commands: fix how we parse chan ids args at CLI level #10100

Abdulkbk · 2025-07-21T20:29:56Z

This PR updates how we handle CLI args for channel ID in fwdinghistory, sendpayment, and payinvoice. We were initially using the Int64Slice flag, which doesn't cover all custom/alias scid range. Now, we're using the StringSlice flag and parsing the chanID to uint64 later.

Steps to Test

lncli payinvoice --outgoing_chan_id=17592186044552773633 # out of int64 range

gemini-code-assist

Summary of Changes

Hello @Abdulkbk, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request addresses a limitation in how channel IDs were handled as command-line arguments. Previously, int64 was used, which could not accommodate all possible custom or alias short channel ID (SCID) ranges. I've resolved this by switching the CLI flags to accept string inputs for channel IDs and then robustly parsing these strings into uint64 values, ensuring full compatibility with the expected SCID range.

Highlights

CLI Argument Type Change: I've updated the CLI flag types for channel IDs (outgoing_chan_id in payinvoice/sendpayment and incoming_chan_ids/outgoing_chan_ids in fwdinghistory) from cli.Int64SliceFlag to cli.StringSliceFlag. This allows for a broader range of channel ID values, including those that exceed the int64 maximum.
Robust Channel ID Parsing: The parsing logic for these channel ID flags has been enhanced. Instead of direct type assertion, I'm now explicitly using strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64) to convert the string input to uint64. This includes error handling to catch invalid channel ID formats provided by the user.

Using Gemini Code Assist

The full guide for Gemini Code Assist can be found on our documentation page, here are some quick tips.

Invoking Gemini

You can request assistance from Gemini at any point in your pull request via creating an issue comment (i.e. comment on the pull request page) using either /gemini <command> or @gemini-code-assist <command>. Below is a summary of the supported commands.

Feature	Command	Description
Code Review	`/gemini review`	Performs a code review for the current pull request in its current state.
Pull Request Summary	`/gemini summary`	Provides a summary of the current pull request in its current state.
Comment	@gemini-code-assist	Responds in comments when explicitly tagged, both in issue comments and review comments.
Help	`/gemini help`	Displays a list of available commands.

Customization

To customize Gemini Code Assist for GitHub experience, repository maintainers can create a configuration file and/or provide a custom code review style guide (such as PEP-8 for Python) by creating and adding files to a .gemini/ folder in the base of the repository. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Limitations & Feedback

Gemini Code Assist may make mistakes. Please leave feedback on any instances where its feedback is incorrect or counter productive. You can react with 👍 and 👎 on @gemini-code-assist comments or fill out our survey to provide feedback.

You can also get AI-powered code generation, chat, as well as code reviews directly in the IDE at no cost with the Gemini Code Assist IDE Extension.

Review the Privacy Notices, Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, Terms of Service, and learn how to configure Gemini Code Assist in GitHub here. Gemini can make mistakes, so double check it and use code with caution. ↩

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This PR correctly fixes an issue where uint64 channel IDs could not be passed via the CLI by switching from Int64SliceFlag to StringSliceFlag. The implementation is correct. My review includes suggestions to refactor duplicated code into a helper function for better maintainability, and to adjust the formatting of error messages to be more compact and align with the project's style guide.

gemini-code-assist · 2025-07-21T20:31:56Z

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"outgoing_chan_id: %w",
+					err)


The formatting of this error message can be more compact to better align with the style guide's preference for minimizing lines for error messages.¹

return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+ "outgoing_chan_id: %w", err)

Style Guide References

Footnotes

The style guide recommends minimizing lines for log and error messages, suggesting string concatenation to keep the fmt.Errorf call more compact than multi-line argument lists. (link) ↩

gemini-code-assist · 2025-07-21T20:31:56Z

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

+	outgoingChannelIDs := ctx.StringSlice("outgoing_chan_ids")
 	if len(outgoingChannelIDs) != 0 {
 		req.OutgoingChanIds = make([]uint64, len(outgoingChannelIDs))
 		for i, c := range outgoingChannelIDs {
-			req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = uint64(c)
+			scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"outgoing_chan_ids: %w",
+					err)
+			}
+			req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = scid
 		}
 	}

-	incomingChannelIDs := ctx.Int64Slice("incoming_chan_ids")
+	incomingChannelIDs := ctx.StringSlice("incoming_chan_ids")
 	if len(incomingChannelIDs) != 0 {
 		req.IncomingChanIds = make([]uint64, len(incomingChannelIDs))
 		for i, c := range incomingChannelIDs {
-			req.IncomingChanIds[i] = uint64(c)
+			scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"incoming_chan_ids: %w",
+					err)
+			}
+			req.IncomingChanIds[i] = scid
 		}
 	}


The logic for parsing a string slice of channel IDs into a []uint64 is duplicated here for both outgoing_chan_ids and incoming_chan_ids, and is also present in SendPaymentRequest (lines 524-536).

To improve maintainability and reduce code duplication, consider extracting this logic into a helper function. This function could take the string slice and the flag name (for use in error messages) as arguments.

