boltin.me is a website that shortens Bitcoin Lightning Network invoices (payment requests).
Typical Lightning invoice (253 chars):
lnbc58u1p0rx65fpp5sux6u3tvwqeh3uze7v6t0evrvz8sk3eag2xfft6sgmez2quzj5nsdq4fpskce3qvysxxmm0dd5k2cqzpgxq9zsgrjfppqc9yhyhtg65922gumf6kjdwhavzy6x3wenhhf5ndf8vhg5r2e2z82espxk0aadjpsd930arzkjm73lnaa5fdjmkqn69kyt2hkvte6dcq6caa9veeag0dg5jsk5ukm89zwucp4xhspqqfgas
Typical Boltin URL (26 chars): https://boltin.me/wodzyIRs
Clone the repo, then run:
npm install installs dependencies
npm start serves the website on localhost:3000
wrangler preview --watch starts the workers preview
npm test runs tests
npm run build builds packages the website
wrangler publish publishes the application to worker
boltin.me is made using React (TypeScript) and runs on Cloudflare workers. It makes API calls to boltin-api to post or retrieve an invoice. When posting an invoice boltin-api verifies the validity of the invoice (structure and signature), converts it into a 6-byte URL-safe-base64 string which is used as the key to store the invoice in KV. This key is given in the form of a URL to the user. When retrieving the invoice boltin-api uses the key to get the stored invoice from KV, decodes it into useful data to show the user.
When using the lightning network to send or receive payments, the payee sends the payer an invoice that is typically very long. This is not an issue when trying to send lightning to a person that's next to you because you may scan a QR code off their phone or laptop depending on the lightning client they use. But when trying to send payments to another person online, the payee will typically be forced to text/email the invoice and the payer cannot see any information contained in the invoice (amount, expiry time, memo/description, on-chain fallback address, etc) until they open up their lightning client and paste the invoice.
Boltin allows the payee to paste their invoice to get a very short URL that they can then share with the payer. On opening the link on any device, the payer will be able to see important information about the invoice as well as scan a QR (as opposed to copy-pasting).
lnbc2500u1pvjluezpp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqdq5xysxxatsyp3k7enxv4jsxqzpuaztrnwngzn3kdzw5hydlzf03qdgm2hdq27cqv3agm2awhz5se903vruatfhq77w3ls4evs3ch9zw97j25emudupq63nyw24cg27h2rspfj9srp
lnbc20m1pvjluezhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqspp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqfppj3a24vwu6r8ejrss3axul8rxldph2q7z9kmrgvr7xlaqm47apw3d48zm203kzcq357a4ls9al2ea73r8jcceyjtya6fu5wzzpe50zrge6ulk4nvjcpxlekvmxl6qcs9j3tz0469gq5g658y
lnbc20m1pvjluezhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqspp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqfppqw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kepvrhrm9s57hejg0p662ur5j5cr03890fa7k2pypgttmh4897d3raaq85a293e9jpuqwl0rnfuwzam7yr8e690nd2ypcq9hlkdwdvycqa0qza8