This NIP describes a way for clients to access a remote Lightning wallet through a standardized protocol. Custodians may implement this, or the user may run a bridge that bridges their wallet/node and the Nostr Wallet Connect protocol.
* **client**: Nostr app on any platform that wants to pay Lightning invoices.
* **user**: The person using the **client**, and want's to connect their wallet app to their **client**.
* **wallet service**: Nostr app that typically runs on an always-on computer (eg. in the cloud or on a Raspberry Pi). This app has access to the APIs of the wallets it serves.
1.**Users** who wish to use this NIP to send lightning payments to other nostr users must first acquire a special "connection" URI from their NIP-47 compliant wallet application. The wallet application may provide this URI using a QR screen, or a pasteable string, or some other means.
2. The **user** should then copy this URI into their **client(s)** by pasting, or scanning the QR, etc. The **client(s)** should save this URI and use it later whenever the **user** makes a payment. The **client** should then request an `info` (13194) event from the relay(s) specified in the URI. The **wallet service** will have sent that event to those relays earlier, and the relays will hold it as a replaceable event.
3. When the **user** initiates a payment their nostr **client** create a `pay_invoice` request, encrypts it using a token from the URI, and sends it (kind 23194) to the relay(s) specified in the connection URI. The **wallet service** will be listening on those relays and will decrypt the request and then contact the **user's** wallet application to send the payment. The **wallet service** will know how to talk to the wallet application because the connection URI specified relay(s) that have access to the wallet app API.
4. Once the payment is complete the **wallet service** will send an encrypted `response` (kind 23195) to the **user** over the relay(s) in the URI.
The info event should be a replaceable event that is published by the **wallet service** on the relay to indicate which commands it supports. The content should be
a plaintext string with the supported commands, space-separated, eg. `pay_invoice get_balance`. Only the `pay_invoice` command is described in this NIP, but other commands might be defined in different NIPs.
Both the request and response events SHOULD contain one `p` tag, containing the public key of the **wallet service** if this is a request, and the public key of the **user** if this is a response. The response event SHOULD contain an `e` tag with the id of the request event it is responding to.
Optionally, a request can have an `expiration` tag that has a unix timestamp in seconds. If the request is received after this timestamp, it should be ignored.
The content of requests and responses is encrypted with [NIP04](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/04.md), and is a JSON-RPCish object with a semi-fixed structure:
The `error` field MUST contain a `message` field with a human readable error message and a `code` field with the error code if the command was not successful.
If the command was successful, the `error` field must be null.
The **wallet service** generates this connection URI with protocol `nostr+walletconnect://` and base path it's hex-encoded `pubkey` with the following query string parameters:
-`secret` Required. 32-byte randomly generated hex encoded string. The **client** MUST use this to sign events and encrypt payloads when communicating with the **wallet service**.
-`lud16` Recommended. A lightning address that clients can use to automatically setup the `lud16` field on the user's profile if they have none configured.
The **client** should then store this connection and use it when the user wants to perform actions like paying an invoice. Due to this NIP using ephemeral events, it is recommended to pick relays that do not close connections on inactivity to not drop events.
"preimage": "string", // payment's preimage, optional if unpaid
"payment_hash": "string", // Payment hash for the payment
"amount": 123, // value in msats
"fees_paid": 123, // value in msats
"created_at": unixtimestamp, // invoice/payment creation time
"expires_at": unixtimestamp, // invoice expiration time, optional if not applicable
"settled_at": unixtimestamp, // invoice/payment settlement time, optional if unpaid
"metadata": {} // generic metadata that can be used to add things like zap/boostagram details for a payer name/comment/etc.
}
],
},
}
```
### `get_balance`
Request:
```jsonc
{
"method": "get_balance",
"params": {
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "get_balance",
"result": {
"balance": 10000, // user's balance in msats
}
}
```
### `get_info`
Request:
```jsonc
{
"method": "get_info",
"params": {
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "get_info",
"result": {
"alias": "string",
"color": "hex string",
"pubkey": "hex string",
"network": "string", // mainnet, testnet, signet, or regtest
"block_height": 1,
"block_hash": "hex string",
"methods": ["pay_invoice", "get_balance", "make_invoice", "lookup_invoice", "list_transactions", "get_info"], // list of supported methods for this connection
0. The user scans the QR code generated by the **wallet service** with their **client** application, they follow a `nostr+walletconnect://` deeplink or configure the connection details manually.
