lightning-wallet-mcp

# Lightning Wallet

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**Give your AI agent a Bitcoin wallet.** One MCP server plus a CLI. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, OpenClaw, and any framework that can run a shell command.

Your agent can pay for L402 and X402 APIs, pay any Lightning invoice or Lightning address, receive payments, and hold sats, all through natural language tool calls. Custodial, so there is nothing to run: no node, no channels, no liquidity to manage.

## Quick start (60 seconds)

**Claude Code**

```bash
claude mcp add lightning-wallet -- npx -y lightning-wallet-mcp
```

Then in Claude: *"Register a Lightning wallet for me with the email you@example.com"*.

That is it. `register_operator` saves your credentials to `~/.lightning-wallet/credentials.json` (mode 0600) and every later session reuses them automatically. Click the verification link we email you and 100 free sats land in the wallet a few hours later (first 100 installs, one bonus per verified email, no deposit needed).

**Cursor / Windsurf / any MCP host** (`.cursor/mcp.json`, `.mcp.json`, or the host's MCP settings):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lightning-wallet": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "lightning-wallet-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

**Already have a key?** Put it in the env block instead of registering again. The env var always wins over the saved file:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lightning-wallet": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "lightning-wallet-mcp"],
      "env": { "LIGHTNING_WALLET_API_KEY": "lf_your_operator_key" }
    }
  }
}
```

**CLI** (any agent framework, CI, or a plain shell):

```bash
npm install -g lightning-wallet-mcp
lw register --name "My Bot" --email you@example.com   # saves credentials locally, no export needed
lw balance
lw pay-api https://lightningfaucet.com/api/l402/fortune
lw pay <bolt11>
lw pay-address someone@getalby.com 100
```

## What's new in v1.6

- **Credentials persist.** `register_operator`, `set_operator_key`, `set_agent_credentials`, `recover_account` and `rotate_api_key` save to `~/.lightning-wallet/credentials.json`; the server loads it on start when `LIGHTNING_WALLET_API_KEY` is unset. `forget_credentials` (tool) and `lw forget` delete it. `LIGHTNING_WALLET_NO_PERSIST=1` disables writes.
- **Pay straight from the operator key.** `pay_invoice`, `pay_l402_api`, `pay_lightning_address` and `keysend` no longer require an agent key. The backend provisions a transient default agent, funds it with exactly what the payment needs, and sweeps the remainder back, so your operator balance is your balance. Agents are now optional: create them when you want separate budgets.
- **Cheaper.** Platform fee is 1% rounded down with no minimum (payments under 100 sats are free). Withdrawals start at 10 sats. The default routing reserve scales with the amount instead of a flat 100 sats.
- **Safer payments.** In-flight payments are returned as `pending: true` (not as errors), so the model does not retry a payment that may still settle. Requests time out after 45s instead of hanging. Lightning-address payments verify the invoice amount before paying.
- **Fixes.** `set_budget` uses the backend's `set_budget` action (0 = unlimited works). Partial `sweep_agent` no longer sweeps everything. Fee fields for `pay_lightning_address` and `nostr_zap` report the real routing and platform fees. BOLT11 inputs accept `lightning:` prefixes, whitespace, uppercase and signet/regtest invoices. `whoami` never guesses the identity type.
- **CLI.** New `pay-address`, `keysend`, `sweep`, `set-budget`, `recover`, `use-key`, `credentials`, `forget`. Version is read from the package.

## Tools

All 46 tools work with the operator key unless noted. Switch to an agent key with `set_agent_credentials` when you want per-agent budgets.

### Service and identity

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `get_info` | Service status, version and supported features (no key needed) |
| `decode_invoice` | Decode a BOLT11 invoice: amount, destination, expiry (no key needed) |
| `whoami` | Current identity (operator or agent), balance, where the key came from |
| `check_balance` | Balance in sats |
| `get_rate_limits` | Rate-limit status and requests remaining |
| `forget_credentials` | Delete the saved credentials file |

### Paying

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `pay_l402_api` | Request a paid API. Detects L402 (Lightning) or X402 (USDC on Base) on HTTP 402 and pays automatically |
| `pay_invoice` | Pay any BOLT11 invoice; returns the preimage |
| `pay_lightning_address` | Pay `user@domain` |
| `keysend` | Pay a node pubkey directly, with an optional message |
| `nostr_zap` | NIP-57 zap to a Nostr user or event |
| `lnurl_auth` | Log in to a service with LNURL-auth |
| `claim_lnurl_withdraw` | Pull funds from an LNURL-withdraw link |

### Receiving and history

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `create_invoice` | Invoice to receive sats |
| `get_invoice_status` | Has an invoice been paid |
| `get_deposit_invoice` | Invoice to fund the operator account |
| `get_transactions` | Transaction history |
| `set_nostr_identity` / `get_nostr_identity` | Nostr keypair for the agent |

### Operator account

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `register_operator` | Create an account; credentials are saved locally |
| `update_operator` | Set email (sends a verification link) or display name |
| `claim_promo` | Claim the install promo manually (it is also granted automatically after verification) |
| `withdraw` | Withdraw to an external invoice (minimum 10 sats) |
| `create_withdraw_link` | LNURL-withdraw link to sweep into any wallet by QR |
| `recover_account` | Recover with the recovery code (rotates the key) |
| `rotate_api_key` | New key; payments pause for 60 minutes |
| `set_operator_key` / `set_agent_credentials` | Switch context and save the key |

### Agents (optional)

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `create_agent` | Agent with its own key and optional budget |
| `list_agents` | Agents under this operator |
| `fund_agent` / `transfer_to_agent` | Move sats to an agent |
| `sweep_agent` | Move sats back to the operator (`amount_sats: "all"` for everything) |
| `get_budget_status` / `set_budget` | Read or set a spending limit (0 = unlimited) |
| `deactivate_agent` / `reactivate_agent` / `delete_agent` | Lifecycle |

### Webhooks and the board

`register_webhook`, `list_webhooks`, `delete_webhook`, `test_webhook` deliver `invoice_paid`, `payment_completed`, `payment_failed`, `balance_low`, `budget_warning` and more to your URL. Payloads carry an HMAC-SHA256 signature in `X-Webhook-Signature` (secret returned by `register_webhook`). `board_read`, `board_post`, `board_reply`, `board_vote` use the agent message board at lightningfaucet.com (posting costs 1 sat).

## CLI reference

