Alby Bitcoin Payments MCP Server

Official

Connect a bitcoin lightning wallet to your LLM via Nostr Wallet Connect

How to install ↓ Compare GitHub source repository ↗

Category: Other #88 of 230
Stars: ★ 66 Popular
Transport: stdio (local process) · SSE · Streamable HTTP
Runtime: Node.js 20+ · Hosted (no local runtime)
Credentials: API key / credential required
License: Apache-2.0
Last commit: 9 days ago

58FMRS · C

An officially maintained bitcoin Lightning MCP server from Alby, offering both self-hosted STDIO and Alby-hosted SSE/HTTP Streamable access; the main risk is safeguarding and securely transmitting the NWC connection secret.

Strongest · Documentation 16/20 Weakest · Reliability 7/20

Reliability

7/20

Security and permissions

8/20

Maintenance

13/20

Documentation

16/20

Setup experience

14/20

Why each score

Reliability 7/20: The README describes STDIO and HTTP modes and mentions `yarn inspect` for testing tools without an LLM, with tool definitions pointed to in the src/tools directory, but no actual content from that directory, manifest, package.json, or CI/test files was provided for this review. There is no verifiable automated test suite or CI workflow demonstrating that declared tool behavior matches actual behavior, nor evidence of how init/tool-list handshakes are handled under edge cases. Per the static-review cap, this keeps the score at or below 12.
Security and permissions 8/20: The server requires the user's NWC wallet connection secret (via env var, Bearer auth, or URL query parameter), which grants direct access to a Bitcoin Lightning wallet. The README does not describe any confirmation step, spend limits, or scoping disclosure for payment-capable tools before execution. It also explicitly documents passing the secret as a URL query parameter, a pattern prone to leaking secrets via server logs, browser history, or proxy caches. No real secrets appear in the install examples (all placeholders), and there's no evidence of malware or covert exfiltration, so this does not meet the red-line bar, but the incomplete confirmation/scoping disclosure and risky secret-transmission pattern warrant a meaningful deduction.
Maintenance 13/20: The repo uses an Apache-2.0 license, is not archived, has 67 stars and 7 open issues, and the README lists an official support channel (support.getalby.com). However, no direct evidence of release cadence, recent commit activity, or dependency update practices was present in the provided material, so the score is reduced for missing evidence rather than treated as abandoned.
Documentation 16/20: Documentation is broad, covering detailed setup instructions for many clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Goose, Cline, N8N, Windsurf), authentication methods (Bearer and query parameter), operating modes, from-source build steps, and a troubleshooting section. It falls short by only linking to the src/tools directory for tool parameter details rather than documenting them inline, and it omits discussion of costs, rate limits, or detailed error handling, so it does not receive a perfect score.
Setup experience 14/20: Multiple clear setup paths exist: a one-line npx command with an env var for local use, or connecting directly to Alby's hosted remote MCP server with no local install at all, with configuration examples for mainstream clients. However, per the static-review cap of 15 without verifiable CI/test evidence, and given some steps (e.g., manually URL-encoding the secret via browser console) are somewhat manual/fragile, it does not receive the maximum score.

Static review · not runListed 2026-08-26

Read the FMRS scoring method →

Fit and risk

What it can accessUses the networkChanges third-party account data

Best for

Users who already have an NWC-compatible Lightning wallet and want an LLM to act on it
Developers integrating bitcoin payment capability into MCP-capable clients like Claude, Goose, Cline, or Windsurf

Not for

Users who don't use the bitcoin Lightning Network or lack an NWC wallet
Use with weaker models — the README notes a capable model (e.g. Claude 3.7 Sonnet) is required or the server may not function correctly

Required permissions

Requires an NWC connection secret, which grants the server the ability to act on your wallet's funds
In hosted/remote mode, this secret is transmitted to the Alby server as a Bearer header or URL parameter

Risks and side effects

If the NWC connection secret leaks, anyone holding it can control the associated wallet's funds
Passing the secret via a URL query parameter risks it being logged in browser history, server logs, or proxies
Relying on a weaker model may lead to unintended or incorrect payment actions

Setup

Before you start

Runtime：Node.js 20+ · Hosted (no local runtime)

NWC_CONNECTION_STRING requiredsecret Nostr Wallet Connect connection secret (nostr+walletconnect://...), obtained from an NWC-capable lightning wallet such as Alby.

Other optional settings (1)

MODE optional Set to HTTP to enable local Streamable HTTP and SSE endpoints; not needed for the default STDIO mode.

Local: install Node.js 20+, then run the @getalby/mcp package via npx with an NWC_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable set to your wallet's NWC connection secret (or build from source with yarn install / yarn build, copy .env.example to .env, and test with yarn inspect). Remote: connect directly to Alby's hosted endpoints at https://mcp.getalby.com/sse or https://mcp.getalby.com/mcp, authenticating with your NWC secret either as a Bearer token or via the nwc query parameter. The README provides example configurations for Claude Desktop, Claude Web, Claude Code, Goose Desktop/CLI, Cline, Windsurf, and N8N.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nwc": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@getalby/mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NWC_CONNECTION_STRING": "YOUR NWC CONNECTION STRING HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Shown for Claude Desktop. Other clients may use a different file or key (VS Code uses "servers") — the configurator below converts it.

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "nwc": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@getalby/mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NWC_CONNECTION_STRING": "YOUR NWC CONNECTION STRING HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Goes in your project's .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code uses a "servers" key).

Terminal

claude mcp add nwc -e 'NWC_CONNECTION_STRING=YOUR NWC CONNECTION STRING HERE' -- npx -y @getalby/mcp

Run it in a terminal; replace any <…> placeholders with your own values first.

Generate and validate client config

Check that it works

After connecting, check that the NWC tools appear in your client's tool list, or ask "what is my wallet balance?" — a returned wallet answer confirms the connection.

Troubleshooting

Confirm you're using a sufficiently capable model (e.g. Claude 3.7 Sonnet); otherwise the server may not work
Verify the entire NWC connection secret was copied with no extra spaces if you get a 'failed to connect to wallet, secret missing' error
Contact support.getalby.com for official help if issues persist

Things to try

Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant things like:

How many sats do I have in my lightning wallet?
Pay 100 sats to this LNURL address.
Generate a payment for this L402 invoice.

Use cases

Letting an AI agent send or receive Lightning Network payments directly

Adding pay-per-use or tipping steps into automation workflows like N8N

Giving agents that don't support MCP similar capability via the companion Alby CLI

Supported clients

Claude Desktop

Claude WebPartial support

Claude Code

Goose Desktop

Goose CLI

Cline

Windsurf

N8NPartial support

Listed from the project's documentation, not tested by this site.

Overview

The Alby MCP Server is officially maintained by getAlby and built on the official MCP TypeScript SDK. It lets an LLM or agent operate a bitcoin Lightning wallet through the Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) protocol, with built-in knowledge of NWC, LNURL, and L402 via the Alby SDK and Alby Lightning Tools. It can run locally over STDIO or connect to Alby's hosted remote endpoints over SSE and HTTP Streamable transports. See the src/tools directory in the repository for the specific set of supported tools.

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Source revision d88aeebfae7d Data synced 2026-10-11 Read the FMRS scoring method