Boring Score — methodology.
v0.1 Applies to all cards on Node Cards. This page documents the algorithm exactly as implemented; when the definition changes, the version changes.
Data source
QuietRouting runs its own continuous archive of public Lightning Network gossip (hourly snapshots of the channel graph, since 2026-08-10). Every metric below is descriptive and derived exclusively from what any Lightning node can observe in public gossip: channel announcements, closures, and fee-policy updates. No probing, no private data, no wallet interaction.
A node counts as active if it has at least one channel present in the latest network view. Activity metrics use a rolling 7-day window. Cards are regenerated daily.
The score
The Boring Score is a 0–100 measure of how steady a node's public behaviour is. It has two equally weighted components:
calm = max(0, 1 − min(fee_changes7d / channels, 1))
score = round(50 · stability + 50 · calm)
- Channel stability — closures in the last 7 days, relative to the node's channel count. Closing a large share of your channels in a week halves this component quickly (the factor 2 makes it strict).
- Fee-policy calm — fee-policy updates in the last 7 days, per channel. A node rewriting fees on every channel daily scores 0 here; a node with a set-and-hold policy scores full marks. Automated fee tooling is visible as high churn.
- Wind-down cap — a node with ≥3 closures and more than twice as many closures as openings in the window is treated as winding down and its score is capped at 20, regardless of the components.
Badges
- winding down — ≥3 closures and closures > 2×openings (7d).
- growing — ≥3 openings and openings > 2×closures (7d).
- automated fees — ≥3 fee changes per channel (7d).
- quiet & steady — score ≥ 90.
Partner mix
Each partner (the other end of every active channel) is classified by its own number of active channels: endpoint ≤5, mid-size 6–50, hub >50. The bar on a card shows the proportions. It reads as the node's role: mostly-hub partners suggest a satellite; many endpoint partners suggest a last-mile bridge.
Limitations (please read)
- Descriptive, not predictive. A high score means the node has been steady, not that it will be, and says nothing about routing revenue or liquidity.
- Channel balances are not public; nothing here observes liquidity.
- Gossip visibility is imperfect: private channels are invisible, and propagation differs between observers.
- The archive is young (since 2026-08-10); age-related signals will strengthen as history accumulates.
- The 7-day window favours recent behaviour by design.
Versioning
v0.1 (2026-08-23) — initial public definition: two components 50/50, wind-down cap, 7-day window. Changes to weights, windows or components will bump the version and be listed here.