Inconsistent stray characters appended to notifier messages

[MrAlders0n]

When sending messages from Home Assistant automations through MeshCore-HA, some messages include stray characters (e.g., < or <01) at the end, even though the same automation/template code is used each time.

Note: This occurs on any automation I have written that sends messages to channels.

Example
Now 15°C⛅ H55% W12km/h | Tmr 17°C☀️ H45% W14km/h<�

Expected
Now 15°C⛅ H55% W12km/h | Tmr 17°C☀️ H45% W14km/h

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create a Home Assistant automation that sends channel messages through MeshCore-HA. Example (weather bot):

alias: MeshCore - Bot - Weather
description: ""
triggers:
  - event_type: meshcore_message
    event_data:
      message_type: channel
      channel_idx: 0
    trigger: event
conditions:
  - condition: template
    value_template: >-
      {% set msg = trigger.event.data.message | default('', true) | lower %}
      {{ '@[bender]' in msg and '!weather' in msg }}
actions:
  - variables:
      weather_entity: weather.home
  - target:
      entity_id: "{{ weather_entity }}"
    data:
      type: daily
    response_variable: wx
    action: weather.get_forecasts
  - variables:
      msg: >-
        Now {{ state_attr(weather_entity,'temperature') }}°C | Tmr {{
        (wx[weather_entity].forecast[1].temperature if (wx[weather_entity].forecast|length) > 1 else '—') }}°C
  - data:
      channel_idx: 0
      message: "{{ msg }}"
    action: meshcore.send_channel_message
mode: queued
max: 10

2. Trigger the automation repeatedly.
3. The output is sometimes correct, but other times includes an extra < or control character at the end.

Observed behavior:
The same automation produces both correct and malformed messages.
The stray characters appear randomly.

Expected behavior:
Messages should be delivered exactly as rendered by the Home Assistant template, without extra characters.

Environment:
Home Assistant version: 2025.7.2
MeshCore-HA version: 2.1.5
Platform: HAOS

[awolden]

Based on discord convos is sounds like this might not be a HA issue?

[MrAlders0n]

I saw that discord thread, I haven't personally seen the stray characters pop up in our local mesh unless HA sends a message.

That being said that's far from conclusive especially given other people on discord have noticed it on their mesh. Is there a GitHub issue for MeshCore that we can link to this.

[ChristianFFB]

I can confirm that, sometimes a channel message gets added by <