To help you get started, we've collected the most common ways that bolt11 is being used within popular public projects.

BlueWallet / LndHub / class / User.js View on Github

async getUserInvoices() {
    let range = await this._redis.lrange('userinvoices_for_' + this._userid, 0, -1);
    let result = [];
    for (let invoice of range) {
      invoice = JSON.parse(invoice);
      let decoded = lightningPayReq.decode(invoice.payment_request);
      invoice.description = '';
      for (let tag of decoded.tags) {
        if (tag.tagName === 'description') {
          invoice.description += decodeURIComponent(tag.data);
        }
        if (tag.tagName === 'payment_hash') {
          invoice.payment_hash = tag.data;
        }
      }

      invoice.ispaid = _invoice_ispaid_cache[invoice.payment_hash] || !!(await this.getPaymentHashPaid(invoice.payment_hash));
      if (!invoice.ispaid) {
        if (decoded && decoded.timestamp > ((+new Date()) / 1000 - 3600 * 24 * 5)) {
          // if invoice is not too old we query lnd to find out if its paid
          let lookup_info = await this.lookupInvoice(invoice.payment_hash);
          invoice.ispaid = lookup_info.settled; // TODO: start using `state` instead as its future proof, and this one might get deprecated

View more ways to use bolt11

bolt11

A library for encoding and decoding lightning network payment requests as defined in BOLT #11.

Installation

npm install bolt11

Setup

Node.js

var lightningPayReq = require('bolt11')

Examples

Decoding

// The tags array output can be parsed into an object using the tagsObject getter (see below)
var decoded = lightningPayReq.decode('lnbc20u1pvjluezhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqspp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqfppqw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kxqrrsssp5m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhaatd7al02m0h0m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhs9qypqqqcqpf3cwux5979a8j28d4ydwahx00saa68wq3az7v9jdgzkghtxnkf3z5t7q5suyq2dl9tqwsap8j0wptc82cpyvey9gf6zyylzrm60qtcqsq7egtsq')
/* decoded == below
{
  "complete": true,
  "millisatoshis": "2000000",
  "network": {
    "bech32": "bc",
    "pubKeyHash": 0,
    "scriptHash": 5,
    "validWitnessVersions": [0, 1]
  },
  "payeeNodeKey": "03e7156ae33b0a208d0744199163177e909e80176e55d97a2f221ede0f934dd9ad",
  "paymentRequest": "lnbc20u1pvjluezhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqspp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqfppqw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kxqrrsssp5m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhaatd7al02m0h0m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhs9qypqqqcqpf3cwux5979a8j28d4ydwahx00saa68wq3az7v9jdgzkghtxnkf3z5t7q5suyq2dl9tqwsap8j0wptc82cpyvey9gf6zyylzrm60qtcqsq7egtsq",
  "prefix": "lnbc20u",
  "recoveryFlag": 0,
  "satoshis": 2000,
  "signature": "8e1dc350be2f4f251db5235ddb99ef877ba3b811e8bcc2c9a81591759a764c4545f81487080537e5581d0e84f27b82bc1d580919921509d0884f887bd3c0bc02",
  "tags": [
    {
      "tagName": "purpose_commit_hash",
      "data": "3925b6f67e2c340036ed12093dd44e0368df1b6ea26c53dbe4811f58fd5db8c1"
    },
    {
      "tagName": "payment_hash",
      "data": "0001020304050607080900010203040506070809000102030405060708090102"
    },
    {
      "tagName": "fallback_address",
      "data": {
        "code": 0,
        "address": "bc1qw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kv8f3t4",
        "addressHash": "751e76e8199196d454941c45d1b3a323f1433bd6"
      }
    },
    {
      "tagName": "expire_time",
      "data": 3600
    },
    {
      "tagName": "payment_secret",
      "data": "deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef"
    },
    {
      "tagName": "feature_bits",
      "data": {
        "word_length": 4,
        "option_data_loss_protect": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "initial_routing_sync": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "option_upfront_shutdown_script": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "gossip_queries": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "var_onion_optin": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "gossip_queries_ex": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "option_static_remotekey": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "payment_secret": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": true
        },
        "basic_mpp": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "option_support_large_channel": {
          "required": false,
          "supported": false
        },
        "extra_bits": {
          "start_bit": 20,
          "bits": [],
          "has_required": false
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "tagName": "min_final_cltv_expiry",
      "data": 9
    }
  ],
  "timeExpireDate": 1496318258,
  "timeExpireDateString": "2017-06-01T11:57:38.000Z",
  "timestamp": 1496314658,
  "timestampString": "2017-06-01T10:57:38.000Z",
  "wordsTemp": "temp1pvjluezhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqspp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqfppqw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kxqrrsssp5m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhaatd7al02m0h0m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhs9qypqqqcqpf3cwux5979a8j28d4ydwahx00saa68wq3az7v9jdgzkghtxnkf3z5t7q5suyq2dl9tqwsap8j0wptc82cpyvey9gf6zyylzrm60qtcqsq5xx76e"
}
*/

