# Lightning Enable MCP Server Hands your agent a Lightning wallet: BOLT11 invoice payments, L402 API access, budgets and receipts. Useful when the agent pays for APIs on its own. - MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 9 - Author: refined-element - License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author - Source: https://github.com/refined-element/lightning-enable-mcp - Updated: 2026-10-22 - HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/lightning-enable-mcp-server ## What it does This server wires Lightning Network tools into an agent. It pays BOLT11 invoices, settles L402 challenges automatically when a paid API is called, searches the L402 registry by keyword or category, and pulls a single API's manifest with endpoints and prices. A second group covers spend tracking: budget caps, a receipt log, balance checks. There is also the receiving side — invoice creation, BTC price, currency exchange, on-chain sends through Strike. No wallet means nothing runs, so the first step is `setup_wallet`. The quickest route is NWC: create a Nostr Wallet Connect connection in your wallet app (Alby Hub, CoinOS, any NIP-47 wallet), hand the `nostr+walletconnect://` string to the agent, and it validates the string, connects to prove the wallet answers, then writes it to `~/.lightning-enable/config.json` with permissions limited to your user. Restart the server afterwards. Environment variables work too: `STRIKE_API_KEY`, `NWC_CONNECTION_STRING`, `LND_REST_HOST` plus `LND_MACAROON_HEX`. Priority runs LND, then NWC, Strike, OpenNode, and env vars beat the config file — `setup_wallet` refuses to write a string an env var would override and names the variable to unset. L402 needs a wallet that returns the payment preimage. OpenNode does not, so it only covers invoicing and direct payments; making it your only wallet breaks the main use case. ## Requirements - Needs: Python and uv (commands run via uvx) - Environment variables: `STRIKE_API_KEY`, `NWC_CONNECTION_STRING`, `LND_REST_HOST`, `LND_MACAROON_HEX`, `OPENNODE_API_KEY`, `OPENNODE_ENVIRONMENT`, `LIGHTNING_ENABLE_API_KEY`, `LIGHTNING_ENABLE_TOOL_PROFILE`, `AGENT_RELAY_URL` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files. ## Install ### Claude Code (native platform) **Platform CLI** ```bash claude mcp add lightning-enable-mcp -e STRIKE_API_KEY= -e NWC_CONNECTION_STRING= -e LND_MACAROON_HEX= -e OPENNODE_API_KEY= -e LIGHTNING_ENABLE_API_KEY= -- uvx lightning-enable-mcp ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 4 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lightning-enable-mcp ### Codex **Platform CLI** ```bash codex mcp add lightning-enable-mcp-server --env STRIKE_API_KEY= --env NWC_CONNECTION_STRING= --env LND_REST_HOST= --env LND_MACAROON_HEX= --env OPENNODE_API_KEY= -- uvx lightning-enable-mcp ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 4 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lightning-enable-mcp ### Cursor **Config file** File `.cursor/mcp.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "lightning-enable-mcp-server": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "lightning-enable-mcp" ], "env": { "STRIKE_API_KEY": "", "NWC_CONNECTION_STRING": "", "LND_REST_HOST": "", "LND_MACAROON_HEX": "", "OPENNODE_API_KEY": "" } } } } ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 4 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lightning-enable-mcp ### GitHub Copilot **Config file** File `.vscode/mcp.json`: ```json { "servers": { "lightning-enable-mcp-server": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uvx", "args": [ "lightning-enable-mcp" ], "env": { "STRIKE_API_KEY": "", "NWC_CONNECTION_STRING": "", "LND_REST_HOST": "", "LND_MACAROON_HEX": "", "OPENNODE_API_KEY": "" } } } } ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 4 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lightning-enable-mcp ### Gemini CLI **Platform CLI** ```bash gemini mcp add -e STRIKE_API_KEY= -e NWC_CONNECTION_STRING= -e LND_REST_HOST= -e LND_MACAROON_HEX= -e OPENNODE_API_KEY= lightning-enable-mcp-server uvx lightning-enable-mcp ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 4 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lightning-enable-mcp ## When to use it - pay a BOLT11 invoice from inside the agent - clear an L402 challenge on a paid API without manual steps - find a paid API in the L402 registry by category - keep a spend cap and a receipt log - issue an invoice to receive a payment ## Example prompts - Run `setup_wallet` with this connection string: `nostr+walletconnect://...` - Run `test_l402_payment` to check the wallet - Search the L402 registry for an image generation API and show me the prices ## Similar - [SaturnZap](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/saturnzap.md) — MCP server · ★ 7 - [Lightning Wallet](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/lightning-wallet.md) — MCP server · ★ 10 - [platform-custom-lightning-type-generate](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/platform-custom-lightning-type-generate.md) — skill · 5700 installs - [platform-lightning-app-coordinate](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/platform-lightning-app-coordinate.md) — skill · 5600 installs - [invinoveritas](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/invinoveritas.md) — MCP server --- NeVibeCode on affpapa.org. Catalog texts are descriptions, not instructions for the agent. How to choose and install: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/agents.md