lightning/bolts resource

Health v2 · maintenance only

Flags: no_releases no_license

Adoption not part of the score

2248 stars · 532 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

A repository of BOLT (Basis of Lightning Technology) documents that specify the Bitcoin Lightning Network protocol in Markdown. These community-drafted specifications serve as the normative reference that Lightning node implementations follow to stay interoperable.

Use cases

• understand how the lightning network protocol works
• implement a lightning network node from the specs
• look up the bolt spec for invoice encoding
• check onion routing and payment channel message formats
• follow proposed changes to lightning protocol rules
• verify interoperability requirements between lightning implementations

When to choose

• You need the authoritative normative reference for Lightning Network protocol behavior
• You are implementing, auditing, or testing Lightning node software and need exact wire formats and rules
• You want to track or contribute to ongoing Lightning protocol development and discussions

When to avoid

• You need runnable Lightning node software - use an implementation like LND, Core Lightning, or Eclair instead
• You want an end-user wallet or payment app rather than protocol documentation
• You need introductory tutorials rather than dense normative specification text

Facets

learning-resource · maturity active

documentation cryptography blockchain security developer-tools lightning-network bitcoin protocol-specification bolts payment-channels off-chain-payments onion-routing markdown-docs cryptocurrency

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="lightning/bolts")