LIGHTNING-CLOSE(7) ================== :doctype: manpage NAME ---- lightning-close - Command for closing channels with direct peers SYNOPSIS -------- *close* 'id' ['unilateraltimeout'] DESCRIPTION ----------- The *close* RPC command attempts to close the channel cooperatively with the peer, or unilaterally after 'unilateraltimeout'. If the given 'id' is a peer ID (66 hex digits as a string), then it applies to the active channel of the direct peer corresponding to the given peer ID. If the given 'id' is a channel ID (64 hex digits as a string, or the short channel ID 'blockheight:txindex:outindex' form), then it applies to that channel. If 'unilateraltimeout' is not zero, the *close* command will unilaterally close the channel when that number of seconds is reached. If 'unilateraltimeout' is zero, then the *close* command will wait indefinitely until the peer is online and can negotiate a mutual close. The default is 2 days (172800 seconds). The peer needs to be live and connected in order to negotiate a mutual close. The default of unilaterally closing after 48 hours is usually a reasonable indication that you can no longer contact the peer. NOTES ----- Prior to 0.7.2, *close* took two parameters: 'force' and 'timeout'. 'timeout' was the number of seconds before 'force' took effect (default, 30), and 'force' determined whether the result was a unilateral close or an RPC error (default). Even after the timeout, the channel would be closed if the peer reconnected. RETURN VALUE ------------ On success, an object with fields 'tx' and 'txid' containing the closing transaction are returned. It will also have a field 'type' which is either the JSON string 'mutual' or the JSON string 'unilateral'. A 'mutual' close means that we could negotiate a close with the peer, while a 'unilateral' close means that the 'force' flag was set and we had to close the channel without waiting for the counterparty. A unilateral close may still occur at any time if the peer did not behave correctly during the close negotiation. Unilateral closes will return your funds after a delay. The delay will vary based on the peer 'to_self_delay' setting, not your own setting. AUTHOR ------ ZmnSCPxj is mainly responsible. SEE ALSO -------- lightning-disconnect(7), lightning-fundchannel(7) RESOURCES --------- Main web site: https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning