LND Keysend Payment -- Push Sats Without Invoice

What is Keysend?

Keysend (spontaneous payment) lets you push sats to any Lightning node without requesting an invoice first. The recipient does not need to take any action.

Requirements

Both sender and receiver must have keysend enabled in lnd.conf:

[Application Options]
accept-keysend=true

Send a Keysend Payment

lncli sendpayment \
  --dest <node_pubkey> \
  --amt <satoshis> \
  --keysend

Example

lncli sendpayment \
  --dest 02abc123... \
  --amt 1000 \
  --keysend \
  --timeout_seconds 30

Common Errors

- "unknown payment details" — receiver has keysend disabled

- "no route" — no path to destination, try adding --fee_limit_sat

- Payment stuck — use lncli trackpayment <payment_hash> to check status

Use Cases

Keysend is ideal for streaming payments, tipping, agent-to-agent micropayments, and any scenario where requesting an invoice first adds unwanted friction.