LND Cannot Send Payment — Debugging No Route Found Error

'no route found' is the most common LND payment error. Here's how to diagnose the actual cause.

Step 1: Check if destination is reachable

lncli queryroutes --dest DESTINATION_PUBKEY --amt AMOUNT_SATS
# If this fails: your graph doesn't know a path to them

Step 2: Check graph freshness

lncli getnetworkinfo
# Look at: num_nodes, num_channels, avg_out_degree
# Compare to last week — big drops = graph stale

Step 3: Check your outbound liquidity

lncli listchannels | python3 -c "
import json,sys
cs=json.load(sys.stdin)['channels']
total_local=sum(int(c['local_balance']) for c in cs)
print(f'Total outbound capacity: {total_local} sats')
low=[c for c in cs if int(c['local_balance'])<10000]
print(f'Channels with <10k local: {len(low)}')
"

Step 4: Probe the specific path

lncli buildroute --amt AMOUNT --hops PEER1_PUBKEY,DEST_PUBKEY
# If fails: no direct path. Try with more intermediate hops.

Most common causes

1. Stale graph (fix: restart LND or wait for gossip)
2. No outbound liquidity on relevant channels
3. Destination node offline or no channels
4. Amount too large for available capacity

Full LND audit — $9

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