QWK

A classic offline-reading packet format. Download a QWK file, read
and reply offline, upload a REP packet back.

Why it exists

Phone calls used to cost money. Connect, download QWK packet,
disconnect. Read at leisure. Connect again only to upload replies.

In 2026 it's still useful for:

• Slow connections (cellular roaming, sat)
• Reading on a device that's not always online (a vintage laptop)
• Archiving a snapshot of the BBS at a point in time

Download

/qwk/ — choose which areas and time range. The BBS bundles them
into a .QWK file you can download.

Upload

A .REP (reply) packet uploads to the same /qwk/ endpoint. The
BBS parses it and posts your replies to the right boards / echos.

Readers

• MultiMail — modern Linux
• Bluewave (DOS, classic)
• Various Windows tools

Sysop tools — Hub Management

Hub-side QWK administration lives under
/admin/echomail/hub/qwk/ (part of Hub Management — see
Sysop Control Panel — gated behind REGISTRY_MODE_ENABLED, only
meaningful on the one install that is the network hub):

• Node list (/admin/echomail/hub/qwk/) — every downstream QWK
  node, packet ID, and subscription state; add/edit/delete nodes,
  reset their high-water mark.
• Node detail (/admin/echomail/hub/qwk/<node_id>) — click into
  a node to manage which echo areas it actually receives.
  Subscribe/unsubscribe areas one at a time, or use the
  Subscribe to All button to subscribe the node to every active
  area on QWK-transport networks in one click — deliberately scoped
  to QWK-type networks only, not every area on the whole BBS, so a
  QWK node doesn't end up subscribed to something that only exists
  on a BinkP-only network.
• Preview — a Preview button per node builds and downloads a
  test .QWK packet for that node on demand without marking any
  messages as sent, so a sysop can sanity-check what a peer would
  receive before the real packet goes out.
• Hold queue (/admin/echomail/hub/holdqueue) — messages held
  back from distribution (e.g. awaiting moderation or a size/policy
  check) before they're released to nodes.
• Node requests (/admin/echomail/hub/qwk/requests) — the
  approve/deny queue for BBSes applying for a new QWK node number
  (see ANotherNetwork for how a sysop submits one of these).
  Approving auto-creates the QWK node record with a generated
  password.