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Description

Previously, all aliases were removed from the aliasToBase map when a channel reached 6 confirmations via DeleteSixConfs, making them unfindable via FindBaseSCID. This was problematic for manually-added aliases (e.g., via RPC) that users expected to persist. This PR adds a 1-byte flag field to the alias storage format, extending entries from 8 bytes (base SCID) to 9 bytes (base SCID + flag). This flag simply marks the persistence intention for that alias entry.

Now when the user manually adds a local channel alias they may signal the intention to persist the alias by re-using the optional argument WithBaseLookup (the only call site at the moment is the RPC endpoint XAddLocalChanAliases.

Tests have been updated to cover the behavior of old & new entries under the new format with the persistence flag.

@GeorgeTsagk GeorgeTsagk self-assigned this Dec 2, 2025
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Summary of Changes

Hello @GeorgeTsagk, 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 enhances the alias manager functionality by introducing the ability to persist manually added channel aliases. Previously, such aliases would be removed once a channel reached six confirmations, leading to unexpected behavior for users. By adding a persistence flag to the alias storage and modifying the alias management logic, this change ensures that aliases explicitly marked for persistence remain accessible, improving the reliability and usability of manual alias management, especially for RPC-driven operations.

Highlights

  • Alias Persistence: Introduced a persistence flag for channel aliases, allowing manually added aliases to remain findable after channel confirmation.
  • Storage Format Update: Modified the alias storage format to include a 1-byte flag, extending entries from 8 to 9 bytes while maintaining backward compatibility.
  • WithBaseLookup Option: The WithBaseLookup option for AddLocalAlias now explicitly marks an alias as persistent, ensuring it survives channel confirmation.
  • Manager Logic Updates: Updated alias manager logic to respect the persistence flag during channel confirmation and manager reloads, preventing unintended deletion of persistent aliases.
  • Comprehensive Testing: Added comprehensive tests to validate the behavior of persistent aliases, non-persistent aliases, and backward compatibility with old alias formats.
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Code Review

This pull request introduces a persistence flag for SCID aliases, allowing manually added aliases to survive channel confirmations. The implementation is well-executed, ensuring backward compatibility with the old data format by extending the alias storage from 8 to 9 bytes to include the flag. The changes are accompanied by a comprehensive set of tests that cover the new persistence logic, backward compatibility, and deletion of persistent aliases. The code is clear and logically sound. I have one suggestion regarding a potential performance improvement in DeleteSixConfs to enhance scalability, which involves avoiding a full database scan.

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

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@Roasbeef Roasbeef left a comment

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Looks good, no major comments.

Do we need to allow RPC callers to opt out of this behavior?

return err
}

return aliasToBaseBucket.ForEach(func(k, v []byte) error {
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Rather than iterate over this entire bucket, couldn't we do a random read here?

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Wdym by random read? We need to check all entries here and see which of the aliases correspond to the confirmed base scid.

While I was reading this comment I realized we were iterating twice over this set. So with the new commit I do everything in a single pass. PTAL

Previously we were able to manually add scid aliases for channels but
that would slightly misbehave especially around persistence and
restarts. By default when a channel gets confirmed it won't get any of
its aliases reloaded in memory. We change the existing base-lookup flag
to also signal that an alias may be forcefully persisted and reloaded to
the in-memory maps when the alias manager starts up.

We achieve this by appending an extra byte to all the alias storage
entries. Previously we'd have 8 bytes, and now we extend the entry to
have 9 bytes. For old entries, the x00 byte is assumed which signals
non-persistency. Any new entries will always have 9 bytes stored with
the last byte serving as the signal for persistence.
@GeorgeTsagk GeorgeTsagk force-pushed the alias-mgr-persist-alias branch from f66aa64 to 946bd8a Compare December 11, 2025 10:45
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3 participants