1.**client** sends an event to the **wallet service** with kind `23194`. The content is a `pay_invoice` request. The private key is the secret from the connection string above.
2.**wallet service** verifies that the author's key is authorized to perform the payment, decrypts the payload and sends the payment.
3.**wallet service** responds to the event by sending an event with kind `23195` and content being a response either containing an error message or a preimage.
This section describes extensions to Nostr Wallet Connect to support payments across currencies through a connected wallet. This will help serve use cases like e-cash wallets, bolt-12 offers which allow for other currency denominations, and [LUD-21](https://github.com/lnurl/luds/pull/251)-compatible wallet providers like UMA VASPs.
### `lookup_user`
The `lookup_user` function can be used to fetch a list of preferred currencies for a given receiver.
Request:
```jsonc
{
"method": "lookup_user",
"params": {
"receiver": {
// Exactly of the following fields is required:
"lud16": "string|undefined",
"bolt12": "string|undefined",
// ... extensible to future address formats (npub, etc).
},
// Optional, to retrieve FX rates for receiving currencies relative to a specific sending currency.
// This currency must be supported by the sender. If omitted, SATs will be used.
"base_sending_currency_code": "string|undefined",
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "lookup_user",
"result": {
"receiver": {
"lud16": "string",
"bolt12": "string",
// ... extensible to future address formats (npub, etc).
},
// Contains a list of preferred currencies like LUD-21
"currencies": {
"code": "string", // eg. "PHP",
"name": "string", // eg. "Philippine Pesos",
"symbol": "string", // eg. "₱",
// Estimated number of milli-sats per smallest unit of this currency (eg. cents)
// If base_sending_currency_code was specified, this is the rate relative to that currency instead of milli-sats.
"multiplier": "number",
// Number of digits after the decimal point for display on the sender side, and to add clarity around what the
// "smallest unit" of the currency is. For example, in USD, by convention, there are 2 digits for cents - $5.95.
// In this case, `decimals` would be 2. Note that the multiplier is still always in the smallest unit (cents).
// In addition to display purposes, this field can be used to resolve ambiguity in what the multiplier
// means. For example, if the currency is "BTC" and the multiplier is 1000, really we're exchanging in SATs, so
// `decimals` would be 8.
"decimals": "number",
// Minimum and maximium amounts the receiver is willing/able to convert to this currency in the smallest unit of
// the currency. For example, if the currency is USD, the smallest unit is cents.
"min": "number",
"max": "number",
}[],
},
}
```
### `fetch_quote`
The `fetch_quote` method retrieves a locked quote to send a specific amount of money to a specified receiver. This call corresponds to the `payreq` request and its response corresponds to the `converted` field in the payreq response with [LUD-21](https://github.com/lnurl/luds/pull/251). The caller must specify whether the sending or receiving currency amount is what’s being locked with this quote. For example, do I want to send exactly $5 on my side, or do I want the receiver to receive exactly 5 Pesos on the other side. This method is only required for receiver-locked sends, but is optional for sender-locked (where `pay_to_address` can be used without a quote).
Request:
```jsonc
{
"method": "fetch_quote",
"params": {
"receiver": {
// Exactly of the following fields is required:
"lud16": "string|undefined",
"bolt12": "string|undefined",
// ... extensible to future address formats (npub, etc).
},
"sending_currency_code": "string",
"receiving_currency_code": "string",
"locked_currency_side": "SENDING"|"RECEIVING",
"locked_currency_amount": "number",
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "fetch_quote",
"result": {
"sending_currency_code": "string",
"receiving_currency_code": "string",
"payment_hash": "string", // used to execute the quote
"expires_at": "number",
"multiplier": "number", // receiving unit per sending unit
"fees": "number", // fees in the sending currency
"total_receiving_amount": "number",
"total_sending_amount": "number",
},
}
```
### `execute_quote`
Sends a payment corresponding to a quote retrieved from fetch_quote. If the quote has expired, the payment will fail.
