⚡ create-ln-app

Make a Lightning app with one command. Get a local regtest network that is ready to use.

npx create-ln-app my-lapp
cd my-lapp
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:5173 and pay your first invoice.

What you get

• Bitcoin Core and LND, Core Lightning, or Eclair nodes on regtest, funded and ready. The default is 3 LND nodes. Add --nodes 5 to get 5 nodes (2 to 10). Add --impl cln to get Core Lightning nodes, or --impl eclair to get Eclair nodes.
• Mutinynet in place of regtest, if you add --network mutinynet. Mutinynet is a public signet with a block every 30 s. The first start downloads the chain (about 11 GB of disk, 40 min or more). The faucet funds the nodes. The nodes can be LND or Core Lightning. See the Mutinynet steps.
• An API server that holds the macaroons and TLS certs. No secret goes to the browser.
• An example React app: connect a peer, open a channel, make an invoice, and pay it with WebLN. Then pay a Lightning Address, and send sats with an LNURL-withdraw link. The default is TypeScript. Add --template react to get JavaScript, or --template next-ts to get Next.js.

What you need

• Node.js 24 or later.
• Docker with Docker Compose v2.

Other ways to make a project

Shell script, for macOS, Linux, and WSL2. It checks Node.js, npm, and Docker Compose. Then it runs npx create-ln-app.

curl -fsSL https://create-ln-app.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- my-lapp

Homebrew, for macOS and Linux. The formula installs Node.js, but not Docker.

brew install bnonni/tap/create-ln-app
create-ln-app my-lapp

Windows: use WSL2 with Ubuntu. Do the Windows steps. Then run the commands in the Ubuntu terminal.