What is Nwc Mcp Server

nwc-mcp-server is a server that connects a Bitcoin Lightning wallet to your LLM (Large Language Model) using Nostr Wallet Connect and the Model Context Protocol.

Use cases

Use cases for nwc-mcp-server include enabling Bitcoin transactions in chatbots, facilitating payments in decentralized applications, and enhancing user interactions in AI-driven platforms.

How to use

To use nwc-mcp-server, you need to configure it in your application by adding specific commands and environment variables in your configuration files, such as ‘claude_desktop_config.json’, Goose, Cline, or N8N.

Key features

Key features of nwc-mcp-server include seamless integration with Bitcoin Lightning wallets, support for Nostr Wallet Connect, and compatibility with the official MCP TypeScript SDK.

Where to use

nwc-mcp-server can be used in various fields, including financial applications, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and any application that requires integration with Bitcoin payments and LLMs.

⚠️ DEPRECATED ⚠️

Please use Alby MCP instead!

This repository has been deprecated in favor of Alby MCP, which includes all the NWC tools along with additional Lightning tools.

NWC MCP Server

Connect a bitcoin lightning wallet to your LLM using Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC or NIP-47).

This MCP server uses the official MCP TypeScript SDK

See also the Alby MCP server which includes additional useful tools.

Quick Start

Use the Alby-Hosted MCP Server

If your agent supports SSE (e.g. N8N) or HTTP Streamable transports, you can connect to Alby’s MCP server.

• SSE: https://mcp.getalby.com/sse
• HTTP Streamable: https://mcp.getalby.com/mcp

Both require providing an NWC connection secret as Bearer authentication.

Add to Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

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

Add to Goose

1. Type goose configure
2. Add extension -> Command Line Extension
3. Call it nwc
4. What command should be run: npx -y @getalby/nwc-mcp-server
5. Timeout: 30
6. Description: no
7. environment variables: yes
8. environment variable name: NWC_CONNECTION_STRING
9. environment variable value: nostr+walletconnect://... (your NWC connection secret here)

Add to Cline

Copy the below and paste it into a cline prompt. It should prompt you to update the connection string.

Add to N8N via SSE

You can use the native N8N MCP Client tool connected to an AI agent. Enter your SSE endpoint, set authentication to “Bearer” and paste your NWC connection secret.

Tested with OpenRouter + anthropic/claude-3.7-sonnet

See the N8N workflow for a simple example

Add to N8N via STDIO (Community Node)

Currently this MCP server only works via command line (STDIO).

You can install the n8n-nodes-mcp community node and run n8n with tools enabled e.g.

N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ALLOW_TOOL_USAGE=true npx n8n

Create a blank workflow and add an AI agent node. Configure your LLM model and add a new tool “MCP Client” (which will have a cube next to it showing it’s a community node).

Configure the MCP Client by adding a credential with Command Line (STDIO) selected.

command: npx
arguments: -y @getalby/nwc-mcp-server
environments NWC_CONNECTION_STRING=nostr+walletconnect://your_key_here (create the whole line in a text editor and paste it in, since the password field cannot be switched to plaintext)

See the N8N paid chat workflow for a full example

Modes

STDIO

By default NWC MCP Server runs locally in STDIO mode.

HTTP

You can set the following environment variable: MODE=HTTP which will enable Streamable HTTP (http://localhost:3000/mcp) and SSE (http://localhost:3000/sse Note: SSE is deprecated).

HTTP requires bearer authorization, where the token is a wallet’s NWC connection secret.

From Source

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Yarn
• A connection string from a lightning wallet that supports NWC

Installation

yarn install

Building

yarn build

Add your NWC connection

Copy .env.example to .env and update your connection string

Inspect the tools (use/test without an LLM)

yarn inspect

Supported Tools

See the tools directory