Title: LoRa BLE App Link
Description: Pair the official Meshtastic app to GhostESP over BLE
URL: /latest/lora/ble-app/
Version: latest
Section: LoRa Meshtastic
Keywords: LoRa, Meshtastic, BLE, phone app, Ghost-XXXX, MTU
Search index: /search-index.json

# LoRa BLE App Link

> Pair the official Meshtastic app to GhostESP over BLE

## On this page

- [Advertising](#advertising)
- [Pairing](#pairing)
- [Text flow](#text-flow)
- [Drop and link semantics](#drop-and-link-semantics)
- [Quick troubleshooting](#quick-troubleshooting)

---

GhostESP exposes the same BLE GATT service as stock Meshtastic nodes so the official app connects without mods.
## Advertising
- Name: Ghost-XXXX where XXXX is the last two bytes of the node ID (hex).
- Service: Meshtastic BLE service UUID; LongFast channel is the default (chash 0x08).
- Start: lora ble on (or lora start if BLE bridge is set to auto). Check lora ble status.
## Pairing
- Enable location/Bluetooth on your phone and open the official Meshtastic app.
- Scan — select Ghost-XXXX when it appears.
- Wait for configuration sync to complete. The app should then show the LongFast channel, node list, and chat.
## Text flow
- App → mesh: type in the app; GhostESP encrypts as AES-CTR with the channel PSK and transmits via SX1262.
- Mesh → app: received frames are forwarded once by packet ID. Reliable repeats are still acknowledged without creating duplicate messages.
- Direct messages: DMs use the recipient’s NodeInfo public key. Public-channel access alone is not enough.
- Other nodes see GhostESP as a regular peer (NodeInfo, routing, ACKs all interop).
Messages received while the phone is disconnected are queued for the next connection. The newest eight mesh packets are retained.
## Drop and link semantics
- Drop: app disconnect, BLE timeout, or lora ble off tears down GATT and clears the session nonce. Reconnect triggers fresh nonce reads.
- Link: lora ble status reports linked vs advertising; lora companion ble keeps the bridge tied to BLE, while lora companion wifi keeps BLE free for scans.
- Only one phone link at a time. A second connect preempts the first.
## Quick troubleshooting
- Key unavailable: wait for NodeInfo, or run lora nodeinfo <node-id> and check lora pkinfo <node-id>.
- Blank or old node name: chat packets do not carry names. Request NodeInfo and let the app sync again.
- Message remains pending: reliable messages retry twice. LongFast retries are several seconds apart, so delivery is not immediate when an ACK is lost.
- Connection has no data: wait for configuration sync, then check lora ble status and lora diag.
See [Commands](/latest/lora/commands/) for transport switching.