/eclair

A scala implementation of the Lightning Network.

Primary LanguageScalaApache License 2.0Apache-2.0

Eclair Logo

Build Status License Gitter chat

Eclair (french for Lightning) is a scala implementation of the Lightning Network. It can run with or without a GUI, and a JSON-RPC API is also available.

This software follows the Lightning Network Specifications (BOLTs). Other implementations include lightning-c, lit, and lnd.

🚧 Both the BOLTs and Eclair itself are a work in progress. Expect things to break/change!

⚠️ Eclair currently only runs on regtest or testnet. We recommend testing in regtest, as it allows you to generate blocks manually and not wait for confirmations.

🚨 We had reports of Eclair being tested on various segwit-enabled blockchains. Keep in mind that Eclair is still alpha quality software, by using it with actual coins you are putting your funds at risk!

Lightning Network Specification Compliance

Please see the latest release note for detailed information on BOLT compliance.

Overview

Eclair Demo

Installation

⚠️ Those are valid for the most up-to-date, unreleased, version of eclair. Here are the instructions for Eclair 0.2-alpha4.

Configuring Bitcoin Core

Eclair needs a synchronized, segwit-ready, zeromq-enabled, non-pruning, tx-indexing Bitcoin Core node. This means that on Windows you will need Bitcoin Core 0.14+.

Run bitcoind with the following minimal bitcoin.conf:

regtest=1
server=1
rpcuser=XXX
rpcpassword=XXX
txindex=1
zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:29000
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:29000

Installing Eclair

The released binaries can be downloaded here.

Windows

Just use the windows installer, it should create a shortcut on your desktop.

Linux, macOS or manual install on Windows

You need to first install java, more precisely a JRE 1.8.

⚠️ If you are using the OpenJDK JRE, you will need to build OpenJFX yourself, or run the application in --headless mode.

Then download the latest fat jar and depending on whether or not you want a GUI run the following command:

  • with GUI:
java -jar eclair-node-javafx_xxxxxx-fat.jar
  • without GUI:
java -jar eclair-node_xxxxxx-fat.jar

Configuring Eclair

Command-line parameters

option description default value
--datadir Path to the data directory ~/.eclair
--help, -h Display usage text

⚠️ Using separate datadir is mandatory if you want to run several instances of eclair on the same machine. You will also have to change ports in the configuration (see below).

Configuration file

To change your node's configuration, create a file named eclair.conf in datadir. To change an option, for example the HTTP port, write eclair.api.port=8081 in the created file.

option description default value
eclair.server.port TCP port 9735
eclair.api.port HTTP port 8080
eclair.bitcoind.rpcuser Bitcoin Core RPC user foo
eclair.bitcoind.rpcpassword Bitcoin Core RPC password bar
eclair.bitcoind.zmq Bitcoin Core ZMQ address tcp://127.0.0.1:29000

→ see reference.conf for full reference. There are many more options!

JSON-RPC API

method params description
getinfo return basic node information (id, chain hash, current block height)
connect host, port, nodeId connect to another lightning node through a secure connection
open host, port, nodeId, fundingSatoshis, pushMsat opens a channel with another lightning node
peers list existing local peers
channels list existing local channels
channel channelId retrieve detailed information about a given channel
network list all nodes that have been announced
receive amountMsat, description generate a payment request for a given amount
send amountMsat, paymentHash, nodeId send a payment to a lightning node
send paymentRequest send a payment to a lightning node using a BOLT11 payment request
close channelId close a channel
close channelId, scriptPubKey (optional) close a channel and send the funds to the given scriptPubKey
help display available methods

Resources