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poncho

provider of credit-based channels for lightning nodes

This is an early alpha software that turns your CLN node into a hosted channels provider.

Installation

Grab a binary from the Releases page (or compile it yourself with sbt nativeLink -- requires sbt), call chmod +x on it so it is executable, then put it inside your CLN plugin directory (~/.lightning/plugins/) -- or start lightningd with --plugin <path-to-poncho>. No further configuration is needed for a quick test.

You must have libsecp256k1 and libuv installed. These can probably be installed using your operating system default package manager. openjdk-11-jre-headless (or appropreate java for the OS you are running) is required when building from source using sbt.

Side note, poncho only works with hsm_secret unencrypted.

Operation

The CLN plugin provides these RPC methods:

  • hc-list: lists all hosted channels.
  • hc-channel <peerid>: shows just the channel specific for the given peer.
  • hc-override <peerid> <msatoshi>: if the channel for this peer is in an error state, proposes overriding it to a new state in which the local balance is the given.
  • add-hc-secret <secret>: adds a one-time secret for when "requireSecret" is true.
  • remove-hc-secret <secret>: the opposite of the above.
  • parse-lcss <peerid> <last_cross_signed_state_hex>: if a client manually shares a channel state with you this method can be used to decode it.

Storage

When running on CLN, the plugin will create a folder at $LIGHTNING_DIR/bitcoin/poncho/ and fill it with the following files:

~/.lightning/bitcoin/poncho/
├── channels
│   ├── 02dcfffc447b201bd83fa0a359f62acf33206f43c83aaeafc6082ac2e245f775a0.json
│   ├── 03ff908df11aef1b5fcf16c015ab28cab0bdb81d221a65065d7cf59dc59652af95.json
│   ├── 025964eb1b5cf60de72447b87eee7fe987a68e51d71a4bb2919a7ac06817b6b51e.json
│   └── 03362a35434a25651c05dbf3960f39a55084adada0dcac64f1744f4ab6fa6861e9.json
├── htlc-forwards.json
└── preimages.json

Each channel's last_cross_signed_state and other metadata is stored in a file under channels/ named with the pubkey of remote peer. The other two files are helpers that should be empty most of the time and only have values in them while payments are in flight (so they can be recovered after a restart).

Configuration

You can write a file at $LIGHTNING_DIR/bitcoin/poncho/config.json with the following properties, all optional. All amounts are in millisatoshis. The defaults are given below:

{
  "cltvExpiryDelta": "143",
  "feeBase": 1000, // these fee parameters work the same as in normal channels, they will be used in the route hint appended to invoices from clients
  "feeProportionalMillionths": 1000,
  "maxHtlcValueInFlightMsat": 100000000, // this and the two settings below can be used to make the process of manual debugging errored HCs less problematic, prevent spam and resource usage
  "htlcMinimumMsat": 1000,
  "maxAcceptedHtlcs": 12,
  "channelCapacityMsat": 100000000, // this controls the size of all new hosted channels
  "initialClientBalanceMsat": 0, // keep this at zero unless you know what you're doing

  "contactURL": "", // this will be shown by wallets
  "logoFile": "", // this will be shown by wallets
  "hexColor": "#ffffff",

  "isDev": true, // controls log level and where are logs displayed

  "requireSecret": false, // setting this to true will make it so only clients with this secret can get hosted channels
  "permanentSecrets": [] // you can specify static secrets here that can be used by clients when "requireSecret" is true
}

The branding information won't be used unless contact URL and logo file are set. The logo should be a PNG file also placed under $LIGHTNING_DIR/bitcoin/poncho/ and specified as a relative path.

Remember to remove the JSON comments in the file above otherwise it won't work.

FAQ

  • What are hosted channels?

Here's one explanation: https://fanismichalakis.fr/posts/what-are-hosted-channels/. Here is another one: https://sbw.app/posts/scaling-ln-with-hosted-channels/.

  • What can I do with poncho and hosted channels?

You can:

  • offer fully private zero-cost channels from your node to your friends and family;

  • use SBW to access your own node running at home over Tor through a hosted channel, in a segregated bucket;

  • use along with cliché to power Lightning services without putting your entire node funds at risk.

  • How can I get a hosted channel from a node running poncho?

For now, you can use https://sbw.app/ and paste a string containing nodeid@host:port or scan a QR code containing that same data, such as the QR codes from https://amboss.space/); or use https://github.com/fiatjaf/cliche and specify that same data using the request-hc command.

  • How can I have a whitelist of nodes that can get a channel from my poncho?

To achieve this you must use the "requireSecret" option on your config.json. See Configuration above. Then instead of giving your node address to your friends and family, you must conjure a LUD-07 lnurl and ask them to paste/scan that with their SBW. The secret must be specified in the lnurl response. Then the wallet will use it when invoking the hosted channel and it will work. You can use this flow to create any kind of arbitrary restriction to your hosted channels, including selling them, giving them dynamically or programmatically, or just restricting them to a fixed set of people to whom you give the secret lnurl.

  • Is LND going to be supported?

Most likely yes, we just need one new API to be supported on the LND side, but it is a simple addition.

  • What happens if I lose the channel states?

If you ever lose a channel cross-signed state, the client, when reconnecting, will automatically send you their latest state and you will accept those -- as they would be signed by your public key --, trusting that they are indeed the latest states, and store them.

If a client sends a state with an invalid signature it won't be accepted. If you have the latest state and the client sends a state with a smaller update number it also won't be accepted.