Protocols
payment channel
A payment channel locks a deposit and lets the parties update how much is owed by exchanging signatures, then settle onchain only when they need to. MPP sessions on Tempo are unidirectional channels: the client deposits, signs cumulative vouchers, and the server settles the increase. Lightning channels are a different design, used for L402 invoices.
Explanation
In an MPP Tempo session the client deposits into the TIP-1034 escrow and receives a channel id. Each voucher means the client has consumed up to a cumulative total, not a new separate payment. The server can check the signature without an RPC call. Settlement submits the latest voucher and pays the difference since the last settlement. Closing the channel refunds what remains. A voucher that is never settled is not yet a payment this index can see.
Lightning channels sit under L402 in a different way. The client pays a BOLT 11 invoice, and the preimage is the receipt. Those updates are not Tempo escrow logs, and they are not USDC transfers from an x402 facilitator. The word channel covers both patterns. The accounting does not. Agent GDP adds MPP volume only from positive deltaPaid on Tempo Settled events.
Live data
Related terms
Sources
- Sessions: low-cost high-throughput payments — MPP
- L402 protocol specification — Lightning Labs
- BOLT 11: Invoice Protocol for Lightning Payments — Lightning Network
- Agent GDP methodology — Agent GDP