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Core Lightning

Modular C implementation of the Lightning Network protocol and node stack.

BitcoinLightning NetworkNormal
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Repository coverage

1856 commits in the local evidence base

Every captured commit receives deterministic security triage and a separate communication-quality score. Security candidates and broader second-pass signals receive full-patch Ollama analysis.

158security candidates263second-pass queue1853AI analyses
139commits · 30 days
217commits · 60 days
803commits · 180 days
1839commits · 365 days
Backfill bands
Aug 5 → Feb 61049 seen37 candidatesComplete
Feb 6 → Jun 6579 seen10 candidatesComplete
Jun 6 → Jul 678 seen1 candidatesComplete
Jul 6 → Aug 5147 seen16 candidatesComplete
Commit communication

Does the history explain itself?

Message quality measures whether a commit identifies its scope, purpose, rationale, testing, and supporting references. It does not change the security-severity score.

70/100 average clarity
432Strong · 80–100
1164Adequate · 60–79
231Thin · 40–59
29Opaque · 0–39
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Developer activity

Who is changing the project?

Public Git author strings; identities are not independently verified.

DeveloperCommitsCandidatesAnalyzedHigh riskMessage avg.
dovgopoly15015164
Rusty Russell95873958072
Sangbida Chaudhuri14731146066
Dusty Daemon771377066
ShahanaFarooqui931093063
daywalker9090589062
Níckolas Goline40540076
Lagrang376476069
Christian Decker36436072
Vincenzo Palazzo838080
Chandra Pratap56256082
ekzyis222063
Analysis record

Published AI watches

Last scanned 48 minutes ago

Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

Revert "doc: require Homebrew GNU make and gpatch on macOS"

This commit is a simple documentation revert. It undoes a previous change that told macOS users to install GNU make and GNU patch from Homebrew and to put those tools first in their command path. The reverted instructions now omit gpatch a…

0cfa949fby Sangbida Chaudhuri+4−81 file
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 75 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

Revert "tests: drop obsolete x-prefix in compacter-slow.sh"

This commit re-adds an old-style 'x' prefix to a string comparison in a test helper script. It is a test-only change with no effect on the actual Core Lightning node software, user funds, network behavior, or security. The change simply re…

116fd7cdby Sangbida Chaudhuri+1−11 file
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 73 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

doc: require Homebrew GNU make and gpatch on macOS

This commit only updates macOS installation instructions in the documentation. It tells macOS users to install newer GNU versions of 'make' and 'patch' from Homebrew because Apple's built-in tools are too old for building and running sourc…

d3ff1474by Sangbida Chaudhuri+8−41 file
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 83 · Strong
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

tests: drop obsolete x-prefix in compacter-slow.sh

This commit is a trivial shell script cleanup. It removes an old-fashioned 'x' prefix from a string comparison in a test helper script so that a newer version of the Shellcheck linter stops warning about it. The change does not alter progr…

474c272aby Sangbida Chaudhuri+1−11 file
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Informational 18 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

common: hoist amount+currency parsing into common code.

This commit moves existing code that parses payment amounts (Bitcoin millisatoshis, 'any' amount, or fiat currency amounts) from one plugin file into a shared library so it can be reused by a future feature. It is a code refactoring with n…

Refactoring of amount-parsing code into a shared helperAddition of explicit u64 overflow guards (mul_overflows_u64, add_overflows_u64) in the new common codeNo change to wire protocol or RPC interface semantics
e0f86c17by Rusty Russell+112−723 files
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Informational 17 AI analysisMessage 73 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

lightningd: internal cleanups since all non-command JSON IDs are strings.

This is a routine internal cleanup commit in Core Lightning. It removes an unused helper function and simplifies how JSON-RPC request IDs are stored and formatted, since the project now always uses string IDs for non-command JSON traffic. …

No security-relevant keywords in commit title or messageNo CVE, advisory, or bug reference presentChanges are refactor/cleanup in nature
a70ae963by Rusty Russell+25−378 files
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

common: hoist hash_str helper into its own header.

This commit is a routine code cleanup: it moves a small string-hashing helper function into a shared header file so it can be reused without being copied and pasted. There is no change to behavior, no bug fix, and no security relevance.

581bbb1fby Rusty Russell+16−176 files
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Informational 23 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

downgrade: we need to remove "impressions" from askrene datastore when downgrading to v26.06.

