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lesson // lightning

Contribution Discovery

Find beginner-friendly issues across LND, CLN, and LDK repositories.

intermediate5 days

Public lesson — sign in to track progress on this roadmap.

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On this page

Learning objectives

  • Map Lightning implementation repos and adjacent tools
  • Select an issue matching your language skills
  • Engage maintainers with a clear plan

study // plan

Lessons are primers. Start with Step 1 (required reading) when present, then follow the numbered steps in the article. Depth comes from primary sources, labs, reflection, and evidence.

Research on Bitcoin Search
Lightning contributiongood first issue LightningLND CLN LDK

Step 1 // Required reading

Complete these before the numbered steps in the lesson body. Links are listed here once — not repeated below.

  • docslightningnetwork/lnd
  • docsElementsProject/lightning

Reflection prompts

  1. Explain Contribution Discovery to a teammate without jargon - what problem does it solve?
  2. What would break in production if you misunderstood Contribution Discovery?
  3. Which BOLT (or implementation doc) is the source of truth for this topic, and what did you verify there?

Lab // Issue shortlist + plan

Complete Steps 2–3. Shortlist 2–3 Lightning issues (Review Club, /discover, or labeled GFI), pick one matching your stack, and write a short approach before coding.

evidence required

  • ·Issue URL(s) with one selected as primary
  • ·Written approach (problem, files likely touched, how you will test)
  • ·Draft self-score against the meaningful-PR rubric
  1. 01

    Worked mental model

    Re-read the diagrams in this lesson once out loud in plain language. If you cannot explain the flow to a friend without jargon, pause and revisit the Mastering Bitcoin / Mastering Lightning chapters linked in Resources. Chapter references are intentional, not decorative.

  2. 02

    Hands-on habit

    Every protocol idea should be paired with one local experiment. That habit turns reading into builder instinct.

    1. Reproduce the happy path on regtest (or Polar for Lightning)
    2. Break it on purpose (wrong fee, expired invoice, offline peer)
    3. Write down what error you saw and which layer produced it (wallet, node, mempool, peer)
  3. 03

    Glossary check

    Pick three terms from this lesson and define them in one sentence each without opening notes. Weak definitions mean the lesson is not finished yet.

  4. 04

    Resource order

    Use Resources in order: narrative book chapter first, then BIP/BOLT for precision, then implementation docs for commands. Jumping straight to RPC flags without the mental model creates brittle knowledge.

Lightning OSS spans Go, C, Rust, and many app repos. Pick a lane that matches your stack.

Complete Step 1 // Required reading in the study plan above, then continue here. This opens Contribution.

Step 2 — Context: map repos to skills

Pull curates Lightning repositories and GFIs on Contribution Discovery and Issue recommendations — start there before manually searching GitHub.

StackTypical homes
GoLND and tools
CCore Lightning
RustLDK and related crates
TS / appsWallets, POS, explorers

Loading diagram…

Match language skills to repos, then scope an issue.

Docs & examples

Improving docs or sample apps is a high-leverage first PR.

Done when: You can name one repo that fits your language and why.

Step 3 — Practice: shortlist and plan (lab)

Pick 2–3 candidate issues. Select one. Write problem, likely files, Polar/regtest or unit test plan.

Checklist

  • Issue matches a skill you practiced on this roadmap
  • Scope is one problem, not a drive-by refactor
  • You know how you will prove it works

Done when: Lab evidence (URLs + approach + draft self-score) is complete.

Next lesson

Code Review Practice — review peer PRs before you ship your own.

further reading

  • docslightningdevkit

review // club

Review club

Practice on real Lightning OSS changes tied to this chapter. Read the diff, use the checklist, and optionally paste your review comment URL in your lab notes.

  • LND good first issue

    Shortlist two GFIs and write a one-paragraph approach for the better fit.

    gfi
    scopetests
    25 min·intermediateopen on GitHub
review checklist
  1. Does the change solve the stated problem?
  2. Are edge cases and rollout behavior covered?
  3. Are tests or test vectors included?
  4. Is the diff minimal and clearly explained?

More repos and GFIs on /discover and /issues.

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discussion

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