Workflow

This walkthrough runs an asset between two litd nodes end-to-end. It uses tapcli so you can verify the mechanics on the command line; once everything lines up, the same operations are reachable from the ThunderHub UI for any litd node you've connected.

The commands below assume the developer environment is running — litd-alice (public universe) and litd-bob exposed via Docker Compose.

1. Mint an asset

# Mint 1000 units of "Thunderbux" on Alice
docker compose exec litd-alice tapcli \
  --tlscertpath=/root/.lit/tls.cert \
  --macaroonpath=/root/.lit/regtest/super.macaroon \
  --rpcserver=localhost:8443 \
  assets mint \
    --type normal \
    --name Thunderbux \
    --supply 1000 \
    --new_grouped_asset

Then finalize the mint batch:

docker compose exec litd-alice tapcli \
  --tlscertpath=/root/.lit/tls.cert \
  --macaroonpath=/root/.lit/regtest/super.macaroon \
  --rpcserver=localhost:8443 \
  assets mint finalize

Confirm the mint transaction by mining 6 blocks to one of Alice's addresses:

docker compose exec bitcoind bitcoin-cli \
  -regtest -rpcuser=rpcuser -rpcpassword=rpcpassword \
  generatetoaddress 6 \
  $(docker compose exec litd-alice lncli --network=regtest newaddress p2wkh | jq -r '.address')

In ThunderHub (Alice on http://localhost:3000), the new asset shows up under Taproot Assets with the minted supply.

2. Federate universes

For Bob to receive Thunderbux from Alice, Bob's tapd needs to know about Alice's universe. Federate in both directions so both nodes can issue and receive asset invoices for each other.

# Add Alice's universe to Bob
docker compose exec litd-bob tapcli \
  --tlscertpath=/root/.lit/tls.cert \
  --macaroonpath=/root/.lit/regtest/super.macaroon \
  --rpcserver=localhost:8443 \
  universe federation add \
    --universe_host=litd-alice:8443

# Add Bob's universe to Alice
docker compose exec litd-alice tapcli \
  --tlscertpath=/root/.lit/tls.cert \
  --macaroonpath=/root/.lit/regtest/super.macaroon \
  --rpcserver=localhost:8443 \
  universe federation add \
    --universe_host=litd-bob:8443

Both ThunderHub UIs now show each other's assets in the universe listing.

3. Asset channels

To pay asset invoices over Lightning, you need a Lightning channel between the two nodes that's been "tap-aware". The developer environment walks through opening a vanilla 1M-sat channel between Alice and Bob; tapd then layers asset channel state on top of that channel.

In ThunderHub, the Channels view shows asset balances inside each channel (active + pending), and Magma trade orders auto-open private asset channels with the counterparty when an order is accepted — see Magma trading.

4. Doing it from the UI

Everything above is doable from the ThunderHub UI once a litd account is connected:

• Mint — Taproot Assets → Mint button. Fill in name, supply, decimals, type (normal or collectible), and whether to start a new asset group.
• Send / Receive — Asset detail view → Send / Receive. Receive generates a TA address; Send takes a peer's address and a quantity.
• Federate — Universe view → Add Federation, paste the peer's host:port.
• Invoices — Asset detail view → Create Invoice. Goes through the RFQ flow to set the asset-to-BTC rate.

The UI calls the same tapd GraphQL resolvers (src/server/modules/api/tapd/) that wrap the tapcli operations above.

Cleanup

Same as the developer environment cleanup:

docker compose down
rm -rf data/        # only if you want to wipe minted assets