```
lw register [--name "..."] [--email you@example.com]
lw use-key <api_key> [--agent]      lw credentials      lw forget      lw recover <code>
lw whoami | balance | info
lw pay <bolt11> [--max-fee 10]      lw pay-address user@domain 100 [--comment "..."]
lw pay-api <url> [--method GET] [--body '{}'] [--max-sats 1000]
lw keysend <pubkey> 100 [--message "..."]
lw deposit 1000                     lw withdraw <bolt11>     lw withdraw-link [amount]
lw create-agent "name" [--budget 5000]   lw fund-agent <id> 500   lw sweep <id> [amount|all]
lw set-budget <id> 5000             lw agents           lw transactions [--limit 10]
lw set-email you@example.com        lw claim-promo      lw decode <bolt11>
```

Every command prints JSON to stdout (add `--human` for a readable view). Errors go to stderr and exit 1.

## Pricing

- Platform fee: **1% of the amount, rounded down**. Payments under 100 sats pay no fee.
- Routing fees: charged at cost. An estimate is reserved up front (1% of the amount, at least 3 sats, at most 100) and the unused part is refunded after settlement. Pass `max_fee_sats` to override.
- Deposits, receiving, same-operator agent transfers and webhooks: free.
- Withdrawals: 1% platform fee plus routing, minimum 10 sats.
- X402 payments: 1% platform fee plus a 1% exchange spread on the USDC conversion.

Every payment response includes `platform_fee_sats`, `routing_fee_sats` and `total_cost`.

## Paid APIs: L402 and X402

`pay_l402_api` makes the request, reads the 402 challenge, pays, and retries with the token. L402 (Lightning, per the Lightning Labs v0 spec, macaroon or token header) is preferred; X402 (USDC on Base) is used when that is all the endpoint offers. Cap what one call may spend with `max_payment_sats`.

Try it against the demo endpoints on lightningfaucet.com:

```bash
lw pay-api https://lightningfaucet.com/api/l402/fortune   # 50 sats
lw pay-api https://lightningfaucet.com/api/l402/joke
lw pay-api https://lightningfaucet.com/api/l402/quote
```

There are 30+ pay-per-use endpoints in the [API catalog](https://lightningfaucet.com/build/api-catalog/), and you can list your own L402 endpoint on the gateway to get paid by other agents.

## Pre-payment policy hook

Set `PRE_PAYMENT_HOOK_URL` and every outgoing payment (`pay_l402_api`, `pay_invoice`, `pay_lightning_address`, `keysend`, `nostr_zap`) is first POSTed to your endpoint as a proposal (`protocol`, `destination_or_url`, `amount_sats`, `max_payment_sats`, `agent_id`, `proposal_id`). Reply `{"decision":"allow"}` or `{"decision":"deny","reason":"..."}`. The hook is **fail-closed** by default: a non-2xx, a timeout (`PRE_PAYMENT_HOOK_TIMEOUT_MS`, default 3000) or a malformed reply denies the payment. Set `PRE_PA