Developer Environment

This guide is for contributors or anyone who wants a local regtest network with litd and ThunderHub for development and testing.

This builds ThunderHub from source. Clone the ThunderHub repository first. For normal usage, use the Connect to Existing litd or litd with Existing LND guides instead.

Services

Service	Port(s)	Description
`bitcoind`	18443	Bitcoin Core in regtest mode
`litd-alice`	8443, 10009, 9735	Alice’s litd node (public universe)
`litd-bob`	8444, 10010, 9736	Bob’s litd node
`thunderhub-alice`	3000	ThunderHub for Alice
`thunderhub-bob`	3001	ThunderHub for Bob

Alice is configured with --taproot-assets.universe.public-access=rw for asset universe syncing.

Clone and Start


git clone https://github.com/apotdevin/thunderhub.git
cd thunderhub/docker/litd
docker compose up --build

Wait for both litd nodes to finish initializing (1-2 minutes on first run).

Access the Interfaces

Interface	URL	Password
ThunderHub Alice	http://localhost:3000	`thunderhub`
ThunderHub Bob	http://localhost:3001	`thunderhub`
litd Alice	https://localhost:8443	`testpassword123!`
litd Bob	https://localhost:8444	`testpassword123!`

The litd UI uses a self-signed certificate. Your browser will show a security warning — proceed past it for local development.

Fund Wallets


# Fund Alice
docker compose exec bitcoind bitcoin-cli \
  -regtest -rpcuser=rpcuser -rpcpassword=rpcpassword \
  generatetoaddress 6 \
  $(docker compose exec litd-alice lncli --network=regtest newaddress p2wkh | jq -r '.address')
 
# Fund Bob
docker compose exec bitcoind bitcoin-cli \
  -regtest -rpcuser=rpcuser -rpcpassword=rpcpassword \
  generatetoaddress 6 \
  $(docker compose exec litd-bob lncli --network=regtest newaddress p2wkh | jq -r '.address')

Connect Peers and Open a Channel


# Get Bob's public key
BOB_PUBKEY=$(docker compose exec litd-bob lncli --network=regtest getinfo | jq -r '.identity_pubkey')
 
# Connect Alice to Bob
docker compose exec litd-alice lncli --network=regtest connect ${BOB_PUBKEY}@litd-bob:9735
 
# Open a 1M sat channel
docker compose exec litd-alice lncli --network=regtest openchannel \
  --node_key=${BOB_PUBKEY} \
  --local_amt=1000000
 
# Confirm the channel
docker compose exec bitcoind bitcoin-cli \
  -regtest -rpcuser=rpcuser -rpcpassword=rpcpassword \
  generatetoaddress 6 \
  $(docker compose exec litd-alice lncli --network=regtest newaddress p2wkh | jq -r '.address')

Cleanup


# Stop containers (data preserved)
docker compose down
 
# Stop containers and delete all data
docker compose down
rm -rf data/

Troubleshooting

litd nodes are slow to start

litd runs multiple sub-daemons. First startup can take 2-3 minutes while wallets are created.
Monitor progress with docker compose logs -f litd-alice.

Browser certificate warning on litd UI

litd uses a self-signed TLS certificate. Click through the browser warning for local development.
In production, place litd behind a reverse proxy with a valid certificate.