Wallets & Accounts

Wallets are the primary building block in LNbits. Each wallet has its own balance, Admin key (full access), and Invoice key (receive-only). Create wallets via UI or API.

Wallets are the primary building block in LNbits. Every payment flows through a wallet.

Creating wallets

Via the UI

1. Log in to your LNbits account
2. Click the + button in the left sidebar
3. Enter a name for your wallet
4. The wallet is created with a zero balance and fresh API keys

Via the API

curl -X POST https://your-lnbits.com/api/v1/wallet \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_ADMIN_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "My New Wallet"}'

API keys

Each wallet has two keys:

# Check your wallet info (shows keys)
curl https://your-lnbits.com/api/v1/wallet \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_INVOICE_KEY"

Response:

{
  "id": "wallet-uuid",
  "name": "My Wallet",
  "balance": 50000,
  "adminkey": "admin-key-here",
  "inkey": "invoice-key-here"
}

When to use which key

Scenario	Key
Creating invoices for your website	Invoice key
Automated payouts / withdrawals	Admin key
Checking balance from a dashboard	Invoice key
Managing wallet settings	Admin key
Client-side JavaScript	Invoice key only

Shared wallets

Share a wallet with other users while controlling what they can do.

Inviting a user

curl -X PUT https://your-lnbits.com/api/v1/wallet/share/invite \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_ADMIN_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "user_id": "target-user-id",
    "permissions": ["VIEW_PAYMENTS", "RECEIVE_PAYMENTS"]
  }'

Permission levels

Permission	Can view	Can receive	Can send
VIEW_PAYMENTS	Yes	No	No
RECEIVE_PAYMENTS	Yes	Yes	No
SEND_PAYMENTS	Yes	Yes	Yes

Wallet metadata

Customize your wallets with metadata:

curl -X PUT https://your-lnbits.com/api/v1/wallet \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_ADMIN_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Shop Revenue",
    "currency": "USD"
  }'

Deleting wallets

DANGER

Deleting a wallet is permanent. The balance is lost. Make sure to withdraw all funds first.

curl -X DELETE https://your-lnbits.com/api/v1/wallet \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_ADMIN_KEY"

Best practices

• One wallet per purpose - keep shop revenue separate from personal funds
• Use invoice keys in public-facing applications
• Rotate keys if you suspect they've been compromised (recreate the wallet)
• Monitor balances using the paginated wallet list endpoint
• Use labels to categorize wallets for reporting

Related Pages

• API Keys: Admin key vs Invoice key in detail
• Payments: Send and receive Lightning payments
• Wallets API: API endpoint reference
• Security: Key management and hardening