Get tags as an object

// decoded is from above
decoded.tagsObject
/*
{
  "purpose_commit_hash": "3925b6f67e2c340036ed12093dd44e0368df1b6ea26c53dbe4811f58fd5db8c1",
  "payment_hash": "0001020304050607080900010203040506070809000102030405060708090102",
  "fallback_address": {
    "code": 0,
    "address": "bc1qw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kv8f3t4",
    "addressHash": "751e76e8199196d454941c45d1b3a323f1433bd6"
  },
  "expire_time": 3600,
  "payment_secret": "deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef",
  "feature_bits": {
    "word_length": 4,
    "option_data_loss_protect": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "initial_routing_sync": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "option_upfront_shutdown_script": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "gossip_queries": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "var_onion_optin": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "gossip_queries_ex": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "option_static_remotekey": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "payment_secret": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": true
    },
    "basic_mpp": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "option_support_large_channel": {
      "required": false,
      "supported": false
    },
    "extra_bits": {
      "start_bit": 20,
      "bits": [],
      "has_required": false
    }
  },
  "min_final_cltv_expiry": 9
}
*/

Warning

The "satoshis" field will only be set if the invoice is for a whole number of satoshis. If it is in a fractional number of satoshis, the "millisatoshis" field must be used. 1000 millisatoshis is 1 satoshi.

Encoding

• MINIMUM NEED: privateKey and one payment_hash tag as well as one description
  • (timestamp defaults to current time, description defaults to empty string, and network defaults to bitcoin mainnet)
• Alternatively: You can pass the result of decode into encode and it will use the signature and recoveryFlag attributes to reconstruct the payment request. In this case you will require also network and timestamp as well as all tags in the exact order of the original signed request.
  • It is also required to pass the payeeNodeKey attribute when encoding an already signed request, as decoders will recover the pubkey, any incorrect data would cause an incorrect pubkey to be generated and will cause an error on the decoding end when trying to send.
• Note: tag order matters. The message is signed, so to maintain tag order it is an array type.

var encoded = lightningPayReq.encode({
  "network": {
    "bech32": "bc",
    "pubKeyHash": 0,
    "scriptHash": 5,
    "validWitnessVersions": [0, 1]
  },
  "satoshis": 2000,
  "timestamp": 1496314658,
  "tags": [
    {
      "tagName": "purpose_commit_hash",
      "data": "3925b6f67e2c340036ed12093dd44e0368df1b6ea26c53dbe4811f58fd5db8c1"
    },
    {
      "tagName": "payment_hash",
      "data": "0001020304050607080900010203040506070809000102030405060708090102"
    },
    {
      "tagName": "fallback_address",
      "data": {
        "address": "bc1qw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kv8f3t4"
      }
    },
    {
      "tagName": "expire_time",
      "data": 3600
    },
    {
      "tagName": "payment_secret",
      "data": "deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef"
    },
    {
        "tagName": "feature_bits",
        "data": {
          "payment_secret": {
            "required": false,
            "supported": true
          }
        }
    }
  ]
})
// sign takes the encoded object and the private key as arguments
var privateKeyHex = 'e126f68f7eafcc8b74f54d269fe206be715000f94dac067d1c04a8ca3b2db734'
var signed = lightningPayReq.sign(encoded, privateKeyHex)
/* signed.paymentRequest == below
lnbc20u1pvjluezhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqspp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqfppqw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kxqrrsssp5m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhaatd7al02m0h0m6kmam774klwlh4dhmhs9qypqqqcqpf3cwux5979a8j28d4ydwahx00saa68wq3az7v9jdgzkghtxnkf3z5t7q5suyq2dl9tqwsap8j0wptc82cpyvey9gf6zyylzrm60qtcqsq7egtsq
*/

Browser Use

You can use this in the browser. First install browserify and uglify-es (uglifyjs for ES6+) globally.

npm install -g browserify uglify-es

Then run the command.

browserify -r bolt11 --standalone lightningPayReq | uglifyjs -c -m -o bolt11.min.js

Now load bolt11.min.js into an HTML page like so:

And now you can do all the examples above in a browser using the global lightningPayReq object.

Contributing

We are always accepting of pull requests, but we do adhere to specific standards in regards to coding style, test driven development and commit messages.

Please make your best effort to adhere to these when contributing to save on trivial corrections.

Running the test suite

npm test
npm run-script coverage

LICENSE MIT