This is a database downgrade helper fix, not a live network vulnerability. Core Lightning's downgrade tool previously failed to strip out new 'channel impression' records when rolling a database back to version v26.06. The patch teaches th…

Database downgrade path could leave incompatible records in older schemaOffline tool only; no remote or on-chain triggerFix prevents potential node startup failure after version rollback
4d926285by Rusty Russell+43−111 file
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Low 31 AI analysisMessage 68 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

downgrade tool: fix invalid memory bug

This commit fixes a typo in a database downgrade helper tool. The bug caused the tool to pass a negative number (turned into a huge positive size) when copying data, which led to an out-of-memory (OOM) error. The fix swaps two variable nam…

Integer underflow / negative-to-size_t wrap leading to excessive allocationOut-of-memory crash in maintenance toolMemory corruption potential if allocation somehow succeeded
42995326by Lagrang3+8−81 file
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Informational 24 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

xpay: actually tell askrene when a payment succeeded.

This commit fixes a bookkeeping bug in Core Lightning's xpay plugin. Previously, when a payment succeeded, xpay did not tell the askrene routing-helper that the route worked. As a result, askrene kept stale or overly pessimistic ideas abou…

Missing success feedback to routing layer can degrade payment reliabilityStale negative impressions may bias future path selection toward worse or failing routesNo direct funds-loss primitive is introduced or fixed
a66fabd4by Rusty Russell+40−02 files
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Low 49 AI analysisMessage 58 · Thin
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

askrene: correctly order constraints.

This commit fixes a bug in Core Lightning's routing helper (askrene) where two kinds of channel information—hard limits called 'constraints' and usage estimates called 'impressions'—were being applied in the wrong order. Because impression…

Routing decision bug caused by incorrect ordering of time-relative channel statePotential payment failure or acceptance of an over-capacity routeRegression test added demonstrating incorrect route acceptance before fix
4b6fe4a1by Rusty Russell+211−1182 files
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Low 35 AI analysisMessage 68 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

askrene: don't leak channel intel entries

This commit fixes a memory leak in the askrene plugin of Core Lightning. When individual channel intelligence entries were deleted, the code removed the entry from its array but forgot to free two internal pointers (impression and constrai…

Memory leak in plugin data structure cleanupMissing deallocation of nested pointers before array removalFix located in routing/intelligence plugin (askrene)
8891f414by Lagrang3+5−01 file
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 70 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

xpay: tests should expect the new error messages

This commit only updates test files so that automated checks expect slightly different error wording from the xpay payment command. It does not change any production code, so it cannot introduce a security vulnerability or fix one on its o…

0b67601fby Lagrang3+24−32 files
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Low 43 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

offers: limit invoices to 10 minutes for recurring offers in other currencies.

This change tightens the lifetime of recurring invoices priced in foreign currencies (like USD) to 10 minutes by default, and refreshes them with current exchange rates when they expire. Previously, such invoices could remain valid for the…

Fixes stale exchange-rate exposure for currency-denominated recurring invoicesAdds configurable expiry cap for recurring currency invoicesDistinguishes user-cancellation (0s expiry) from natural expiry to avoid misleading errors
446312cfby Rusty Russell+134−148 files
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Low 45 AI analysisMessage 73 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

offers: limit expiry to offer limit, or 10 minutes with currency conversion.

This commit tightens the expiration time on invoices created from BOLT12 offers. Previously, all such invoices defaulted to a 2-hour payment window. Now, if the offer has an absolute expiry, the invoice expires when the offer expires; and …

BOLT12 invoice expiry now bounded by offer absolute expiryCurrency-converted invoices use short expiry to limit exchange-rate exposureNew regression test added for expiry behavior
a6cf4915by Rusty Russell+55−22 files
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Low 29 AI analysisMessage 73 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

fetchinvoice: don't bother with checking recurrence timing.

This commit removes local timing checks in Core Lightning's fetchinvoice plugin for recurring payments. Instead of the plugin refusing too-early or too-late invoice requests, it now lets the remote node decide and report back. The change i…

Removal of local input-validation checks for recurring invoice requestsReliance on remote-party enforcement for recurrence period limits and pay windowsTest expectations changed from local rejection to remote failure messages
3e49d908by Rusty Russell+2−682 files
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Low 32 AI analysisMessage 73 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

lightningd: don't do previous invoice checking in createinvoicerequest.

