Skip to content

Remove Slack link and other updates to README #1628

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Merged
merged 1 commit into from
Jul 27, 2022
Merged

Remove Slack link and other updates to README #1628

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
106 changes: 52 additions & 54 deletions README.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -5,74 +5,73 @@ Rust-Lightning
[![Documentation](https://img.shields.io/static/v1?logo=read-the-docs&label=docs.rs&message=lightning&color=informational)](https://docs.rs/lightning/)
[![Safety Dance](https://img.shields.io/badge/unsafe-forbidden-success.svg)](https://github.com/rust-secure-code/safety-dance/)

Rust-Lightning is a Bitcoin Lightning library written in Rust. The main crate,
`rust-lightning` is a Bitcoin Lightning library written in Rust. The main crate,
`lightning`, does not handle networking, persistence, or any other I/O. Thus,
it is runtime-agnostic, but users must implement basic networking logic, chain
interactions, and disk storage. More information is available in the `About`
section.

The `lightning-net-tokio` crate implements Lightning networking using the
[Tokio](https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio) async runtime.

The `lightning-persister` crate implements persistence for channel data that
is crucial to avoiding loss of channel funds. Sample modules for persistence of
other Rust-Lightning data is coming soon.

Status
------

The project implements all of the BOLT specifications in the 1.0 spec. The
The project implements all of the [BOLT
specifications](https://github.com/lightning/bolts). The
implementation has pretty good test coverage that is expected to continue to
improve. It is also anticipated that as developers begin using the API, the
lessons from that will result in changes to the API, so any developer using this
API at this stage should be prepared to embrace that. The current state is
sufficient for a developer or project to experiment with it. Recent increased
contribution rate to the project is expected to lead to a high quality, stable,
production-worthy implementation in 2021.
sufficient for a developer or project to experiment with it.

Communications for Rust-Lightning and Lightning Development Kit happens through our LDK
[slack](https://join.slack.com/t/lightningdevkit/shared_invite/zt-tte36cb7-r5f41MDn3ObFtDu~N9dCrQ) & [discord](https://discord.gg/5AcknnMfBw) channels.
Communications for `rust-lightning` and Lightning Development Kit happen through
our LDK [Discord](https://discord.gg/5AcknnMfBw) channels.

Crates
-----------
1. [lightning](./lightning)
The Core of the LDK library, implements the lightning protocol, channel state machine,
and on-chain logic. Supports no-std and exposes on relatively low-level interfaces.
1. [lightning](./lightning)
The core of the LDK library, implements the Lightning protocol, channel state machine,
and on-chain logic. Supports `no-std` and exposes only relatively low-level interfaces.
2. [lightning-background-processor](./lightning-background-processor)
Utilities to perform required background tasks for Rust Lightning.
3. [lightning-block-sync](./lightning-block-sync)
Utilities to fetch the chain data from a block source and feed them into Rust Lightning.
4. [lightning-invoice](./lightning-invoice)
Data structures to parse and serialize BOLT11 lightning invoices.
Data structures to parse and serialize
[BOLT #11](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/11-payment-encoding.md)
Lightning invoices.
5. [lightning-net-tokio](./lightning-net-tokio)
Implementation of the rust-lightning network stack using Tokio.
For Rust-Lightning clients which wish to make direct connections to Lightning P2P nodes,
this is a simple alternative to implementing the required network stack, especially for those already using Tokio.
Implementation of the `rust-lightning` network stack using the
[Tokio](https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio) `async` runtime. For `rust-lightning`
clients which wish to make direct connections to Lightning P2P nodes, this is
a simple alternative to implementing the required network stack, especially
for those already using Tokio.
6. [lightning-persister](./lightning-persister)
Utilities to manage Rust-Lightning channel data persistence and retrieval.
Implements utilities to manage `rust-lightning` channel data persistence and retrieval.
Persisting channel data is crucial to avoiding loss of channel funds.
7. [lightning-rapid-gossip-sync](./lightning-rapid-gossip-sync)
Client for rapid gossip graph syncing, aimed primarily at mobile clients.

About
-----------
LDK/Rust-Lightning is a generic library which allows you to build a lightning
node without needing to worry about getting all of the lightning state machine,
LDK/`rust-lightning` is a generic library which allows you to build a Lightning
node without needing to worry about getting all of the Lightning state machine,
routing, and on-chain punishment code (and other chain interactions) exactly
correct. Note that Rust-Lightning isn't, in itself, a node. There are various
correct. Note that `rust-lightning` isn't, in itself, a node. There are various
working/in progress demos which could be used as a node today, but if you "just"
want a generic lightning node, you're almost certainly better off with
`c-lightning`/`lnd` - if, on the other hand, you want to integrate lightning
with custom features such as your own chain sync, your own key management, your
own data storage/backup logic, etc., LDK is likely your only option. Some
Rust-Lightning utilities such as those in `chan_utils` are also suitable for use
in non-LN Bitcoin applications such as DLCs and bulletin boards.

