> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://raiden-network.gitbook.io/raiden-network/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://raiden-network.gitbook.io/raiden-network/raiden-api-1/api-tutorial/3-deposit.md).

# Deposit Tokens

Having an empty open channel won't in itself let you make payments. You also need to make sure that you have tokens deposited at your end of the channel.

If you opened a channel by yourself you most likely already deposited tokens when sending the request. However, in case someone opened a channel with you, you will not have any tokens at your end of the channel.

You need to make a deposit whenever you want to:

* Add tokens to an empty channel
* Top up the amount of tokens in a channel

## Deposit into a channel

The [`channel`](/raiden-network/raiden-api-1/resources/channels.md#increase-deposit) endpoint together with a PATCH request is used for depositing tokens into a channel. When making the call you need to include:

1. The token address as a path parameter.
2. The address of the partner node as a path parameter.
3. The amount of tokens you want to deposit in the channel as a body parameter.

```bash
curl -i -X PATCH \
http://localhost:5001/api/v1/channels/0x9aBa529db3FF2D8409A1da4C9eB148879b046700/0x61C808D82A3Ac53231750daDc13c777b59310bD9 \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{"total_deposit": "7331"}'
```

This will give you the same response object as when [opening a channel](/raiden-network/raiden-api-1/api-tutorial/2-open-a-channel.md#open-a-channel) or [querying the state of a channel](/raiden-network/raiden-api-1/api-tutorial/2-open-a-channel.md#query-the-state-of-a-channel).

Now, once there are tokens at your end of the channel, let's start making payments.

{% content-ref url="/pages/-LrO57dSF5OUvt9\_DXwH" %}
[Make a Payment](/raiden-network/raiden-api-1/api-tutorial/3-make-a-payment.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}