Alby Bitcoin Payments
Enables Bitcoin Lightning wallet integration with LLMs through Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC). Supports lightning payments, LNURL operations, and L402 authentication for AI-powered bitcoin transactions.
What is Alby Bitcoin Payments?
Alby Bitcoin Payments is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to enables bitcoin lightning wallet integration with llms through nostr wallet connect (nwc). supports lightning payments, lnurl operations, and l402 authentication for ai-powered bitcoin transactions.
Enables Bitcoin Lightning wallet integration with LLMs through Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC). Supports lightning payments, LNURL operations, and L402 authentication for AI-powered bitcoin transactions.
This server falls under the Finance & Fintech category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- Enables Bitcoin Lightning wallet integration with LLMs throu
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx alby-bitcoin-payments-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Alby Bitcoin Payments
The Alby Bitcoin Payments MCP server bridges AI assistants with Bitcoin Lightning wallets using the Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) protocol, enabling LLMs to send and receive Lightning payments, handle LNURL operations, and perform L402 protocol-based API authentication. It can run locally over stdio with a connection string, or connect to the Alby-hosted remote server at mcp.getalby.com for a zero-setup experience. Developers building AI agents that need to pay for APIs, accept micropayments, or interact with the Lightning Network can use this server to add real financial capabilities to their workflows.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 20+ installed on your system
- A Bitcoin Lightning wallet that supports Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC), such as Alby Hub, Mutiny, or a compatible NWC wallet
- Your NWC connection string (format: nostr+walletconnect://...) from your wallet's NWC settings
- A capable LLM — the README specifically recommends Claude Sonnet 3.7 or better for reliable tool use
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop or Claude Code
Obtain your NWC connection string
Log into your NWC-compatible Lightning wallet (e.g., Alby Hub at getalby.com or your own node) and generate a new NWC connection string. It will look like nostr+walletconnect://... and contains the relay URL and secret needed to authorize payments.
Add the server to Claude Desktop
Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file to add the Alby MCP server block. Replace the placeholder with your actual NWC connection string.
{
"mcpServers": {
"alby": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@getalby/mcp"],
"env": {
"NWC_CONNECTION_STRING": "nostr+walletconnect://YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING_HERE"
}
}
}
}Add to Claude Code via CLI
Register the server using the Claude Code CLI, passing your NWC connection string as an environment variable.
claude mcp add alby --env NWC_CONNECTION_STRING="nostr+walletconnect://..." -- npx -y @getalby/mcpUse the Alby-hosted remote server (optional zero-setup path)
Alternatively, connect directly to the Alby-hosted MCP endpoint. Pass your NWC connection string as a Bearer token in the Authorization header — no local installation needed.
claude mcp add --transport http alby https://mcp.getalby.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer nostr+walletconnect://YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING"Test the connection
Ask your AI assistant to check your wallet balance or send a small test payment to confirm the server is connected and authorized. The server supports both LNURL and standard Lightning invoice payments.
Alby Bitcoin Payments Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop config using the local npx approach with NWC connection string.
{
"mcpServers": {
"alby": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@getalby/mcp"],
"env": {
"NWC_CONNECTION_STRING": "nostr+walletconnect://YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING_HERE"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example requests once your Lightning wallet is connected.
- "What is my current Lightning wallet balance?"
- "Send 100 satoshis to [lightning address or invoice]"
- "Pay this LNURL: lnurl1..."
- "Create a Lightning invoice for 500 sats with the memo 'coffee payment'"
- "Use L402 authentication to access this API endpoint and retrieve the data"Troubleshooting Alby Bitcoin Payments
Payment fails or the server cannot connect to your wallet
Verify that your NWC_CONNECTION_STRING is correct and not URL-encoded or truncated. The format must start with 'nostr+walletconnect://'. Also confirm your wallet's NWC relay is online and the connection has not been revoked in your wallet settings.
The AI assistant does not use the payment tools correctly or ignores them
The README explicitly recommends using Claude Sonnet 3.7 or a similarly capable model. Weaker models often fail to correctly invoke payment tool calls. Upgrade your model and retry the request with clear instructions.
Bearer token auth on the remote server returns 401 Unauthorized
The Bearer token must be the raw NWC connection string prefixed with 'Bearer '. Ensure no URL encoding is applied to the string. Alternatively, pass it as a query parameter: https://mcp.getalby.com/mcp?nwc=ENCODED_CONNECTION_SECRET
Frequently Asked Questions about Alby Bitcoin Payments
What is Alby Bitcoin Payments?
Alby Bitcoin Payments is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables bitcoin lightning wallet integration with llms through nostr wallet connect (nwc). supports lightning payments, lnurl operations, and l402 authentication for ai-powered bitcoin transactions. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Alby Bitcoin Payments?
Follow the installation instructions on the Alby Bitcoin Payments GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Alby Bitcoin Payments?
Alby Bitcoin Payments works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Alby Bitcoin Payments free to use?
Yes, Alby Bitcoin Payments is open source and available under the Apache 2.0 license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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