Rank 13productionL402MPP

Aperture

The reference L402 reverse proxy — now also speaking MPP

production: Used in production by Lightning Loop. Its MPP support is a draft and off by default.

Rank: 13 of 14
Composite score: 7.1 / 10
Schemes: L402, MPP
Role: Charges with 402
Kind: gateway
Maturity: production
Protocol / rail: Bitcoin / Lightning (L402, MPP)
Assets: BTC
Networks: lightning
Custody model: Self-custodial (your own lnd node)
Node management: Required
MCP native: No
License: MIT
Last verified: 2026-10-15

Overview

Aperture is Lightning Labs' HTTP 402 reverse proxy and the reference implementation of L402: it sits in front of HTTP and gRPC backends, issues macaroons with Lightning invoices, and forwards requests once a valid token and preimage are presented. It also implements the MPP 'Payment' scheme for charge and session intents, off by default behind a flag. It is used in production by Lightning Loop. The cost is operational: you run your own lnd node, provide TLS and a database, and build from source with Go — full self-custody in exchange for the most infrastructure of any entry.

Key advantages

The reference L402 implementation, used in production by Lightning Loop
Gates any HTTP or gRPC backend without changing it
Optional MPP support (charge and session intents) via --authenticator.enablempp
Prepaid usage bundles through a separate price server

Trade-offs

Requires an lnd node you operate, plus TLS and a database
Built from source with Go 1.25+, configured in YAML
Upgrade notes list breaking changes that need care

Evaluation matrix

Custody & Sovereignty9.0
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 Friction4.0
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 Support6.0
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 & Assets7.5
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 DX6.5
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 9: your own lnd node. Friction 4: lnd, TLS, a database and a Go build. Agent 6: no MCP server. Rails 7.5: Lightning, plus MPP. Settlement 9.5: Lightning. DX 6.5: source build, YAML config, breaking upgrades.

Integration

Build and install

git clone https://github.com/lightninglabs/aperture.git
cd aperture
make install

Best for

Operators who already run lnd and want to sell API access over L402 with full self-custody.

Sources

Every claim on this page was checked against these sources on 2026-10-15. Maturity “production” means: the vendor describes it as used or supported in production.

Machine-readable

fetch this entry as JSON

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

or as Markdown

curl -H 'Accept: text/markdown' https://402mcp.org/solutions/lightning-labs-aperture