BOLT: Basis of Lightning Technology (Lightning Network Specifications)

This is the canonical repository for the Lightning Network protocol specifications, known as the BOLTs ("Basis of Lightning Technology"), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

The BOLTs define the interoperable standards that independent Lightning implementations such as Core Lightning, LND, Eclair, and LDK follow so their software can communicate. They are explicitly a work in progress, developed in the open through pull requests and issues, with broader design discussion increasingly happening on the Delving Bitcoin forum.

The repository is a useful primary source for two things: what Lightning actually is at the protocol level, and how quickly it is moving. Recent merged work includes channel splicing and zero-fee commitments using v3 transactions, which shows the spec is actively evolving rather than frozen.

For a non-specialist, the value here is seeing that Lightning is a living, multi-implementation standard rather than a single company's product.