Opening Channels

By default, whenever a user lacks sufficient inbound liquidity to receive a payment, Breez creates a channel on the fly connected to the Breez routing node.

However, there are several ways in Breez to create channels with other nodes:

• Opening a channel from a different node:

  • Use the getinfo_ command by clicking Preferences > Developers > General to retrieve the public key of the mobile node on your device.
  • Click on Preferences > Developers > Peers > connect to connect to another node. Note: for Tor nodes, you first need to enable Tor in Preferences > Network (Android only for now).
  • Open a private channel to the Breez mobile node from the interface of the new node using lncli or similar. Make sure Breez is running in the foreground on your phone while opening the channel.

• Using LNURL-Channel (see below).

• Running lncli commands from the Preferences > Developers screen.

Note: creating channels manually is recommended only for advanced users.

LNURL-Channel

LNURL-Channel allows users to use external services, like Bitrefill Thor, LNBIG, and other LSPs to open additional channels simply by scanning a QR code or clicking on a link. In order to use this function, you need to first choose a provider that offers channel-opening services.

Important note:

• Channel reserve refers to the funds locked in a channel and that can't be transferred until it is closed. Different LSPs set different channel reserves. While Breez sets the channel reserve to 0 on its default channels, other providers will probably use the default setting of 1% of a channel's capacity.