Request:
```jsonc
{
"method": "execute_quote",
"params": {
"payment_hash": "string",
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "execute_quote",
"result": {
"preimage": "string",
},
}
```
### `pay_to_address`
This method directly pays the receiving user based on a fixed sending amount. The client app can complete the whole quote creation and execution exchange with this one call. Callers can optionally exclude the `receiving_currency` to allow just sending to the receiver's first preferred currency.
Request:
```jsonc
{
"method": "pay_to_address",
"params": {
"receiver": {
// Exactly of the following fields is required:
"lud16": "string|undefined",
"bolt12": "string|undefined",
// ... extensible to future address formats (npub, etc).
},
"sending_currency_code": "string",
"receiving_currency_code": "string|undefined",
"sending_currency_amount": "number",
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "pay_to_address",
"result": {
"preimage": "string",
"quote": {
"sending_currency_code": "string",
"receiving_currency_code": "string",
"payment_hash": "string",
"multiplier": "number", // receiving unit per sending unit
"fees": "number", // fees in the sending currency
"total_receiving_amount": "number",
"total_sending_amount": "number",
},
},
}
```
### Extension of `get_balance`
The `get_balance` request can take an optional `currency_code` field to specify which currency to look up. If none is specified the sats balance is returned.
```jsonc
{
"method": "get_balance",
"params": {
"currency_code": "string|undefined",
}
}
```
Response:
```jsonc
{
"result_type": "get_balance",
"result": {
"balance": "number", // user's balance in the smallest unit of the currency
"currency_code": "string"
}
}
```
### Extension of `Invoice` and `Payment` objects
The invoice/payment objects returned by `lookup_invoice` and `list_transactions` should include some new info about other currencies if applicable:
```jsonc
{
// ...Existing fields...
// Optional field:
"fx": {
"receiving_currency_code": "string",
"total_receiving_amount": "number",
"multiplier": "number", // receiving unit per sending unit (SATs if incoming)
// Remaining fields only available for outgoing payments:
"sending_currency_code": "string",
"fees": "number", // fees in the sending currency
"total_sending_amount": "number",
},
}
```
### Example Cross-Currency Payments
#### Directly send exactly $1 USD to a user
_If you don’t care about the receiving amount or currency:_
```jsonc
{
"method": "pay_to_address",
"params": {
"receiver": { "lud16": "$alice@vasp.net" },
"sending_currency_code": "USD",
"sending_currency_amount": 100, // Denominated in ISO 4712 decimals (cents)
// Can add receiving_currency_code if you want to let the sender choose
}
}
```
_If you want to show the user how much the receiver will receive:_
```jsonc
{
"method": "fetch_quote",
"params": {
"receiver": { "lud16": "$alice@vasp.net" },
"sending_currency_amount": "USD",
"locked_currency_side": "SENDING",
"locked_currency_amount": 100, // Denominated in ISO 4712 decimals (cents)
// Can set receiving_currency_code if known. Otherwise, the receiver's preferred currency will be used.
}
}
// Show the quote to the user with expiration time...
// User confirms the quote and executes it
{
"method": "execute_quote",
"params": {
"payment_hash": "hash from fetch_quote",
}
}
```
#### Paying for some service such that the receiver receives exactly MX$5
```jsonc
// First retrieve the receiver currency list if not yet known.
{
"method": "lookup_user",
"params": {
"receiver": { "lud16": "$alice@vasp.net" },
},
}
{
"method": "fetch_quote",
"params": {
"receiver": { "lud16": "$alice@vasp.net" },
"sending_currency_code": "USD",
"receiving_currency_code": "MXN",
"locked_currency_side": "RECEIVING",
"locked_currency_amount": 500, // Denominated in ISO 4712 decimals (cents)
},
}
// Show the quote to the user with expiration time...
This NIP does not specify any requirements on the type of relays used. However, if the user is using a custodial service it might make sense to use a relay that is hosted by the custodial service. The relay may then enforce authentication to prevent metadata leaks. Not depending on a 3rd party relay would also improve reliability in this case.