This commit removes a local sanity check in Core Lightning's experimental 'createinvoicerequest' command. Previously, when creating a recurring invoice request, the code looked up past payments by label to verify the previous recurrence wa…

Removal of local payment-state validation for recurring invoice requestsParameter rename from recurrence_label to label in internal RPC callsTest expectations changed from local 'previous invoice has not been paid' errors to remote failure messages
4348d8acby Rusty Russell+5−1224 files
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Low 35 AI analysisMessage 65 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

fetchinvoice: handle weird labels in recurrence_label parameter.

This commit fixes how the fetchinvoice plugin handles user-supplied labels that contain special characters such as backslashes, quotes, tabs, and newlines. Previously these labels were passed as raw strings, which could cause JSON encoding…

JSON injection / improper escaping of user-controlled input passed between RPC componentsPotential mismatch between label parsing and label serialization leading to functional failures or unexpected behaviorFix is narrowly scoped to a single plugin and parameter
d7f87f2dby Rusty Russell+37−102 files
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 70 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

Add unit tests for str_to_u64

This commit only adds a new automated test file that checks how a helper function (str_to_u64) converts text strings to unsigned 64-bit integers. It does not change any production code, so it cannot by itself introduce a security vulnerabi…

dddb455dby Lagrang3+203−01 file
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Informational 15 AI analysisMessage 78 · Adequate
EP Elements ProjectCore Lightning BitcoinLightning Network

pytest: add tests for what we want askrene to do.

This commit only adds a new pytest test file. It does not change any production code. The test describes desired future behavior for the askrene routing module's error messages when a payment source or destination lacks enough channel capa…

518620aeby Rusty Russell+67−01 file
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Lower-priorityhsmd: don't assert that our own locktime is > 0.by Rusty Russell · 6a94683d · Aug 7, 2025 · 2 filesMessage 78 · AdequateLow 31Details
Commit message · Rusty Russell

hsmd: don't assert that our own locktime is > 0.

By policy, our stub hsmd accepts everything: openingd is supposed to
sort this out (or use VLS for a real HSM implementation!).

Signed-off-by: Rusty Russell <rusty@rustcorp.com.au>
Changelog-Fixed: Config: the node no longer crashes if you set `watchtime-blocks` to 0 (which is fine for testing: don't do this on mainnet!).

78/100 · AdequateMessage clarity
✓ Descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Mentions testing or verification
AI analysis · Low 31/100

This commit fixes a crash in Core Lightning when a user sets 'watchtime-blocks' to 0. The crash came from an internal safety check (assertion) in the HSM (hardware security module) stub code that rejected a locktime of 0. The fix removes several 'fail fast' assertions in the stub HSM because, by design, that stub is meant to accept everything and let other parts of the code enforce policy. The change is described as safe for testing but not recommended for mainnet.

Lower-prioritypytest: test for watchtime-blocks=0by Rusty Russell · e6b14da9 · Aug 7, 2025 · 1 fileMessage 78 · AdequateInformational 11Details
Commit message · Rusty Russell

pytest: test for watchtime-blocks=0

It's not really advisable, but it's legal, though our HSMD refuses to
sign off on operations.

Signed-off-by: Rusty Russell <rusty@rustcorp.com.au>

78/100 · AdequateMessage clarity
✓ Descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Mentions testing or verification
AI analysis · Informational 11/100

This commit only adds a new test case to the project's test suite. It checks that the software behaves in a known, limited way when a configuration option called 'watchtime-blocks' is set to 0. The test is currently marked as expected to fail ('xfail'), meaning it documents behavior that does not yet work as desired. There is no actual code fix or change to the main software here, and nothing in the commit suggests an active security vulnerability is being patched.

AI review queuedfuzz-tests: Make `fuzz-bolt12-invrequest-decode` roundripby Chandra Pratap · d9685a6c · Aug 6, 2025 · 1 fileMessage 91 · StrongInformational 15Details
Commit message · Chandra Pratap

fuzz-tests: Make `fuzz-bolt12-invrequest-decode` roundrip

Changelog-None: Currently, the `BOLT #12` invrequest parsing test
only tests the invrequest decode function. Add a test for the
encoding function as well by making the test roundtrip.