For example, you could add a helper function like this to cmd/commands/commands.go (or locally in this file if preferred):

func parseChanIDs(idStrings []string, flagName string) ([]uint64, error) { chanIDs := make([]uint64, len(idStrings)) for i, idStr := range idStrings { scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(idStr, 10, 64) if err != nil { return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to decode %s: %w", flagName, err) } chanIDs[i] = scid } return chanIDs, nil }

Then you could simplify this block and the one in SendPaymentRequest significantly.

gemini-code-assist · 2025-07-21T20:31:56Z

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"outgoing_chan_ids: %w",
+					err)


The formatting of this error message can be more compact to better align with the style guide's preference for minimizing lines for error messages.¹

return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+ "outgoing_chan_ids: %w", err)

Style Guide References

Footnotes

The style guide recommends minimizing lines for log and error messages, suggesting string concatenation to keep the fmt.Errorf call more compact than multi-line argument lists. (link) ↩

gemini-code-assist · 2025-07-21T20:31:57Z

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"incoming_chan_ids: %w",
+					err)


The formatting of this error message can be more compact to better align with the style guide's preference for minimizing lines for error messages.¹

return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+ "incoming_chan_ids: %w", err)

Style Guide References

Footnotes

The style guide recommends minimizing lines for log and error messages, suggesting string concatenation to keep the fmt.Errorf call more compact than multi-line argument lists. (link) ↩

gemini-code-assist

Summary of Changes

Hello @Abdulkbk, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request addresses a limitation in how lncli commands handle channel IDs by improving the robustness of CLI argument parsing. The change allows for the correct processing of uint64 channel IDs, which can exceed the int64 range, thereby supporting custom or alias SCIDs that might have larger values. This enhancement specifically impacts the payinvoice, sendpayment, and fwdinghistory commands, making them more resilient to a wider range of valid channel ID inputs.

Highlights

CLI Argument Type Change: I've updated the command-line interface (CLI) argument types for channel IDs in payinvoice, sendpayment, and fwdinghistory commands. Specifically, outgoing_chan_id, incoming_chan_ids, and outgoing_chan_ids flags have been changed from cli.Int64SliceFlag to cli.StringSliceFlag.
Robust Channel ID Parsing: To support the full range of short channel IDs (SCIDs), including those that exceed the int64 maximum value, I've implemented explicit parsing using strconv.ParseUint for these string-based channel IDs. This ensures that uint64 values are correctly handled and includes error handling for invalid inputs.

Using Gemini Code Assist

The full guide for Gemini Code Assist can be found on our documentation page, here are some quick tips.

Invoking Gemini

You can request assistance from Gemini at any point in your pull request via creating an issue comment (i.e. comment on the pull request page) using either /gemini <command> or @gemini-code-assist <command>. Below is a summary of the supported commands.

Feature	Command	Description
Code Review	`/gemini review`	Performs a code review for the current pull request in its current state.
Pull Request Summary	`/gemini summary`	Provides a summary of the current pull request in its current state.
Comment	@gemini-code-assist	Responds in comments when explicitly tagged, both in issue comments and review comments.
Help	`/gemini help`	Displays a list of available commands.

Customization

To customize Gemini Code Assist for GitHub experience, repository maintainers can create a configuration file and/or provide a custom code review style guide (such as PEP-8 for Python) by creating and adding files to a .gemini/ folder in the base of the repository. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Limitations & Feedback

Gemini Code Assist may make mistakes. Please leave feedback on any instances where its feedback is incorrect or counter productive. You can react with 👍 and 👎 on @gemini-code-assist comments or fill out our survey to provide feedback.

You can also get AI-powered code generation, chat, as well as code reviews directly in the IDE at no cost with the Gemini Code Assist IDE Extension.

Review the Privacy Notices, Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, Terms of Service, and learn how to configure Gemini Code Assist in GitHub here. Gemini can make mistakes, so double check it and use code with caution. ↩

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request updates how the application handles CLI arguments for channel IDs by switching from Int64Slice to StringSlice to accommodate larger channel ID ranges. The changes include necessary error handling and address the identified issue.

gemini-code-assist · 2025-07-21T20:34:19Z

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

+	outChan := ctx.StringSlice("outgoing_chan_id")
 	if len(outChan) != 0 {
 		req.OutgoingChanIds = make([]uint64, len(outChan))
 		for i, c := range outChan {
-			req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = uint64(c)
+			scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"outgoing_chan_id: %w",
+					err)
+			}
+			req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = scid
 		}


The logic for parsing the outgoing_chan_id is duplicated in forwardingHistory. Consider refactoring this logic into a helper function to improve maintainability and reduce redundancy.

scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64) if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+ "outgoing_chan_id: %w", err) } req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = scid

gemini-code-assist · 2025-07-21T20:34:19Z

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

 		for i, c := range outgoingChannelIDs {
-			req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = uint64(c)
+			scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"outgoing_chan_ids: %w",
+					err)
+			}
+			req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = scid
 		}
 	}

