Bitcoin Connect
This project includes web components for connecting to Lightning wallets and enabling WebLN. Websites only need to implement a single interface to connect with multiple wallets (WebLN), and users can connect from both desktop and mobile devices. These components work with pure HTML and all Javascript libraries or frameworks, such as React, Angular, Vue, Solid.js, etc.
🆕 Bitcoin Connect also supports a nice invoice payment UI that gives a multitude of options to a user to pay an invoice. Accept payments with a single line of code.
🛝 Try it out here
https://bitcoin-connect.com
🚀 Quick Start
🚧WARNING🚧: this package is currently in Alpha. It's got awesome features, but is using new features of protocols such as WebLN and NWC which have not been finalized, and there may be breaking changes or bugs.
React Package
npm install @getalby/bitcoin-connect-react
or yarn add @getalby/bitcoin-connect-react
Web Components Package
npm install @getalby/bitcoin-connect
or yarn add @getalby/bitcoin-connect
HTML (CDN)
You can use Bitcoin Connect without any build tools:
NOTE: LNC connector is not supported!
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@getalby/bitcoin-connect@2.4.2/dist/index.browser.js"></script>
🤙 Usage
React
import {Button, Modal, launchModal, closeModal} from '@getalby/bitcoin-connect-react';
<Button onConnect={() => alert('Connected!')} />
<Modal onConnect={() => alert('Connected!')} />
<button onClick={launchModal}>
Programmatically launch modal
</button>
<button onClick={() => launchModal({invoice: "lnbc...."})}>
Programmatically launch modal
</button>
closeModal();
React SSR / NextJS
Make sure to only render the components client side. This can be done either by creating a wrapper component with 'use client' directive (NextJS app directory) or by using next/dynamic.
Other Frameworks
Use another popular framework? please let us know or feel free to create a PR for a wrapper. See the React package for an example implementation.
Pure HTML
Components
Bitcoin Connect exposes the following web components for allowing users to connect their desired Lightning wallet:
<bc-button/>
- launches the Bitcoin Connect Modal on click<bc-modal/>
- render the modal on its own.
- Optional Arguments:
open
- make the modal appear
<bc-connector-list/>
- render the list of connectors on their own<bc-send-payment/>
- render a payment request UI
- more components coming soon
Common Attributes (can be passed to any Bitcoin Connect component)
app-name
(React: appName
) - Name of the app requesting access to wallet. Currently used for NWC connections (Alby and Mutiny)filters
- EXPERIMENTAL: Filter the type of connectors you want to show. Example: "nwc" (only show NWC connectors). Multiple filters can be separated by a comma e.g. nwc,second_filter
.
Window Events
Bitcoin Connect exposes the following events:
bc:connected
window event which fires when a wallet is connected and window.webln is ready to usebc:connecting
window event which fires when a user is connecting to their walletbc:disconnected
window event which fires when user has disconnected from their walletbc:modalopened
window event which fires when Bitcoin Connect modal is openedbc:modalclosed
window event which fires when Bitcoin Connect modal is closed
Bitcoin Connect API
Programmatically launching the modal
<bc-modal/>
needs to be rendered somewhere on the page. The modal can then be launched with:
window.bitcoinConnect.launchModal();
launchModal
can also take an optional options object:
launchModal({
invoice: 'lnbc...',
});
Programmatically closing the modal
window.bitcoinConnect.closeModal();
Disconnect from wallet
window.bitcoinConnect.disconnect();
Check connection status
window.bitcoinConnect.isConnected();
More methods coming soon. Is something missing that you'd need? let us know!
Styling
These variables must be set at the root or on a container element wrapping any bitcoin connect components.
html {
--bc-color-brand: #196ce7;
}
Optional CSS variables for further customization:
html {
--bc-color-brand-dark: #3994ff;
--bc-brand-mix: 100%;
}
💡 using near-white or black brand colors? either set a lower bc-brand-mix
or make sure to use an off-white for bc-color-brand
and off-black for bc-color-brand-dark
to avoid conflicts with the modal background color.
Dark mode
Automatic (Recommended)
Bitcoin Connect uses prefers-color-scheme
to automatically detect light/dark mode.
Manual
In case your site uses a manual theme switcher, you can force a theme by following these steps:
see an example here
- set
globalThis.bcDarkMode = "class"
before any bitcoin connect components are rendered "dark"
must be added as a classname to the document to enable dark mode (e.g. <html class="dark">
or document.documentElement.classList.add('dark')
) otherwise light mode will be forced.
Demos
Pure HTML Demo
See Pure HTML
Example codepen
React Demo
See React
Example replit
More demos
Open demos
🛠️ Development
Install
Run yarn install && (cd dev/vite && yarn install)
Run Vite
Run yarn dev
Other dev options
Open dev
Production Build
yarn build
Build (Watch mode - no pure html support)
yarn dev:build
Build (Watch mode - with pure html support)
yarn dev:build:browser
Testing
yarn test
Need help?
We are happy to help, please contact us or create an issue.
FAQ
How does it work?
Bitcoin Connect provides multiple options to the user to connect to a lightning wallet, each compatible with WebLN. Any already-existing providers of WebLN (such as an installed WebLN extension like Alby) are detected and offered, as well as options to create a new WebLN provider through protocols such as NWC. No matter which option you choose, window.webln will become available for the website to use to interact with your lightning wallet. Similar to the Alby extension, new options (called Connectors) can be easily added as they all follow a common, simple interface. As long as there is a way to connect to a lightning wallet through Javascript, a connector can be created for it in Bitcoin Connect. We welcome any and all contributions for new connectors!
Does this work on mobile browsers and mobile PWAs, or desktop browsers without a WebLN extension?
Yes! that's the main benefit.
Does it work with a desktop extension enabled?
Yes. It will use the desktop extension as the default connector if it exists.
Can I connect it to my mobile wallet?
That depends. The connection to your lightning node / wallet needs to be asynchronous so that you can use Bitcoin Connect natively on mobile websites or PWAs.
Can a user connect any lightning wallet?
It will only work for the connectors that are shown in the modal. Some of these connectors (e.g. the Alby Browser Extension) allow to connect multiple wallets themselves. Feel free to contribute to add a new connector.
Does it "remember" the user if they leave the page or close the browser?
Yes. Your connection is saved to localStorage
Is this safe?
You should have a certain level of trust on the website you decide to connect your wallet with, and that they ensure there is no malicious third-party scripts which would intend to read the wallet connection configuration, either from memory or storage. Connectors with budget controls or confirmation dialogs (Alby extension or NWC) are recommend so you have full control over your connection.
What are the high level things I need to do to add this to my site?
- add the "Connect Wallet" button
- wait for a connection event (using window.addEventListener) and then request to pay the invoice with window.webln
What connectors are supported?
If a user pays with another wallet why does the modal stay open?
Bitcoin Connect cannot detect payments made externally. It's up to your app to detect the payment and then programmatically close the modal using the exposed closeModal
function.
Known Issues
- NWC connectors do not work on iOS in non-secure contexts because window.crypto.subtle is unavailable. If testing on your phone, please run an https server or use an https tunnel.
🔥 Lit
This project is powered by Lit.
See Get started on the Lit site for more information.
License
MIT