Meross Bulbs (local control for Linux Mint)

A small GTK3 app, command-line tool, Rofi menu and polybar module for controlling Meross smart RGB bulbs over your LAN. No cloud is used at runtime. The Meross cloud is contacted once, only to fetch your account key.

• Power, brightness (1-100 %), colour wheel, hue and saturation sliders, quick swatches, colour picker
• White mode with a warm-to-cool temperature slider
• Saved presets, plus a "Control all bulbs" option
• Info tab: model, firmware, Wi-Fi signal, cloud-link status, supported features and raw JSON
• CLI for hotkeys and scripts, a Rofi menu, and a polybar module, all from the same script

sudo apt install python3-gi python3-gi-cairo gir1.2-gtk-3.0 python3-requests

Local commands are signed with your Meross account key. You only need to fetch it once.

cd ~/Documents/gitclones/Meross          # wherever meross_bulb.py lives
python3 -m venv --system-site-packages venv
venv/bin/pip install meross_iot
venv/bin/python meross_bulb.py --get-key you@example.com

• You are prompted for your Meross password. It is not stored.
• The key is saved to ~/.config/meross-bulb/config.json (permissions 600).
• The default server is EU. For other regions add --api:
  • US: --api https://iotx-us.meross.com
  • Asia-Pacific: --api https://iotx-ap.meross.com
• Run this once. Repeated cloud logins can be rate-limited by Meross.
• Alternative: paste a key you already have into the app's Key button.
• Bulbs that were never bound to a Meross account can use an empty key.

The key is account-wide, so it works for every bulb on the account. Treat it like a password and don't commit config.json to git.

/usr/bin/python3 meross_bulb.py

(The venv is only needed for --get-key. If you run the app from a venv, create it with --system-site-packages or you'll get No module named 'gi'.)

• Scan: probes your local /24 network for Meross devices and adds them (this can also list plugs, so use Remove for extras).
• Add: enter a name and the bulb's IP address.

Give each bulb a fixed IP (DHCP reservation in your router) so saved addresses stay valid.

• Control tab: power switch, brightness, colour wheel (click or drag), hue/saturation, swatches, colour picker. Choose White for temperature mode.
• Presets: type a name and press Save current as preset. Pick one and press Apply.
• Control all bulbs: sends every change to all configured bulbs.
• Info tab: diagnostics for the selected bulb. Refresh manually or tick auto-refresh (10 s, only while the tab is open). The raw output contains your bulb's MAC and Meross user ID, so redact it before sharing.

Put install.sh next to meross_bulb.py, then:

bash install.sh
rofi -show drun -show-icons      # type "meross"

The launcher records the current folder, so re-run install.sh if you move it. Remove it with bash install.sh --remove.

Run with no arguments for the GUI. With a subcommand it runs headless (no display needed):

meross_bulb.py status [--polybar] [--icon GLYPH] [--max-age SECONDS]
meross_bulb.py toggle | on | off
meross_bulb.py bright 50 | +10 | -10
meross_bulb.py color red | orange | yellow | green | cyan | blue | purple | pink | #rrggbb
meross_bulb.py white [1-100]
meross_bulb.py preset "Movie"
meross_bulb.py presets
meross_bulb.py rofi [SELECTION]

Options go before the subcommand: -b NAME_OR_IP picks a bulb (default: the first configured one) and --all targets every bulb. Example: meross_bulb.py --all preset Movie.

Bind these to Cinnamon keyboard shortcuts (System Settings, Keyboard, Shortcuts, Custom) using the full path, e.g. /usr/bin/python3 /home/you/Documents/gitclones/Meross/meross_bulb.py toggle.

rofi -show meross -modi "meross:/usr/bin/python3 /home/you/Documents/gitclones/Meross/meross_bulb.py rofi"

Use a path without spaces.

1. Open polybar-meross.ini and fix the paths if yours differ.
2. Paste the [module/meross] block into ~/.config/polybar/config.ini.
3. Add meross to modules-left, modules-center or modules-right, then restart polybar.

The bar shows a dot in the bulb's current colour plus the brightness. Left click toggles, scroll changes brightness, right click opens the Rofi menu. It only reads a small cache file every 2 s; the bulb is queried at most every 30 s.

• This uses Meross's unofficial local HTTP protocol (POST http://<bulb-ip>/config, signed with your key), which may change with firmware.
• The Info tab only sends read-only requests. The app never sends bind, unbind, firmware-upgrade or Wi-Fi config commands.
• The HomeKit setup code is not available locally. Get it in the Meross app under Device settings, Device Info.