This point release addresses a [small incompatibility][#7174] in the gossip protocol.

A few minor fixes, and an improvements in the cost function of the routing algortithm.

Changed

• Plugins: pay route algorithm doesn't bias against our own "expensive" channels any more. (#7127)
• pay: Prevent repeating the preapproveinvoice check (#7121)

Fixed

• Plugins: pay would occasionally crash on routing. (#7127)
• Plugins: pay route algorithm fixed and refined to balance fees and capacity far better. (#7127)
• renepay: bugfix situation with htlcmax=htlcmin

We're pleased to announce the 24.02 release of Core Lightning, named by @ErikDeSmedt. For a list of all changes, please see the changelog.

Highlights for Users

• The recover plugin can now detect dataloss and guide you through the recovery process, making emergency recoveries less stressful.
• The logic of the anchor channels has been overhauled and channel fundings and closing should now be more flexible and reliable.
• reckless, our plugin manager, now knows how to create python virtualenvs for each plugin. This allows running multiple plugins with conflicting dependencies. Furthermore it can be told an exact version or commit to install.

Highlights for the Network

• ⚠️ This release includes a patch for libwally which is used for parsing Bitcoin blocks and transaction. It failed parsing a large transaction on testnet. This is now addressed in this release, and we want to encourage everyone to upgrade.
• Dual-funding has been merged into the Lightning Specification! This is a major milestone for more efficient channel management.
• The gossip_store file can now be shared with others, since it no longer contains local unpublished gossip.
• Optimizations in the way we process blocks means that we can sync with the blockchain 50% faster than before

Highlights for Developers

• CLN now has a --no-reconnect-private, which tells lightningd not to reconnect private peers. This is useful for service-providers and LSPs if the majority of peers is flaky.
• The newest version of the splicing proposal was implemented. Though experimental we encourage anyone to try it out, as it informs the specification process as well.

Since 24.02, we've had 418 commits by 36 authors in 91 days!

A special thanks to the 13 first time contributors, a new record for us:

• @vacwmX
• @evansmj
• @saisuraj27
• @yaslama
• @Vayras
• @ssantos21
• @singlebeam
• @shuoer86
• @royalpinto007
• @ok300
• @Harshit933
• @gkrizek
• @bitcoin-lightning

~ @cdecker, @nepet, @ShahanaFarooqui, @endothermicdev, @niftynei and @rustyrussell

Release candidate 2 for v24.02

This hotfix release re-introduces a temporary shim that includes the final CLTV delta in the invoice even if the default of 18 is used. This is necessary since the default changed, and for backwards compatibility we were always specifying it. We removed it expecting that all modern implementations had switched to 18 blocks by default, but some did not, and caused payments to fail if the sender still had a default of 9 configured.

Fixed

• Default bolt11 invoices are payable by LND nodes.

This hotfix release addresses an issue where an unexpected message could be delivered to a subdaemon, causing it to abort.

• build: 32-bit status_debug fix (#6890)
• channeld: We could crash closingd by sending it a channeld message (#6937)

We're pleased to announce the 23.11 release of Core Lightning, named by @ShahanaFarooqui. For a list of all changes, please see the changelog.

Highlights for Users

• The check command just got more powerful. Instead of only checking the parameters of a command, it will do all checks up to the point where something in the system would need to be altered now.
• Control all the runes! Runes got an additional restriction field per for even more powerful access control. This also comes with a new field last_used for the showrunes command.
• Users can now verify the validity of their existing emergency backups using the decode command.
• When the new config option invoices-onchain-fallback is set, Core-Lightning automatically adds a taproot fallback address to all invoices produced by invoice. This allows for onchain payments as a fallback mechanism.

Highlights for the Network

• Wumbology for all! The configuration option large-channels is now set by default.
• The dual-funding process stores the state when sending commitment_signed now. This allows to continue the funding process after a temporary connection loss.
• A new flag --commit-fee-offset allows to set an offset that can potentially reduce disagreements on feerate updates.
• Plugins can now allow even unknown messages by registration and also are allowed sending them.
• Some stability improvements and bugfixes regarding splices.
• A whole lot of cleanups to stay on track with small specification changes. This adds additional stability and reduces disconnects.

Highlights for Developers

• Wait a second: The wait and pagination api got extended, one can now also wait for listsendpays and listforwards.
• A new recover command can now be used to recover an unused node from a hsmsecret just as the --recover flag would do. This currently only works for sqlite3 backends.
• Ever wondered how much space a plugin occupies in your database? The new datastoreusage command will tell you.
• The rust bindings got some more coverage.
• Core-Lightning can no longer be build with --developer-enabled. To enable developer features use ./configure --enable-debugbuild and set the config option --developer instead.

Since 23.08, we've had 499 commits by 29 authors in 97 days!

A special thanks to the 5 first time contributors:

• Mariusz Kogen
• dergoegge
• Tony Giorgio
• maxwedwards
• hMsats

~ @nepet, @ShahanaFarooqui, @endothermicdev, @cdecker, @niftynei and @rustyrussell

Release candidate for v23.11

Release candidate for 23.11