---
name: "Amboss (Magma)"
slug: amboss
tool-type: service
category: liquidity
two-sided: "consume + offer"
maintainer: "Amboss Technologies"
repo: https://github.com/AmbossTech/magma-mcp
docs: https://docs.amboss.tech/developer
site: https://magma.amboss.tech
payment: "lightning / on-chain — pay the channel-lease HODL invoice in sats"
kyc: "none"
status: "published"
---

# Amboss (Magma)

> A Lightning channel-liquidity marketplace — buy inbound capacity from a public market with one API call (or an MIT MCP server), no account needed.

## What it is

Amboss is a Lightning Network infrastructure company; its agent-relevant product is **Magma**, a marketplace for **channel liquidity**. A node that needs *inbound* liquidity — the capacity to **receive** payments — buys a channel from a seller who locks up bitcoin to open it and earns yield for the lease term. Magma never takes custody: it escrows the deal with a HODL invoice, so the seller is paid only if it actually opens the channel. For an autonomous agent that earns over Lightning, this is the deployed answer to the inbound-liquidity problem — paid-for capacity to receive, on demand, without running a liquidity desk.

Two things make it agent-drivable: a **public GraphQL API** (no account needed to buy) and an **MIT-licensed MCP server** (`@ambosstech/magma-mcp`) that exposes the whole purchase as a single `buy_lightning_liquidity` tool. Magma is one product in a broader Amboss stack: **Magma AI** (a recommender that suggests which peers and sizes to buy — a recommender, not a hands-off rebalancer; its placement model was published as *MPFlow*, [arXiv 2607.08703](https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.08703), a graph-RL policy the paper reports running across ~$16M of channel opens over 30 managed nodes), [Rails](/services/rails) (self-custodial liquidity-provider yield — the sell side), [Reflex](/tools/reflex) (API automation for a node you run), [Amboss Payments](/services/amboss-payments) (multi-asset BTC/USDT/USDC send-receive-settle over an LND node), [RailsX](/exchanges/railsx) (a Lightning-native P2P DEX for BTC↔stablecoin swaps), and a Lightning explorer/analytics suite.

## When to use it

- Giving an agent inbound liquidity so it can **receive** Lightning payments without hand-picking channel partners.
- Buying a channel programmatically — sized in dollars, paid in sats — from inside an agent's own workflow.
- Earning yield on idle bitcoin by **selling** liquidity (the sell side, via Magma sellers or [Rails](/services/rails)).

It buys *new* inbound capacity from a third party — distinct from [Loop](/tools/loop), which moves an agent's *own* balance between Lightning and L1. Once you have capacity, [Reflex](/tools/reflex) is the software that automates ongoing routing and liquidity management.

## Dependencies

Your own Lightning node — **LND, Core Lightning, or Eclair** — reachable at its connection URI (`pubkey@host:port`, from `getinfo`), plus funds to pay the lease invoice. The buy path is a **public** GraphQL mutation (`liquidity.buy` at `magma.amboss.tech/graphql`): no Amboss account and no API key are required — anonymous buyers receive a `session_key` to track the order. An optional `MAGMA_API_KEY` (from an Amboss account) adds persistent history. Amboss's other GraphQL APIs (Space/Reflex analytics, Rails) are key-gated, and Amboss does not permit commercial use of its **free** APIs — confirm terms for production use.

## Quick start

Estimate with the public `liquidity_per_usd` query, then call the public `liquidity.buy` mutation with your node's `connection_uri` and `usd_cents` (minimum 500 = $5); pay the returned HODL invoice from your node and poll `get_order` until `VALID_CHANNEL_OPENING`. Or skip the GraphQL plumbing and run the MIT MCP server — `npm install -g @ambosstech/magma-mcp` — which wraps the flow as one `buy_lightning_liquidity` tool (it runs over **stdio** as a local subprocess; it is **not** a hosted endpoint). Docs at `docs.amboss.tech/developer`; marketplace at `magma.amboss.tech`.

## Gotchas

- **You still need a node.** Magma opens a channel *to* your node — it presupposes an LND/CLN/Eclair node and funds; it is not a custodial "receive without infrastructure" path. To skip channel management entirely, the L3 ecash route ([Cashu](/tools/cashu)) is the lighter alternative.
- **Magma AI is a recommender, not an autopilot.** It suggests peers and sizing; it does not continuously rebalance the node for you.
- **The lease is time-bounded.** A bought channel is leased for a term — plan for renewal or replacement rather than treating inbound liquidity as permanent.
- **Free-API commercial limit.** The public buy path is fine, but Amboss's free analytics APIs are not licensed for commercial use — clear production terms with Amboss.
- **A marketplace is not a guarantee.** Sellers and pricing vary; Magma runs a reputation system, but verify before relying on any single counterparty.
## For agents — connect

Reach this programmatically. Reference facts, not endorsements — verify before you depend on them.

- Automatability: `api-no-account`
- Pay with: lightning, onchain
- Auth: none on the buy path — liquidity.buy is a public GraphQL mutation; anonymous buyers get a session_key to track the order. Optional MAGMA_API_KEY (Amboss account) adds persistent history.
- First call: Estimate with the public liquidity_per_usd query, then call the public liquidity.buy mutation (magma.amboss.tech/graphql) with your node's connection_uri (pubkey@host:port) and usd_cents (min 500); pay the returned HODL invoice from your LND/CLN/Eclair node; poll get_order to VALID_CHANNEL_OPENING. Or run the MIT magma-mcp server (npm @ambosstech/magma-mcp) — one buy_lightning_liquidity tool over stdio.
- Connect to act (the provider's own MCP): stdio service MCP · npx -y @ambosstech/magma-mcp (buy_lightning_liquidity)
- In the marketplace directory: call `get_service` with slug `amboss` at https://marketplace.bitcoineconomy.ai/mcp, or fetch https://marketplace.bitcoineconomy.ai/entries/amboss.md
- This card as data: /services/amboss.md