-	incomingChannelIDs := ctx.Int64Slice("incoming_chan_ids")
+	incomingChannelIDs := ctx.StringSlice("incoming_chan_ids")
 	if len(incomingChannelIDs) != 0 {
 		req.IncomingChanIds = make([]uint64, len(incomingChannelIDs))
 		for i, c := range incomingChannelIDs {
-			req.IncomingChanIds[i] = uint64(c)
+			scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+
+					"incoming_chan_ids: %w",
+					err)
+			}
+			req.IncomingChanIds[i] = scid
 		}


The logic for parsing outgoing_chan_ids and incoming_chan_ids is duplicated. A very similar block of code also exists in the SendPaymentRequest function for outgoing_chan_id. To improve maintainability and reduce redundancy, consider refactoring this logic into a helper function.

scid, err := strconv.ParseUint(c, 10, 64) if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("unable to decode "+ "outgoing_chan_ids: %w", err) } req.OutgoingChanIds[i] = scid

guggero

Thanks for the update!
Looks good to me, but I think we should extract the logic into a generalized function as Gemini suggests.

Abdulkbk · 2025-07-22T21:11:08Z

/gemini review

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This PR correctly addresses the issue of parsing uint64 channel IDs from the CLI by switching from Int64Slice to StringSlice. The introduction of the parseChanIDs helper function is a good refactoring that improves code clarity and reduces duplication.

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go

In this commit we use stringSlice flag for incoming and outgoing channel ids args, for forwarding history command. The Int64Slice range does not cover all possible scids in the custom alias range.

In this commit we replace the Int64Slice flag with StringSlice for chan id flag, in sendpayment request.

In this commit we use the `parseChanIDs` method introduced in a previous commit to process the `outgoing_chan_id` flag for `queryroutes`.

In this commit we add test for `parseChanIDs` to make sure it parses the chan ids correctly and return errors when invalid value is passed. Signed-off-by: Abdullahi Yunus <abdoollahikbk@gmail.com>

guggero

Very nice! utACK, LGTM 🎉

lightninglabs-deploy · 2025-07-30T15:11:56Z

@Abdulkbk, remember to re-request review from reviewers when ready

ellemouton

very nice 🙏

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Jul 21, 2025

View reviewed changes

Abdulkbk changed the title ~~Fix chanid flag~~ commands: fix how we parse chan ids args at CLI level Jul 21, 2025

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Jul 21, 2025

View reviewed changes

guggero reviewed Jul 22, 2025

View reviewed changes

Abdulkbk force-pushed the fix-chanid-flag branch 2 times, most recently from 50f34f1 to 0668f5f Compare July 22, 2025 21:08

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Jul 22, 2025

View reviewed changes

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Abdulkbk force-pushed the fix-chanid-flag branch 2 times, most recently from 9f1e3e2 to 3ae3229 Compare July 22, 2025 22:32

guggero reviewed Jul 23, 2025

View reviewed changes

cmd/commands/cmd_payments.go Show resolved Hide resolved

Abdulkbk added 3 commits July 23, 2025 15:08

commands: use StringSliceFlag for chan ids

4751016

In this commit we use stringSlice flag for incoming and outgoing channel ids args, for forwarding history command. The Int64Slice range does not cover all possible scids in the custom alias range.

commands: use StringSlice flag for send payment

40fe9e9

In this commit we replace the Int64Slice flag with StringSlice for chan id flag, in sendpayment request.

commands: use parseChanIDs method

35c6cec

In this commit we use the `parseChanIDs` method introduced in a previous commit to process the `outgoing_chan_id` flag for `queryroutes`.

Abdulkbk force-pushed the fix-chanid-flag branch from 3ae3229 to 603fbcd Compare July 23, 2025 14:26

commands: add test for parseChanIDs

754c254

In this commit we add test for `parseChanIDs` to make sure it parses the chan ids correctly and return errors when invalid value is passed. Signed-off-by: Abdullahi Yunus <abdoollahikbk@gmail.com>

Abdulkbk force-pushed the fix-chanid-flag branch from 603fbcd to 754c254 Compare July 23, 2025 14:32

guggero approved these changes Jul 23, 2025

View reviewed changes

guggero requested a review from ellemouton July 30, 2025 15:17

ellemouton approved these changes Jul 31, 2025

View reviewed changes

guggero merged commit 37523b6 into lightningnetwork:master Jul 31, 2025
34 of 39 checks passed

commands: fix how we parse chan ids args at CLI level #10100

commands: fix how we parse chan ids args at CLI level #10100

Uh oh!

Conversation

Abdulkbk commented Jul 21, 2025

Steps to Test

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Summary of Changes

Highlights

Footnotes

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Code Review

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot Jul 21, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Style Guide References

Footnotes

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot Jul 21, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot Jul 21, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Style Guide References

Footnotes

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot Jul 21, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Style Guide References

Footnotes

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Summary of Changes

Highlights

Footnotes

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Code Review

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot Jul 21, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot Jul 21, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

guggero left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Abdulkbk commented Jul 22, 2025

Uh oh!

gemini-code-assist bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Code Review

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

guggero left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

lightninglabs-deploy commented Jul 30, 2025

Uh oh!

ellemouton left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!