core-lightning/doc/lightning-invoice.7

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.\"     Title: lightning-invoice
.\"    Author: [see the "AUTHOR" section]
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.79.1 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 07/31/2019
.\"    Manual: \ \&
.\"    Source: \ \&
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "LIGHTNING\-INVOICE" "7" "07/31/2019" "\ \&" "\ \&"
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.SH "NAME"
lightning-invoice \- Command for accepting payments\&.
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.sp
\fBinvoice\fR \fImsatoshi\fR \fIlabel\fR \fIdescription\fR [\fIexpiry\fR] [\fIfallbacks\fR] [\fIpreimage\fR] [\fIexposeprivatechannels\fR]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.sp
The \fBinvoice\fR RPC command creates the expectation of a payment of a given amount of milli\-satoshi: it returns a unique token which another lightning daemon can use to pay this invoice\&. This token includes a \fIroute hint\fR description of an incoming channel with capacity to pay the invoice, if any exists\&.
.sp
The \fImsatoshi\fR parameter can be the string "any", which creates an invoice that can be paid with any amount\&. Otherwise it is in millisatoshi precision; it can be a whole number, or a whole number ending in \fImsat\fR or \fIsat\fR, or a number with three decimal places ending in \fIsat\fR, or a number with 1 to 11 decimal places ending in \fIbtc\fR\&.
.sp
The \fIlabel\fR must be a unique string or number (which is treated as a string, so "01" is different from "1"); it is never revealed to other nodes on the lightning network, but it can be used to query the status of this invoice\&.
.sp
The \fIdescription\fR is a short description of purpose of payment, e\&.g\&. \fI1 cup of coffee\fR\&. This value is encoded into the BOLT11 invoice and is viewable by any node you send this invoice to\&. It must be UTF\-8, and cannot use \fI\eu\fR JSON escape codes\&.
.sp
The \fIexpiry\fR is optionally the time the invoice is valid for; without a suffix it is interpreted as seconds, otherwise suffixes \fIs\fR, \fIm\fR, \fIh\fR, \fId\fR, \fIw\fR indicate seconds, minutes, hours, days and weeks respectively\&. If no value is provided the default of 604800 (1w) is used\&.
.sp
The \fIfallbacks\fR array is one or more fallback addresses to include in the invoice (in order from most\-preferred to least): note that these arrays are not currently tracked to fulfill the invoice\&.
.sp
The \fIpreimage\fR is a 64\-digit hex string to be used as payment preimage for the created invoice\&. By default, if unspecified, lightningd will generate a secure pseudorandom preimage seeded from an appropriate entropy source on your system\&. \fBIMPORTANT\fR: if you specify the \fIpreimage\fR, you are responsible, to ensure appropriate care for generating using a secure pseudorandom generator seeded with sufficient entropy, and keeping the preimage secret\&. This parameter is an advanced feature intended for use with cutting\-edge cryptographic protocols and should not be used unless explicitly needed\&.
.sp
If specified, \fIexposeprivatechannels\fR overrides the default route hint logic, which will use unpublished channels only if there are no published channels\&. If \fItrue\fR unpublished channels are always considered as a route hint candidate; if \fIfalse\fR, never\&.
.sp
The route hint is selected from the set of incoming channels of which: peer\(cqs balance minus their reserves is at least \fImsatoshi\fR, state is normal, the peer is connected and not a dead end (i\&.e\&. has at least one other public channel)\&. The selection uses some randomness to prevent probing, but favors channels that become more balanced after the payment\&.
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
.sp
On success, a hash is returned as \fIpayment_hash\fR to be given to the payer, and the \fIexpiry_time\fR as a UNIX timestamp\&. It also returns a BOLT11 invoice as \fIbolt11\fR to be given to the payer\&.
.sp
On failure, an error is returned and no invoice is created\&. If the lightning process fails before responding, the caller should use lightning\-listinvoice(7) to query whether this invoice was created or not\&.
.sp
The following error codes may occur:
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}
\-1\&. Catchall nonspecific error\&.
.RE
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}
900\&. An invoice with the given
\fIlabel\fR
already exists\&.
.RE
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}
901\&. An invoice with the given
\fIpreimage\fR
already exists\&.
.RE
.sp
One of the following warnings may occur (on success):
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}
\fIwarning_offline\fR
if no channel with a currently connected peer has the incoming capacity to pay this invoice
.RE
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}
\fIwarning_capacity\fR
if there is no channel that has both sufficient incoming capacity and a peer that is publicly connected (i\&.e\&. not a dead end)
.RE
.SH "AUTHOR"
.sp
Rusty Russell <rusty@rustcorp\&.com\&.au> is mainly responsible\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.sp
lightning\-listinvoice(7), lightning\-delinvoice(7), lightning\-getroute(7), lightning\-sendpay(7)\&.
.SH "RESOURCES"
.sp
Main web site: https://github\&.com/ElementsProject/lightning