Rank 3unstatedL402

Alby MCP Server

Connect a Lightning wallet to any MCP client over Nostr Wallet Connect

Rank: 3 of 14
Composite score: 8.3 / 10
Schemes: L402
Role: Pays 402 challenges; Charges with 402
Kind: mcp-server
Maturity: unstated
Protocol / rail: Bitcoin / Lightning (NWC, L402)
Assets: BTC
Networks: lightning
Custody model: Self-custodial with Alby Hub (custody follows the connected NWC wallet)
Node management: Not required
MCP native: Yes
License: MIT
Last verified: 2026-10-15

Overview

Alby's official MCP server connects a bitcoin Lightning wallet to an LLM over Nostr Wallet Connect. It runs over stdio with `npx -y @getalby/mcp` and an NWC connection string, or as a hosted remote endpoint, and gives agents tools to create and pay invoices, check balances, parse BOLT 11 invoices and access L402-protected resources. Custody follows the wallet you connect — self-custodial with Alby Hub — and NWC permissions scope what the agent may do. For L402, the wallet must return the payment preimage.

Key advantages

Official MCP server, over stdio or as a hosted remote endpoint
Creates and pays invoices, parses BOLT 11, and accesses L402-protected resources
Scoped Nostr Wallet Connect permissions limit what the agent can do
Works with Claude, Goose, Cline, n8n and other MCP clients

Trade-offs

L402 needs a wallet that returns the payment preimage — not every NWC wallet does
Custody follows the connected wallet; a custodial NWC wallet is custodial
Lightning bitcoin only

Evaluation matrix

Custody & Sovereignty8.0
Self-custodial with exit guarantees vs. centralized/custodial risk. A 10 means the holder keeps their own keys and can unilaterally exit to the base chain; a custodial platform scores around 4.
Operational Friction7.5
Infrastructure burden. Zero nodes, channels or liquidity to manage scores a 10; running and maintaining your own Lightning node scores around 4–5.
Agent Native Support9.5
Out-of-the-box MCP server integration, typed tool calls and LLM-friendly setup. A first-party MCP server scores 9–10; a library or CLI an agent can drive scores 6–8.
Payment Rails & Assets7.0
Breadth of settlement rails and assets: Lightning for true micropayments, stablecoins for a stable unit of account, cards for mainstream reach. A single asset on a single network scores around 7.
Settlement Speed & Fees9.5
Instant sub-second settlement with near-zero overhead scores a 10. Block-bound settlement scores around 8; card-network settlement and fees score lower.
Developer DX8.5
SDK quality, documentation, maintenance and copy-paste integration speed. Alpha-stage API churn, stale releases or inconsistent docs lower the score.

Why these scores. Custody 8: self-custodial with Alby Hub, but it depends on the wallet. Friction 7.5: needs a funded NWC wallet with Lightning liquidity. Agent 9.5: official MCP server, local and remote. Rails 7: Lightning. Settlement 9.5: Lightning. DX 8.5: one npx command.

Integration

Claude Desktop configuration

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

Hosted remote endpoint

https://mcp.getalby.com/mcp?nwc=ENCODED_NWC_URL

Best for

Giving an existing MCP client a Lightning wallet, with permissions scoped by the wallet connection.

Sources

Every claim on this page was checked against these sources on 2026-10-15. Maturity “unstated” means: the vendor does not state a maturity level.

Machine-readable

fetch this entry as JSON

curl "https://402mcp.org/api/v1/solutions?id=alby-mcp&view=full"

or as Markdown

curl -H 'Accept: text/markdown' https://402mcp.org/solutions/alby-mcp