lightning/doc/lightning-close.7

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.\"     Title: lightning-close
.\"    Author: [see the "AUTHOR" section]
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.\"      Date: 04/30/2018
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.\"    Source: \ \&
.\"  Language: English
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.TH "LIGHTNING\-CLOSE" "7" "04/30/2018" "\ \&" "\ \&"
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.SH "NAME"
lightning-close \- Command for closing channels with direct peers
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
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\fBclose\fR \fIid\fR [\fIforce\fR] [\fItimeout\fR]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
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The \fBclose\fR RPC command attempts to close the channel cooperatively with the peer\&. If the given \fIid\fR is a peer ID (66 hex digits as a string), then it applies to the active channel of the direct peer corresponding to the given peer ID\&. If the given \fIid\fR is a channel ID (64 hex digits as a string, or the short channel ID \fIblockheight:txindex:outindex\fR form), then it applies to that channel\&.
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The \fBclose\fR command will time out and return with an error when the number of seconds specified in \fItimeout\fR is reached\&. If unspecified, it times out in 30 seconds\&.
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The \fIforce\fR argument, if the JSON value \fItrue\fR, will cause the channel to be unilaterally closed when the timeout is reached\&. If so, timeout will not cause an error, but instead cause the channel to be failed and put onchain unilaterally\&. Unilateral closes will lead to your funds getting locked according to the \fIto_self_delay\fR parameter of the peer\&.
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Normally the peer needs to be live and connected in order to negotiate a mutual close\&. Forcing a unilateral close can be used if you suspect you can no longer contact the peer\&.
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
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On success, an object with fields \fItx\fR and \fItxid\fR containing the closing transaction are returned\&. It will also have a field \fItype\fR which is either the JSON string \fImutual\fR or the JSON string \fIunilateral\fR\&. A \fImutual\fR close means that we could negotiate a close with the peer, while a \fIunilateral\fR close means that the \fIforce\fR flag was set and we had to close the channel without waiting for the counterparty\&.
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A unilateral close may still occur with \fIforce\fR set to \fIfalse\fR if the peer did not behave correctly during the close negotiation\&.
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Unilateral closes will return your funds after a delay\&. The delay will vary based on the peer \fIto_self_delay\fR setting, not your own setting\&.
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On failure, if \fBclose\fR failed due to timing out with \fIforce\fR argument \fIfalse\fR, the channel will still eventually close once we have contacted the peer\&.
.SH "AUTHOR"
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ZmnSCPxj <ZmnSCPxj@protonmail\&.com> is mainly responsible\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.SH "RESOURCES"
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Main web site: https://github\&.com/ElementsProject/lightning