---
name: "Amboss Rails"
slug: rails
tool-type: service
category: liquidity
two-sided: "offer"
maintainer: "Amboss Technologies"
docs: https://docs.amboss.tech/developer
site: https://amboss.tech
payment: "no fee to use; you earn yield from routing fees on bitcoin you provide as liquidity"
status: "published"
---

# Amboss Rails

> A self-custodial Lightning liquidity-provision service — put idle bitcoin to work as routing liquidity and earn yield, driven by a GraphQL API.

## What it is

Amboss Rails is the **provide-side** of the Lightning liquidity market: it puts idle bitcoin to work as **routing liquidity** and earns yield from the payment flow that crosses it. Where [Magma](/services/amboss) is where a node **buys** inbound capacity, Rails is where a node **offers** capacity and gets paid for it — automated through a **GraphQL API** rather than hand-managed channels. It is **self-custodial**: the bitcoin stays under your own keys, deployed as liquidity, not handed to Amboss.

It is the yield engine in the Amboss + Voltage payments stack — the layer that attracts and optimizes the capital that makes fast, low-cost Lightning payments possible.

## When to use it

- A treasury or agent holds idle bitcoin and wants **yield from routing** without giving up custody.
- You want the **sell side** of the liquidity market programmatically — provide capacity, earn fees — rather than picking channels by hand.
- You're running Lightning payment infrastructure and want liquidity managed dynamically against demand.

## Dependencies & payment

A node / self-custodied bitcoin to deploy as liquidity, plus an **Amboss account and API key**. The API is a GraphQL endpoint at `rails.amboss.tech/graphql`, authenticated with a bearer token. There is no fee to consume on the buyer side; as a provider you **earn yield from routing fees** on the liquidity you supply. As with Amboss's other APIs, **commercial use of the free tier is not permitted** — confirm terms for production.

## Quick start

Create an API key in your Amboss account, then POST GraphQL to `rails.amboss.tech/graphql` with `Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>` to configure and run liquidity provision; yield accrues from the routing fees on the capacity you supply. Exact mutations are documented at `docs.amboss.tech/developer`.

## Gotchas

- **Yield is variable.** Routing income depends on payment demand across your liquidity — it is not a fixed rate.
- **Self-custodial means you run the infrastructure.** Your bitcoin stays yours, but so does the operational responsibility for the node providing it.
- **Free-API commercial limit.** Amboss does not license free-API access for commercial use — clear production terms with Amboss.
## For agents — connect

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

- Automatability: `api-account`
- Pay with: lightning
- Auth: API key from an Amboss account, sent as a bearer token to rails.amboss.tech/graphql
- API base: `https://rails.amboss.tech/graphql`
- First call: Create an API key in your Amboss account; POST GraphQL to rails.amboss.tech/graphql with Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY> to configure and run liquidity provision; yield accrues from routing fees on the capacity you supply. Exact mutations: docs.amboss.tech/developer.
- In the marketplace directory: call `get_service` with slug `rails` at https://marketplace.bitcoineconomy.ai/mcp, or fetch https://marketplace.bitcoineconomy.ai/entries/rails.md
- This card as data: /services/rails.md