LNI - Lightning Node Interface

LNI - Lightning Node Interface. Connect to the major lightning node implementations with a standard interface.

• Supports *CLN, *LND, *LNDK, *Phoenixd, *LNURL, *BOLT 11 and *BOLT 12 (WIP).
• Language Binding support for kotlin, swift, react-native, nodejs (typescript, javaScript). No support for WASM (yet)
• Runs on Android, iOS, Linux, Windows and Mac

Interface API

LND

let lnd_node = LndNode::new("test_macaroon".to_string(), "https://127.0.0.1:8080".to_string());
let lnd_result =  lnd_node.pay_invoice("invoice".to_string());
println!("Pay LND invoice result {}", lnd_result);
let lnd_txns = lnd_node.get_wallet_transactions("wallet_id".to_string());
lnd_txns.iter().for_each(|txn| {
    println!("LND Transaction amount: {}, date: {}, memo: {}", txn.amount(), txn.date(), txn.memo()); 
});
let lnd_macaroon = lnd_node.key();

CLN

let cln_node = ClnNode::new("test_rune".to_string(), "https://127.0.0.1:8081".to_string());
let cln_result =  cln_node.pay_invoice("invoice".to_string());
println!("Pay CLN invoice result {}", cln_result);
let cln_txns = cln_node.get_wallet_transactions("wallet_id".to_string());
cln_txns.iter().for_each(|txn| {
    println!("CLN Transaction amount: {}, date: {}, memo: {}", txn.amount(), txn.date(), txn.memo()); 
});
let cln_rune = cln_node.key();

Payments

lni.create_invoice(amount, expiration, memo, BOLT11 | BOLT12)
lni.pay_invoice()
lni.fetch_invoice_from_offer('lno***')
lni.decode_invoice(invoice)
lni.check_invoice_status(invoice)

Node Management

lni.get_info()
lni.get_transactions(limit, skip)
lni.wallet_balance()

Channel Management

lni.fetch_channel_info()

Event Polling

await lni.on_invoice_events(invoice_id, (event) =>{
    console.log("Callback result:", result);
})

Event Polling

LNI does some simple event polling over https to get some basic invoice status events. Polling is used instead of a heavier grpc/pubsub (for now) event system to make sure the lib runs cross platform and stays lightweight. TODO websockets

Build

cd crates/lni
cargo clean
cargo build
cargo test

Folder Structure

lni
├── bindings
│   ├── lni_nodejs
│   ├── lni_react_native
│   ├── lni_uniffi
├── crates
│   ├── lni
│       |─── lnd
│       |─── cln
│       |─── phoenixd

Example

react-native

cd bindings/lni_react_native
cat example/src/App.tsx 
yarn start

nodejs

cd bindings/lni_nodejs
cat main.mjs
yarn
yarn build
node main.mjs

Bindings

• nodejs

  • napi_rs
  • https://napi.rs/docs/introduction/simple-package
  • cd bindings/lni_nodejs && cargo build

• react-native

  • uniffi-bindgen-react-native
  • https://jhugman.github.io/uniffi-bindgen-react-native/guides/getting-started.html
  • sample https://github.com/ianthetechie/uniffi-starter
  • cd

• uniffi (kotlin, swift)

  • https://mozilla.github.io/uniffi-rs/latest/
  • cd bindings/lni_uniffi && cargo build

Shared Binding Objects

If you do not want to copy objects to the foreign language bindings we can simply use the features napi_rs or uniffi_rs to turn on or off language specific decorators and then implement them in their respective bindings project.

Example:

#[cfg(feature = "napi_rs")]
use napi_derive::napi;

#[cfg_attr(feature = "napi_rs", napi(object))]
#[cfg_attr(feature = "uniffi_rs", derive(uniffi::Record))]
pub struct PhoenixdConfig {
    pub url: String,
    pub password: String,
}

#[cfg_attr(feature = "napi_rs", napi(object))]
#[cfg_attr(feature = "uniffi_rs", derive(uniffi::Record))]
pub struct PhoenixdNode {
    pub url: String,
    pub password: String,
}

Tor

Use Tor socks if connecting to a .onion hidden service by passing in socks5 proxy.

Inspiration

• https://github.com/ZeusLN/zeus/blob/master/backends/LND.ts
• https://github.com/getAlby/hub/tree/master/lnclient
• https://github.com/fedimint/fedimint/blob/master/gateway/ln-gateway/src/lightning/lnd.rs

Project Structure

This project structure was inpired by this https://github.com/ianthetechie/uniffi-starter/ with the intention of automating the creation of react-native-lni https://jhugman.github.io/uniffi-bindgen-react-native/guides/getting-started.html

Todo

• make interface
• napi-rs for nodejs
• uniffi bindings for Android and IOS
• react-native - uniffi-bindgen-react-native
• async promise architecture for bindings
• implement lightning nodes
  • phoenixd
  • cln
  • lndk
  • ldknode
  • lnd
  • eclair
  • Strike? (BOLT 12 support, BOLT 11 blinded path support?)
  • NWC? (AlbyHub - blinded path support?)

To Research

• napi-rs https://napi.rs/docs/introduction/simple-package
• can we support more complex grpc in
• wasm