X-Git-Url: http://git.bitcoin.ninja/index.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.md;h=fea9c35dc0ec3282be2545b43b36af62535de986;hb=refs%2Fheads%2F2022-09-111;hp=0cf215189f33515bbccc099cf5e82075874c967d;hpb=89167164da5e507cc49ca78489ccc7629508102b;p=rust-lightning diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 0cf21518..fea9c35d 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,27 +1,148 @@ -Rust-Lightning, not Rusty's Lightning! +Rust-Lightning +============== -Currently somewhere near 5% towards usable, published to see if there is any -real interest from folks in either contributing to or using a lightning rust -library. +[![Crate](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/lightning.svg?logo=rust)](https://crates.io/crates/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/) -The goal is to provide a full-featured but also incredibly flexible lightning +`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. + +Status +------ +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. + +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 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 + [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 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) + 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, +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 +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 [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 + objects which can be serialized into simple binary blobs, and stored in any + way you wish. +* blockchain data - we provide a simple `block_connected`/`block_disconnected` + API which you provide block headers and transaction information to. We also + provide an API for getting information about transactions we wish to be + 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 + 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 + 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 + 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 + 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 + even support a generic API for signing transactions, allowing users to run + RL/LDK without any private keys in memory/putting private keys only on + hardware wallets. + +LDK's customizability was presented about at Advancing Bitcoin in February 2020: +https://vimeo.com/showcase/8372504/video/412818125 + +Design Goal +----------- +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. The user -should be able to decide whether they wish to use their own threading/execution -models, allowing usage inside of existing library architectures, or allow us to -handle that for them. Same goes with network connections - if the user wishes -to use their own networking stack, they should be able to do so! This all means -that we should provide simple external interfaces which allow the user to drive -all execution, while implementing sample execution drivers that create a -full-featured lightning daemon by default. +in mind, everything should be exposed via simple, composable APIs. More +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. +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. + +Tagline +------- + +*"Rust-Lightning, not Rusty's Lightning!"* + +Contributing +------------ + +Contributors are warmly welcome, see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md). + +Project Architecture +--------------------- -Notes on coding style: - * Use tabs. If you want to align lines, use spaces. Any desired alignment - should display fine at any tab-length display setting. +For a `rust-lightning` high-level API introduction, see [ARCH.md](ARCH.md). -License is Apache-2.0. +License is either Apache-2.0 or MIT, at the option of the user (ie dual-license +Apache-2.0 and MIT).