Precise Time L402 API

High-precision time plus Bitcoin block height and timestamp.

10 sats per call, paid over the Lightning Network. No API key and no signup: the first request answers 402 Payment Required with a Lightning invoice, and repeating the request with the proof of payment returns your data.

l402_time 10 sats

No parameters.

Call it with curl

The first call answers 402 with a Lightning invoice in the WWW-Authenticate header. Pay it from any Lightning wallet, then repeat the call with the L402 token and preimage.

cURL

curl -X POST https://lightningfaucet.com/api/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: L402 $MACAROON:$PREIMAGE" \
  -d '{"action":"l402_time"}'

What comes back

A successful call returns JSON, with the delivered content merged over the standard L402 receipt fields. Example values, not live data.

JSON

{
    "success": true,
    "http_code": 200,
    "service": "time",
    "timestamp": "2026-09-11T15:04:05+00:00",
    "paid_sats": 10,
    "unix_timestamp": 1789139045.481922,
    "iso8601": "2026-09-11T15:04:05+00:00",
    "precision_us": "1789139045.481922",
    "block_height": 918442,
    "block_timestamp": 1789138188,
    "block_time_iso": "2026-09-11T14:49:48+00:00"
}

Call it from an AI agent

With lightning-wallet-mcp the payment is handled for you. From the CLI:

Terminal

lw pay-api "https://lightningfaucet.com/api/l402/time"

In Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP host, ask the agent to call pay_l402_api with that URL. The fee is 1% of the price, rounded down, so calls under 100 sats carry no platform fee.

Questions

How much does the Precise Time API cost?
Each call costs 10 sats, paid as a Lightning invoice at request time. There is no subscription, no minimum and no monthly bill: you are charged for the calls you make.

Do I need an API key or an account?
No. Payment is the authentication. The first request answers 402 Payment Required with a Lightning invoice; settling it returns a preimage that authenticates the retry.

What does Precise Time return?
A JSON object carrying unix_timestamp, iso8601, precision_us, block_height, block_timestamp and block_time_iso. See the example response above for the exact shape.

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All Utility APIs endpoints · How L402 authentication works · List your own API on the gateway