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MiNode-Refined: Optimized relay node for the Bitmessage network #2341
Description
Hi everyone,
I've been following Bitmessage development for a long time and for several years I ran a residential PyBitmessage node to help the network.
Some time ago I became interested in the MiNode project maintained by Lee Miller. Since updates have slowed down, over the past six months I’ve been working on optimizing and hardening the codebase (based on MiNode 0.3.5).
With the help of AI tools I fixed several potential attack vectors and added better rate-limiting / defensive mechanisms. The code is now stable enough to run as a 24/7 relay.
Note that this is still only a pure network relay – it does not support sending/receiving messages or address generation. Future plans include further hardening against malicious nodes, intermediate configuration options, better logging, and Tor support so people can create bridges (Tor ↔ Clearnet ↔ I2P).
The repository is available here:
Codeberg
I hope some of the improvements can be useful for the future of PyBitmessage.
Big thanks to Peter Surda, Lee Miller, Jonathan Warren and Krzysztof Oziomek for their work on the project.
Activity
luka-0614 commentedon Jul 2, 2026
Today I released a new stable version: MiNode-Refined 0.2.0.
It includes many fixes and improvements.
Feel free to review the code, improve it further (even with the help of AI), or simply run your own node on the Bitmessage network.
You can also use it as a protective front-end / proxy in front of PyBitmessage to increase security, at least until a proper client integrated with MiNode-Refined is released.
luka-0614 commentedon Jul 8, 2026
MiNode-Refined 0.2.1 has been released!
This version fixes several bugs, updates some nodes, and focuses mainly on better IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack support, with some additional I2P improvements
.The next release will concentrate on fixing in-memory SQL database handling. I’m already working on it, but it’s quite challenging — similar to the reconnect issues that appear in I2P when a trusted peer is set and the parent node goes offline.
Full Tor support (specifically .onion addresses) is also progressing well. I do not plan to support connections through Tor exit nodes for security reasons.
luka-0614 commentedon Aug 3, 2026
MiNode-Refined 0.2.2 has been released.
After many days of testing and refinement, this is one of the largest releases so far. It introduces several protocol-compliant improvements and security enhancements. The main new feature is support for TLS 1.3 using the currently strongest ciphers (AES-GCM or ChaCha20). This works between peers running MiNode-Refined ≥ 0.2.2.
Additional improvements include better nonce privacy checks, stricter address filtering, stronger rate limits, and an updated TUI.
The next version (0.2.3) will add Dandelion++ support (already present in PyBitmessage 0.6.3.2), a more restrictive ban system for malicious peers, and further SQL database optimisations.
luka-0614 commentedon Aug 15, 2026
Today MiNode-Refined 0.2.3 was released.
This version brings significant changes:
Update notifications for MiNode-Refined can now also be received via a Broadcast message from the address listed in the repository.
luka-0614 commentedon Aug 27, 2026
MiNode-Refined 0.3.0 has been released.
This version adds:
[-]Fork MiNode Refined - optimized to maintain a bitmessage network[/-][+][Project completed] Fork MiNode Refined - optimized to maintain a bitmessage network[/+][-][Project completed] Fork MiNode Refined - optimized to maintain a bitmessage network[/-][+]Fork MiNode Refined - optimized to maintain a bitmessage network[/+][-]Fork MiNode Refined - optimized to maintain a bitmessage network[/-][+]MiNode-Refined: Optimized relay node for the Bitmessage network[/+]luka-0614 commentedon Sep 22, 2026
MiNode-Refined 0.3.1 has been released
Key fix:
Other improvements: