LDK MCP Server

Real-time Lightning Development Kit (LDK) expertise for accelerating iOS Lightning wallet development. This MCP server provides instant access to LDK APIs, Swift patterns with proper Bindings namespace usage, comprehensive event handling, NetworkGraph with RapidGossipSync, and multiple chain synchronization methods.

🚀 Features

Lightning Development Tools

• Invoice Generation - Create real Lightning invoices with proper encoding

• Payment Processing - Test payment flows with simulated Lightning operations

• Channel Management - Open, monitor, and close Lightning channels

• Balance Tracking - Monitor channel liquidity and wallet balances

• Fee Estimation - Calculate routing fees and on-chain costs

iOS Development Integration

• Keychain Security - iOS Keychain patterns for secure key storage

• Background Processing - Lightning sync in iOS background tasks

• Push Notifications - Payment notification implementation

• Biometric Auth - Touch/Face ID integration for Lightning operations

Architecture & Best Practices

• Swift Code Examples - Production-ready LDK Swift implementations

• Project Structure - Recommended iOS Lightning wallet architecture

• Security Patterns - Best practices for key management and crypto

• Testing Scenarios - Complete test scenarios for Lightning operations

Related MCP server: mcpxcodebuild

📦 Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/StevenGeller/ldk-mcp.git
cd ldk-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

4. Configure MCP Client:

Add to your MCP client configuration file:

Configuration varies by MCP client. For example configurations, see the documentation.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ldk-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/ldk-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "NETWORK": "testnet"
      }
    }
  }
}

5. Restart Claude Desktop

🛠️ Available Tools

Lightning Operations

ldk_generate_invoice

Generate Lightning invoices for testing payment flows.

await ldk_generate_invoice({
  amountSats: 10000,
  description: "Test payment",
  expirySeconds: 3600
})

ldk_pay_invoice

Simulate Lightning payments for development.

await ldk_pay_invoice({
  invoice: "lnbc10000n1...",
  maxFeeSats: 50
})

ldk_create_channel

Open Lightning channels with configuration options.

await ldk_create_channel({
  remotePubkey: "02abc...",
  capacitySats: 1000000,
  pushSats: 100000,
  isPublic: false
})

ldk_channel_status

Monitor channel states and balances.

await ldk_channel_status({
  includeOffline: true
})

iOS Integration Tools

ios_keychain_test

Test iOS Keychain integration for secure storage.

await ios_keychain_test({
  keyType: "seed",
  testValue: "test_data"
})

ios_background_test

Implement Lightning background sync.

await ios_background_test({
  taskType: "sync"
})

ios_biometric_auth

Integrate Touch/Face ID with Lightning operations.

await ios_biometric_auth({
  operation: "send_payment",
  requireAuth: true
})

Development Helpers

ldk_get_swift_code

Get production-ready Swift code examples.

await ldk_get_swift_code({
  operation: "channel_manager_setup"
})

ldk_get_architecture

Access architectural patterns and best practices.

await ldk_get_architecture({
  topic: "security_architecture"
})

ldk_test_scenario

Run complete Lightning development scenarios.

await ldk_test_scenario({
  scenario: "multi_hop_payment"
})

💡 Usage Examples

Quick Start: Building a Lightning Invoice Feature

// 1. Use MCP to generate a test invoice
const invoice = await ldk_generate_invoice({
  amountSats: 5000,
  description: "Coffee payment"
})

// 2. Get the Swift implementation
const swiftCode = await ldk_get_swift_code({
  operation: "payment_handling"
})

// 3. The MCP server provides complete SwiftUI code with:
// - QR code generation
// - Invoice display
// - Payment handling
// - Error management

Advanced: Implementing Channel Management

// 1. Get architecture guidance
const architecture = await ldk_get_architecture({
  topic: "channel_management"
})

// 2. Create test channel
const channel = await ldk_create_channel({
  remotePubkey: "02...",
  capacitySats: 500000
})

// 3. Run test scenarios
const test = await ldk_test_scenario({
  scenario: "channel_lifecycle"
})

🏗️ Development Workflow

1. Initial Setup

# Request initial setup
"Help me set up a new iOS Lightning wallet project"

# MCP provides:
# - Complete project structure
# - LDK initialization code  
# - Security setup
# - Basic UI components

2. Feature Implementation

# Request specific features
"Implement Lightning payment sending with biometric authentication"

# MCP provides:
# - Swift implementation
# - Security best practices
# - UI/UX patterns
# - Test scenarios

3. Testing & Validation

# Test your implementation
"Run a multi-hop payment test scenario"

# MCP provides:
# - Test setup code
# - Mock Lightning network
# - Validation steps
# - Debugging guidance

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

• NETWORK - Bitcoin network: mainnet, testnet, or regtest (default: testnet)

• LOG_LEVEL - Logging verbosity: debug, info, warn, error (default: info)

Custom Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root:

NETWORK=testnet
LOG_LEVEL=debug

🧪 Testing

Run the test suite:

npm test

Run specific test scenarios:

npm test -- --testNamePattern="Lightning payment"

📚 Documentation

Swift/iOS Integration

• LDK Swift Bindings Documentation

• iOS Background Processing Guide

• Security Best Practices

Lightning Development

• Channel Management

• Payment Routing

• Fee Estimation

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository

2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)

3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')

4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)

5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Lightning Dev Kit for the amazing Lightning implementation

• Bitcoin Dev Kit for on-chain wallet functionality

• The Lightning Network community for protocol development

💬 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues

• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

• Lightning Dev Chat: LDK Discord

Built with ⚡ for the Lightning Network community