pay_invoice

SERVERLightning Wallet SOURCElightning-wallet-mcp

Critical RISK CLASS

Category Financial

Parameters 00 required

Recommended Approval-gatedsee the rule below

Registry record Grade F, identity unverified Pull the record →

This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-lightningfaucet-lightning-wallet-mcp/pay-invoice.md

WHAT IT DOES

What pay_invoice does on Lightning Wallet

AI agents use pay_invoice to commit financial operations through Lightning Wallet, usually the final step of a payment, billing, or trading workflow. A call moves real money.

RISK

Why pay_invoice is rated Critical

Directly transfers Bitcoin via Lightning Network, causing irreversible financial transfers and obligations.

From the tool's definition Pay a BOLT11 Lightning invoice, payment, operator key, agent wallet.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

RECOMMENDED RULE

The rule that runs pay_invoice safely

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Lightning Wallet, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For pay_invoice, this is the rule to start with:

pay_invoice Approval-gated

Any call to pay_invoice is blocked until a human approves it. The rest of the server keeps working.

View as policy code

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "pay_invoice": {
      "deny_if": [
        {
          "conditions": [],
          "on_deny": "Requires human approval."
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

GATE THIS TOOL → Instant setup, no code required.

The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Lightning Wallet, apply this rule, and every pay_invoice call is checked against it from then on.

FAQ

Questions about pay_invoice

What does the pay_invoice tool do? +

Pay a BOLT11 Lightning invoice. Returns the preimage as proof of payment. Works with an operator key (pays from the operator wallet; a default agent is provisioned automatically) or an agent key. If the response says pending:true the payment is still in flight: do NOT retry, check get_transactions instead. It is categorised as a Financial tool in the Lightning Wallet MCP Server, which means it involves financial transactions. Block by default and require explicit approval.

How do I enforce a policy on pay_invoice? +

Register the Lightning Wallet MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for pay_invoice: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Lightning Wallet. Nothing to install.

What risk level is pay_invoice? +

pay_invoice is a Financial tool with critical risk. Critical-risk tools should be blocked by default and only enabled with explicit human approval.

Can I rate-limit pay_invoice? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the pay_invoice rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.

How do I block pay_invoice completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for pay_invoice. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.

What MCP server provides pay_invoice? +

pay_invoice is provided by the Lightning Wallet MCP server (lightning-wallet-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

KEEP EXPLORING

More on Lightning Wallet, and thousands of servers like it.

This server

All 59 Lightning Wallet tools → Critical-risk tools on this server →

Across the catalogue

pay_invoice on Bitcoin MCP Server →pay_domain on 262 →pay_x402 on 8004swap →invoice_issued_cash_payment on AbraFlexi → All critical-risk MCP tools → The MCP Attack Database →

Guides

Govern MCP payment tools →Human-in-the-loop →Tool call approval →