91/100 · StrongMessage clarity
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Mentions testing or verification✓ Links an issue, advisory, or supporting reference
Why it was queued
fuzzing or regression evidenceparser or protocol pathsecond-pass: security-sensitive path
AI analysis · Informational 15/100

This commit only changes a fuzz test file. It extends an existing test so that after decoding a BOLT 12 invoice request, it re-encodes the result and decodes it again, then checks the two decoded versions match. There is no change to production code, no bug fix, and no security patch.

AI review queuedfuzz-tests: Add coverage increasing inputs to seed corporaby Chandra Pratap · a1c554fd · Aug 6, 2025 · 107 filesMessage 83 · StrongInformational 15Details
Commit message · Chandra Pratap

fuzz-tests: Add coverage increasing inputs to seed corpora

Improvements in the fuzz-testing scheme of
`fuzz-bolt12-invrequest-decode` led to the discovery of test inputs
that result in greater in code coverage.

Add these inputs to the test's seed corpus.

83/100 · StrongMessage clarity
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Mentions testing or verification
Why it was queued
fuzzing or regression evidenceparser or protocol pathsecond-pass: unusually broad changesecond-pass: security-sensitive path
AI analysis · Informational 15/100

This commit only adds 107 new test input files to a fuzz-test seed corpus. Fuzz-test seed corpora are collections of example inputs used to exercise code during automated testing. The commit does not change any production code, libraries, or configuration used by running Core Lightning nodes. It is purely a testing improvement and has no direct security impact on deployed software.

AI review queuedconfigure: Fix debug symbols for installed binaries on macOSby Sangbida Chaudhuri · 9e55e8dd · Aug 6, 2025 · 2 filesMessage 95 · StrongInformational 19Details
Commit message · Sangbida Chaudhuri

configure: Fix debug symbols for installed binaries on macOS

When installing core lightning on macOS I found that the debug symbols were not being preserved leading to "no debug info in
Mach-O executable". This is because the .dSYM files, which contain the debug information, is generated in the build directory and could not be found by the installed binaries.

Changes:
- Add -fno-standalone-debug flag to CDEBUGFLAGS on macOS to reduce
dependency on absolute source paths
- Modify install-program target to copy .dSYM bundles alongside
binaries for BIN_PROGRAMS, PKGLIBEXEC_PROGRAMS, and PLUGINS

Testing:
1. ./configure --reconfigure
2. make install PREFIX=/tmp/lightning-install
3. make clean (removes all .dSYM files from build directory)
4. /tmp/lightning-install/bin/lightningd --help
5. Verified stack traces now work correctly without "no debug info" errors

95/100 · StrongMessage clarity
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Explains rationale or failure mode✓ Mentions testing or verification
Why it was queued
second-pass: broader security terminology
AI analysis · Informational 19/100

This commit fixes a macOS build/install issue where debug symbol files (.dSYM bundles) were left behind in the build directory instead of being copied during installation. It adds a compiler flag to make debug info less dependent on absolute source paths and updates the install step to copy the .dSYM bundles next to the installed binaries and plugins. There is no security vulnerability here; it is a developer-experience/operability fix for debugging stack traces on macOS.

Lower-priority configure: Add macOS-specific debug flags for libbacktrace compatibilityby Sangbida Chaudhuri · 92020ac3 · Aug 6, 2025 · 3 filesMessage 85 · StrongInformational 18Details
Commit message · Sangbida Chaudhuri

configure: Add macOS-specific debug flags for libbacktrace compatibility

On macOS, libbacktrace was failing to find debug information due to:
1. Debug symbols not being properly linked with dsymutil
2. Apple Clang 17.0.0 generating DWARF 5 which libbacktrace couldn't parse

In this commit we address both issues:

Debug symbol accessibility:
- Add dsymutil integration in Makefile to properly link debug symbols
- Use -fno-standalone-debug to embed debug info inline in executable

DWARF format compatibility:
- Force -gdwarf-4 instead of default DWARF 5 to avoid "DW_FORM_addrx value out of range" errors

Changelog-added: libbacktrace works with macOS

85/100 · StrongMessage clarity
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Explains rationale or failure mode
AI analysis · Informational 18/100

This commit changes the build configuration for macOS so that a debugging helper library (libbacktrace) can correctly read debug information. It does not fix a security vulnerability, change network behavior, or alter how funds or cryptographic operations are handled. It only affects how stack traces are produced during development/debugging on Apple computers.