NAME

lightning-close -- Command for closing channels with direct peers

SYNOPSIS

close id [unilateraltimeout] [destination] [fee_negotiation_step] [wrong_funding] [force_lease_closed] [feerange]

DESCRIPTION

The close RPC command attempts to close the channel cooperatively with the peer, or unilaterally after unilateraltimeout, and the to-local output will be sent to the address specified in destination.

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.

• id (string): Peer id, channel id or short_channel_id. 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.

• unilateraltimeout (u32, optional): If it is not zero, the command will unilaterally close the channel when that number of seconds is reached. If unilateraltimeout is zero, then the command will wait indefinitely until the peer is online and can negotiate a mutual close. The default is 2 days (172800 seconds).

• destination (string, optional): Any Bitcoin bech32 type. If the peer hasn't offered the option_shutdown_anysegwit feature, then taproot addresses (or other v1+ segwit) are not allowed. Tell your friends to upgrade! The default is a Core Lightning wallet address.

• fee_negotiation_step (string, optional): It controls how closing fee negotiation is performed assuming the peer proposes a fee that is different than our estimate. (Note that modern peers use the quick-close protocol which does not allow negotiation: see feerange instead).

On every negotiation step we must give up some amount from our proposal towards the peer's proposal. This parameter can be an integer in which case it is interpreted as number of satoshis to step at a time. Or it can be an integer followed by % to designate a percentage of the interval to give up. A few examples, assuming the peer proposes a closing fee of 3000 satoshi and our estimate shows it must be 4000:

• wrong_funding (outpoint, optional): It can only be specified if both sides have offered the shutdown_wrong_funding feature (enabled by the experimental-shutdown-wrong-funding option). It must be a transaction id followed by a colon then the output number. Instead of negotiating a shutdown to spend the expected funding transaction, the shutdown transaction will spend this output instead. This is only allowed if this peer opened the channel and the channel is unused: it can rescue openings which have been manually miscreated.
• force_lease_closed (boolean, optional): If the channel has funds leased to the peer (option_will_fund), we prevent initiation of a mutual close unless this flag is passed in. The default is False.
• feerange (array of feerates, optional): An optional array [ min, max ], indicating the minimum and maximum feerates to offer: the peer will obey these if it supports the quick-close protocol. slow and unilateral_close are the defaults. Note that the maximum fee will be capped at the final commitment transaction fee (unless the experimental anchor-outputs option is negotiated).:

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.

NOTIFICATIONS

Notifications may be returned indicating what is going on, especially if the peer is offline and we are waiting.

RETURN VALUE

On success, an object is returned, containing:

•

type (string) (one of "mutual", "unilateral", "unopened"): Whether we successfully negotiated a mutual close, closed without them, or discarded not-yet-opened channel.

If type is "mutual" or "unilateral": - txs (array of hexs): The raw bitcoin transactions used to close the channel (if it was open). (added v24.11): - (hex, optional) - txids (array of txids): The transaction ids of the tx field(s). (added v24.11): - (txid, optional) - tx (hex, optional): The raw bitcoin transaction used to close the channel (if it was open). deprecated in v24.11, removed after v25.11 - txid (txid, optional): The transaction id of the tx field. deprecated in v24.11, removed after v25.11

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 <ZmnSCPxj@protonmail.com> is mainly responsible.

SEE ALSO

lightning-disconnect(7), lightning-fundchannel(7), lightningd-config(5)

RESOURCES

Main web site: https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning

EXAMPLES

Example 1:

Request:

$ lightning-cli close -k "id"="nodeid030303030303030303030303030303030303030303030303030303030303" "unilateraltimeout"=1

{


  "id": "example:close#1",


  "method": "close",


  "params": {


    "id": "nodeid030303030303030303030303030303030303030303030303030303030303",


    "unilateraltimeout": 1


  }
}

Response:

{


  "tx": "02000000000101cls00101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101",


  "txid": "txid010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101",


  "txs": [


    "02000000000101cls00101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101"


  ],


  "txids": [


    "txid010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101"


  ],


  "type": "mutual"
}

Example 2:

Request:

$ lightning-cli close -k "id"="nodeid040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404" "destination"="bcrt1p0004040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404"

{


  "id": "example:close#2",


  "method": "close",


  "params": {


    "id": "nodeid040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404",


    "destination": "bcrt1p0004040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404040404"


  }
}

Response:

{


  "tx": "02000000000101cls10202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202",


  "txid": "txid020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202",


  "txs": [


    "02000000000101cls10202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202"


  ],


  "txids": [


    "txid020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202"


  ],


  "type": "mutual"
}