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Discovery

When remotes announce on Reticulum, you can listen, scan for Python packages, search by short name, and install without typing full rns:// paths.

Resolution order for a short name:

  1. Local aliases
  2. Synced indexes you registered
  3. Packages found by discovery scan

Nothing is pre-selected. You only see nodes that announce while you listen, and indexes you add yourself.

Browse (one command)

Listen, save, scan, optionally alias, and install:

pip-rns browse --install

Useful flags:

pip-rns browse --seconds 60 --auto-alias
pip-rns browse --no-listen --no-scan

--auto-alias can offer short names after a successful scan. Browse needs a local Reticulum stack and the rns Python package for live listen.

Discover step by step

Listen and store heard nodes:

pip-rns discover --seconds 60 --save
pip-rns discover ls

Scan stored nodes for packages (Nomad catalog when enabled, common packages index repos, release wheel checks):

pip-rns discover --save --scan
# or later
pip-rns discover scan
pip-rns discover packages

Clear stored discovery data when it goes stale:

pip-rns discover clear

Heard destination hashes can be used as rns://DESTINATION_HASH/group/repo when you know the path.

Search across aliases, indexes, and discovery:

pip-rns search lxm
pip-rns search reticulum

Then install by the short name that matched:

pip-rns install lxmfy

Aliases

Save long remotes under short names:

pip-rns alias add lxmfy 06a54b505bb67b25ef3f8097e8001edc/public/LXMFy
pip-rns alias ls
pip-rns alias set lxmfy rns://identity/group/LXMFy
pip-rns alias rm lxmfy

Storage: ~/.config/pip-rns/aliases (or under PIP_RNS_CONFIG / --config).

Example file format:

lxmfy=06a54b505bb67b25ef3f8097e8001edc/public/LXMFy

Indexes (opt-in)

An index is an rngit repo with a packages listing. Register only remotes you trust:

pip-rns index add rns://identity/group/index
pip-rns index sync
pip-rns index ls
pip-rns index list
pip-rns index search lxmfy
pip-rns index rm rns://identity/group/index

After sync, short names from that index resolve like aliases (aliases still win first).

Interactive install help

With no arguments on a TTY:

pip-rns install

You get interactive help and a package picker when discovery or aliases have candidates.

Cost awareness

Full source clones over RNS are expensive. Prefer:

  • release wheels (--from-release / auto when a release exists)
  • exported local wheels
  • cached source trees on repeat installs

pip-rns warns and confirms before the first expensive pull when it can.