**Eclair** (french for Lightning) is a scala implementation of the Lightning Network. It can run with or without a GUI, and a JSON-RPC API is also available.
This software follows the [Lightning Network Specifications (BOLTs)](https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc). Other implementations include [c-lightning] and [lnd].
:rotating_light: We had reports of Eclair being tested on various segwit-enabled blockchains. Keep in mind that Eclair is still alpha quality software, by using it with actual coins you are putting your funds at risk!
:warning: **Those are valid for the most up-to-date, unreleased, version of eclair. Here are the [instructions for Eclair 0.2-alpha11](https://github.com/ACINQ/eclair/blob/v0.2-alpha11/README.md#installation)**.
Eclair needs a _synchronized_, _segwit-ready_, **_zeromq-enabled_**, _wallet-enabled_, _non-pruning_, _tx-indexing_ [Bitcoin Core](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) node. This means that on Windows you will need Bitcoin Core 0.14+. We highly recommend that you use Bitcoin Core 0.16 and will soon drop support for older versions.
Eclair will use any BTC it finds in the Bitcoin Core wallet to fund any channels you choose to open. Eclair will return BTC from closed channels to this wallet.
On **__testnet__**, the addresstype of all your UTXOs needs to be `p2sh-of-p2wpkh`. This is the default addresstype starting with Bitcoin Core 0.16, which provides native segwit support. For earlier versions of Bitcoin Core, additional steps are necessary.
* for new wallets created with Bitcoin Core 0.16 or later, no additional steps are necessary.
* for existing wallets migrated to Bitcoin Core 0.16 or later, you need to create a new address and send all your funds to that address.
* if you are running Bitcoin 0.15.1 or earlier, you need to create a segwit address manually. To do this, use the debug console, create a new address with `getnewaddress`, import it as a witness address with `addwitnessaddress`, and send all your balance to this witness address. If you need to create and send funds manually, don't forget to create and specify a witness address for the change output (this option is available on the GUI once you set the `Enable coin control features` wallet option).
Quotes are not required unless the value contains special characters. Full syntax guide [here](https://github.com/lightbend/config/blob/master/HOCON.md).
:warning: Using separate `datadir` is mandatory if you want to run **several instances of eclair** on the same machine. You will also have to change ports in `eclair.conf` (see above).
getinfo | | return basic node information (id, chain hash, current block height)
connect | nodeId, host, port | open a secure connection to a lightning node
connect | uri | open a secure connection to a lightning node
open | nodeId, fundingSatoshis, pushMsat = 0, feerateSatPerByte = ?, channelFlags = 0x01 | open a channel with another lightning node, by default push = 0, feerate for the funding tx targets 6 blocks, and channel is announced
peers | | list existing local peers
channels | | list existing local channels
channels | nodeId | list existing local channels opened with a particular nodeId
channel | channelId | retrieve detailed information about a given channel
allnodes | | list all known nodes
allchannels | | list all known channels
allupdates | | list all channels updates
allupdates | nodeId | list all channels updates for this nodeId
receive | description | generate a payment request without a required amount (can be useful for donations)
receive | amountMsat, description | generate a payment request for a given amount
checkinvoice | paymentRequest | returns node, amount and payment hash in an invoice/paymentRequest
findroute | paymentRequest|nodeId | given a payment request or nodeID checks if there is a valid payment route returns JSON with attempts, nodes and channels of route
forceclose | channelId | force-close a channel by publishing the local commitment tx (careful: this is more expensive than a regular close and will incur a delay before funds are spendable)"
