peer for announce relay
• LXMF propagation destination for store-and-forward messaging
• COMMUNITY_HUB_PROPAGATION_HASH constant in models/config.py
• OPERATOR profile defaults set this as lxmf.propagation_destination

Theme: Imperial CRT

┌─ Imperial CRT Phosphor Palette ──────────────────────────┐
│  Bright:  #39ff14  Active elements, highlights, success  │
│  Medium:  #32cd32  Standard text, borders                │
│  Dim:     #228b22  Secondary text, inactive elements     │
│  Dark:    #1a5c1a  Subtle borders, separators            │
│  Background: #0a0a0a                                     │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

NixOS Integration

{
  imports = [ ../common/styrened.nix ];
  styrene.daemon.enable = true;
}

styrene-edge

Infrastructure-as-code and provisioning toolchain for the hardware fleet.

Active Devices

Usage

# Build SD card image for RPi 4 (fetches from Cachix)
nix build ./sbc#packages.aarch64-linux.rpi4-sd

# Launch Forge TUI for USB media preparation
just run

# Run polymerize.sh on target device after booting USB
sudo /iso/styrene/polymerize.sh

Structure

styrene-edge/
├── sbc/
│   ├── flake.nix               # Nix flake for SD card images
│   ├── common/
│   │   ├── base.nix            # styrene.base NixOS module (shared config)
│   │   ├── batman-mesh.nix     # styrene.mesh BATMAN-adv module
│   │   ├── styrened.nix        # styrene.daemon module
│   │   └── cosmic-desktop.nix  # styrene.desktop COSMIC DE module
│   ├── rpi4/configuration.nix
│   ├── rpi-zero2w/configuration.nix
│   ├── x86-generic/
│   │   ├── configuration.nix
│   │   └── polymerize.sh       # NixOS installer for UEFI x86
│   └── t100ta/
│       ├── configuration.nix
│       └── polymerize.sh       # NixOS installer for 32-bit UEFI
├── firmware/                    # Upstream firmware manifests
│   ├── sources.yaml            # Pinned releases (version + sha256)
│   └── fetch.sh                # Download and verify pinned artifacts
├── forge/                      # Styrene Forge (media prep TUI)
│   ├── data/devices.yaml       # Device catalog
│   └── services/
│       ├── media_writer.py     # USB/SD media writer
│       └── bundle_builder.py   # Config bundler
├── installs/                   # Runbook tracking
├── keys/                       # Builder SSH keys (public only in git)
├── mcu/                        # Microcontrollers (RP2040, ESP32, nRF)
└── router/                     # OpenWrt mesh routers

styrene-rs

Rust implementation of the Styrene platform. Canonical home for all styrene-* crates.

Crate Inventory

Apps:

Core libraries:

Ecosystem:

Relationship Diagram

See Also

• Architecture — System design overview
• Getting Started — Installation guide
• Hardware — Supported devices