[feature]: Expose negotiated confirmation count for pending 'channel open' transactions

[myxmaster]

(As far as I know:) Currently, LND automatically negotiates with remote node the required number of confirmations for a channel to transition from "pending" to "open" status. However, this information is not accessible via the API.

I think it would be useful, because wallets can then display more accurate confirmation progress.

[saubyk]

Hi @myxmaster isn't this something you can track on your own at the wallet level?

LND marks the channel as 'active' after 3 confirmations (there is no negotiation on this). An active channel is ready to send/receive payments.

Do keep in mind that a channel is announced (broadcast to other nodes) only after 6 confirmations. Channel announcement is relevant to routing nodes, which I am assuming is not the use case you're worried about.

[myxmaster]

Hi @saubyk ah ok, so it is always 3 confirmations, no matter what? (I couldn't find details about this.)
-> Then yes, no need to ask LND backend about the required number of confirmations of course.

Do keep in mind that a channel is announced (broadcast to other nodes) only after 6 confirmations. Channel announcement is relevant to routing nodes, which I am assuming is not the use case you're worried about.

Yes, I just wanted to display more accurate information to the user, so it is more clear when the channel will go from "Pending" to "Active". But good to know that for channel announcement 6 confirmations are required. I guess for that case it makes sense to display the number of confirmations until 6 are reached... I'll think about it.

Thank you!

[kaloudis]

Doesn't this vary by node config? See https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/blob/master/sample-lnd.conf#L652

[ziggie1984]

This is a good beginner issue laying out the way here if some new contributer whats to tackle this one:

1. Introduce a new RPC field to PendingChannelsResponse_PendingOpenChannel something like confirmation_until_confirmed

2. Use the shortchannel id to find out the confirmation height => then calculate the number of blocks still required to confirm via the current height, the confirmation height and the NumConfsRequired in the OpenChannel struct
   => relevant function to change func (r *rpcServer) fetchPendingOpenChannels() (pendingOpenChannels, error) {

That should be it.

Let me know if you need help!