HTLC settlements
Cancel an HTLC settlement before it is armed, or coordinate the local participants who must vote when the settlement already has all local approvals.
Cancelling an HTLC settlement stops the exchange and refunds escrowed local assets to the senders that locked them. Before the settlement is armed, one local participant can cancel it. After every local sender has approved, each local participant must cast a cancel vote.
Use this page when you need to stop an HTLC settlement before execution. If the cutoff date has already passed, use Withdraw expired instead.
Before you cancel
Check the settlement state before you choose what to do:
| Settlement state | What cancel does | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| Pending, not all local senders approved | Cancels immediately. | Use Cancel from the settlement detail page. |
| Armed, all local senders approved | Records the caller's vote. The settlement cancels only after every local participant has voted. | Use Propose Cancel and coordinate the remaining local participants. |
| Secret revealed | Cancellation is blocked. | Continue the execution flow. |
| Executed | Cancellation is blocked. | Treat the settlement as complete. |
| Expired | Cancellation is blocked. | Use Withdraw expired. |
The contract treats local participants as the unique local sender and recipient addresses in the settlement flows. A sender who is also a recipient counts once. Users outside the local flows cannot cancel the settlement or vote to cancel it.
Cancel before the settlement is armed
When an HTLC settlement does not yet have every local sender approval, any local participant can stop it without collecting votes from the other participants.
Open the settlement
Navigate to Settlements and open the HTLC settlement you want to stop.
Cancel the settlement
Click Cancel on the settlement detail page, review the confirmation, and submit the wallet verification.
Verify the refund
The status changes to Cancelled. DALP refunds the escrowed local assets to the addresses that locked them.
Propose cancellation after the settlement is armed
An armed HTLC settlement has every required local sender approval. At that point, DALP requires unanimous votes from the local participants before it refunds escrow. This prevents one participant from cancelling after the other side has already coordinated external chain commitments.
Every local participant must vote
DALP records one active cancel vote per local participant. The final required vote cancels the settlement and refunds escrow automatically. Do not treat the first cancel vote as a completed cancellation.
Open the armed settlement
Navigate to Settlements and open the armed HTLC settlement.
Propose cancellation
Click Propose Cancel and submit the wallet verification. DALP records your cancel vote on chain.
Coordinate the remaining votes
Use the settlement warning banner or detail view to check the current cancel vote count. Ask each remaining local participant to propose cancellation from their wallet.
Confirm final cancellation
When the last required participant proposes cancellation, the status changes to Cancelled and DALP refunds the escrowed local assets.
Withdraw your cancel vote
A local participant can withdraw their own cancel vote while the armed settlement is still open and before the final required vote is cast. Use this only when the settlement should remain armed.
- Open the armed settlement.
- Click Withdraw Cancel Proposal.
- Submit the wallet verification.
The vote is removed. The settlement remains armed and cannot cancel until the participant proposes cancellation again.
You cannot withdraw a cancel vote after the settlement has already cancelled, executed, expired, or had its HTLC secret revealed.
What cancellation changes
- DALP clears active cancel votes when the settlement cancels.
- DALP returns escrowed local assets to the sender addresses that locked them.
- DALP marks the settlement as Cancelled. The settlement cannot execute after that.
- DALP blocks cancel and withdraw-cancel requests after the HTLC secret is revealed.
API behavior
The public cancel endpoint queues a transaction against the settlement contract:
POST /api/v2/addons/xvp-cancellation-requests
Content-Type: application/json{
"settlementAddress": "0x...",
"walletVerification": {
"secretVerificationCode": "123456",
"verificationType": "PINCODE"
}
}When the platform processes the transaction synchronously, the response wraps the contract output in the standard blockchain mutation envelope:
{
"data": {
"transactionHash": "0x..."
},
"meta": {
"txHashes": ["0x..."]
},
"links": {
"self": "/v2/addons/xvp-cancellation-requests"
}
}If you send Prefer: respond-async and the transaction is accepted for
asynchronous processing, the response gives you a transaction status URL instead:
{
"transactionId": "018f2f6e-7c6a-7c64-9a5a-4f5e6a3c2b10",
"status": "QUEUED",
"statusUrl": "/api/v2/transaction-requests/018f2f6e-7c6a-7c64-9a5a-4f5e6a3c2b10"
}For pending settlements, the contract cancels immediately. For armed HTLC settlements, the same cancel request records the caller's cancel vote. A second cancel request from the same participant while that vote is still active is not a safe retry. Check the settlement state before retrying a submitted request.
Use the withdraw-cancel action only when the participant intentionally wants to remove an active cancel vote before the final required vote is cast.
Production checks
Before cancelling an HTLC settlement, confirm these points:
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Settlement is still open | Cancel actions are rejected after execution, cancellation, expiry, or secret reveal |
| Caller is a local participant | Only local participants can cancel, vote, or withdraw a cancel vote |
| Approval state is understood | Pending settlement cancellation is immediate. Armed settlement cancellation is unanimous |
| External-chain teams are coordinated | Armed cancellation can affect counterparties who already acted on the external leg |
| Audit trail is captured | Cancel votes, withdrawn votes, secret reveal, and final cancellation are emitted as settlement events |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| Cancel is not visible | You must be a local participant in the settlement. |
| Propose Cancel appears instead of Cancel | The HTLC settlement is armed, so local participants must vote. |
| The settlement stays open after your vote | Other local participants still need to vote. Check the vote count on the settlement. |
| You cannot propose cancellation | The secret may have been revealed, the settlement may have executed, or the cutoff may have passed. |
| You need to undo your vote | Use Withdraw Cancel Proposal before the final required vote is cast. |
| Your second cancel attempt failed | Your active cancel vote may already be recorded. Check the settlement state before retrying. |
| The settlement has expired | Use Withdraw expired instead of retrying cancellation. |