This MCP server wraps the LDK Server operations as MCP tools, exposing the Lightning and Bitcoin on-chain capabilities via JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio. It connects securely to an LDK Server instance using TLS (through the ldk-server-client) and presents a suite of tools that correspond to the underlying LDK Server API. Agents can query node information, manage on-chain and Lightning operations, handle channels, payments, and perform utility actions such as signing messages and exporting pathfinding scores. The server enumerates 24 available tools grouped into Node, On-chain, Payments, Channels, Payment History, Peers, and Utilities, each mapped to a specific RPC method inside the MCP protocol.

To use, start the MCP server process and communicate through standard input/output using JSON-RPC 2.0. Tools are invoked by sending initialize, tools/list, and tools/call requests according to the MCP protocol. For example, a client can list available tools, then call a particular tool (like get_node_info or open_channel) with the required parameters. The server handles authentication against the configured LDK Server instance via the provided API key and TLS certificate, ensuring secure access to the LDK environment.

Prerequisites:

• Rust toolchain (cargo)
• A Rust environment capable of building the project (stable 1.60+ recommended)
• TLS credentials and connection details for the target LDK Server

Installation steps:

1. Install Rust and Cargo:
   • macOS/Linux: curl --proto "https" -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
   • Windows: follow rustup-init via the official installer
2. Clone the MCP server repository (or download the source): git clone https://github.com/your/repo.git cd repo/ldk-server-mcp
3. Build the project in release mode: cargo build --release
4. Run the server (example):

   Ensure you have the required environment variables or config file in place

   ./target/release/ldk-server-mcp

Note: If you prefer a config file, place a TOML config at the recommended paths (as described in the README) and run the binary with --config /path/to/config.toml.

Environment variables (as per the README):

• LDK_BASE_URL: The base URL of the LDK Server (e.g., localhost:3000)
• LDK_API_KEY: The API key used to authenticate with the LDK Server
• LDK_TLS_CERT_PATH: Path to the TLS certificate for TLS validation with the LDK Server

Configuration precedence is: environment variables, then --config file, then defaults at ~/.ldk-server/config.toml, ~/.ldk-server/tls.crt, and ~/.ldk-server/{network}/api_key.

Common issues:

• TLS certificate validation failures: ensure LDK_TLS_CERT_PATH points to a valid certificate and that the LDK Server is reachable at LDK_BASE_URL with the provided API key.
• Incorrect config paths: verify the TOML config file follows the format used by ldk-server-cli (same as README example).
• Tool discovery: run tools/list to confirm available tools and their expected parameters before invoking tools/call.

Tips:

• For Claude Desktop/Code integration, provide the MCP configuration with the proper command path to your built ldk-server-mcp executable and the necessary environment variables for LDK connectivity.
• Keep the LDK Server and this MCP server in trusted networks due to sensitive credentials and TLS usage.