We are currently working on a demo node which fetches blockchain data and
on-chain funds via Bitcoin Core RPC/REST. The individual pieces of that demo
are/will be composable, so you can pick the off-the-shelf parts you want and
replace the rest.

In general, Rust-Lightning does not provide (but LDK has implementations of):
want a generic Lightning node, you're almost certainly better off with [Core
Lightning](https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning) or
[LND](https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd). If, on the other hand, you want
to integrate Lightning with custom features such as your own chain sync, your
own key management, your own data storage/backup logic, etc., LDK is likely your
only option. Some `rust-lightning` utilities such as those in
[`chan_utils`](./lightning/src/ln/chan_utils.rs) are also suitable for use in
non-LN Bitcoin applications such as Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) and bulletin boards.

A sample node which fetches blockchain data and manages on-chain funds via the
Bitcoin Core RPC/REST interface is available
[here](https://github.com/lightningdevkit/ldk-sample/). The individual pieces of
that demo are composable, so you can pick the off-the-shelf parts you want
and replace the rest.

In general, `rust-lightning` does not provide (but LDK has implementations of):
* on-disk storage - you can store the channel state any way you want - whether
Google Drive/iCloud, a local disk, any key-value store/database/a remote
server, or any combination of them - we provide a clean API that provides
Expand All @@ -84,21 +83,21 @@ In general, Rust-Lightning does not provide (but LDK has implementations of):
informed of, which is compatible with Electrum server requests/neutrino
filtering/etc.
* UTXO management - RL/LDK owns on-chain funds as long as they are claimable as
a part of a lightning output which can be contested - once a channel is closed
part of a Lightning output which can be contested - once a channel is closed
and all on-chain outputs are spendable only by the user, we provide users
notifications that a UTXO is "theirs" again and it is up to them to spend it
as they wish. Additionally, channel funding is accomplished with a generic API
which notifies users of the output which needs to appear on-chain, which they
can then create a transaction for. Once a transaction is created, we handle
the rest. This is a large part of our API's goals - making it easier to
integrate lightning into existing on-chain wallets which have their own
integrate Lightning into existing on-chain wallets which have their own
on-chain logic - without needing to move funds in and out of a separate
lightning wallet with on-chain transactions and a separate private key system.
* networking - to enable a user to run a full lightning node on an embedded
Lightning wallet with on-chain transactions and a separate private key system.
* networking - to enable a user to run a full Lightning node on an embedded
machine, we don't specify exactly how to connect to another node at all! We
provide a default implementation which uses TCP sockets, but, e.g., if you
wanted to run your full lightning node on a hardware wallet, you could, by
piping the lightning network messages over USB/serial and then sending them in
wanted to run your full Lightning node on a hardware wallet, you could, by
piping the Lightning network messages over USB/serial and then sending them in
a TCP socket from another machine.
* private keys - again we have "default implementations", but users can chose to
provide private keys to RL/LDK in any way they wish following a simple API. We
Expand All @@ -111,25 +110,24 @@ https://vimeo.com/showcase/8372504/video/412818125

Design Goal
-----------

The goal is to provide a full-featured but also incredibly flexible lightning
The goal is to provide a full-featured but also incredibly flexible Lightning
implementation, allowing the user to decide how they wish to use it. With that
in mind, everything should be exposed via simple, composable APIs. More
information about Rust-Lightning's flexibility is provided in the `About`
information about `rust-lightning`'s flexibility is provided in the `About`
section above.

For security reasons, do not add new dependencies. Really do not add new
non-optional/non-test/non-library dependencies. Really really do not add
dependencies with dependencies. Do convince Andrew to cut down dependency usage
in rust-bitcoin.
in `rust-bitcoin`.

Rust-Lightning vs. LDK (Lightning Development Kit)
-------------
Rust-Lightning refers to the core `lightning` crate within this repo, whereas
LDK encompasses Rust-Lightning and all of its sample modules and crates (e.g.
`rust-lightning` refers to the core `lightning` crate within this repo, whereas
LDK encompasses `rust-lightning` and all of its sample modules and crates (e.g.
the `lightning-persister` crate), language bindings, sample node
implementation(s), and other tools built around using Rust-Lightning for
lightning integration or building a lightning node.
implementation(s), and other tools built around using `rust-lightning` for
Lightning integration or building a Lightning node.

Tagline
-------
Expand All @@ -144,7 +142,7 @@ Contributors are warmly welcome, see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).
Project Architecture
---------------------

For a Rust-Lightning high-level API introduction, see [ARCH.md](ARCH.md).
For a `rust-lightning` high-level API introduction, see [ARCH.md](ARCH.md).

License is either Apache-2.0 or MIT, at the option of the user (ie dual-license
Apache-2.0 and MIT).