16 KiB
Support for Output Descriptors in Bitcoin Core
Since Bitcoin Core v0.17, there is support for Output Descriptors. This is a simple language which can be used to describe collections of output scripts. Supporting RPCs are:
scantxoutset
takes as input descriptors to scan for, and also reports specialized descriptors for the matching UTXOs.getdescriptorinfo
analyzes a descriptor, and reports a canonicalized version with checksum added.deriveaddresses
takes as input a descriptor and computes the corresponding addresses.listunspent
outputs a specialized descriptor for the reported unspent outputs.getaddressinfo
outputs a descriptor for solvable addresses (since v0.18).importmulti
takes as input descriptors to import into the wallet (since v0.18).generatetodescriptor
takes as input a descriptor and generates coins to it (regtest
only, since v0.19).utxoupdatepsbt
takes as input descriptors to add information to the psbt (since v0.19).createmultisig
andaddmultisigaddress
return descriptors as well (since v0.20)
This document describes the language. For the specifics on usage, see the RPC documentation for the functions mentioned above.
Features
Output descriptors currently support:
- Pay-to-pubkey scripts (P2PK), through the
pk
function. - Pay-to-pubkey-hash scripts (P2PKH), through the
pkh
function. - Pay-to-witness-pubkey-hash scripts (P2WPKH), through the
wpkh
function. - Pay-to-script-hash scripts (P2SH), through the
sh
function. - Pay-to-witness-script-hash scripts (P2WSH), through the
wsh
function. - Pay-to-taproot outputs (P2TR), through the
tr
function. - Multisig scripts, through the
multi
function. - Multisig scripts where the public keys are sorted lexicographically, through the
sortedmulti
function. - Any type of supported address through the
addr
function. - Raw hex scripts through the
raw
function. - Public keys (compressed and uncompressed) in hex notation, or BIP32 extended pubkeys with derivation paths.
Examples
pk(0279be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798)
describes a P2PK output with the specified public key.pkh(02c6047f9441ed7d6d3045406e95c07cd85c778e4b8cef3ca7abac09b95c709ee5)
describes a P2PKH output with the specified public key.wpkh(02f9308a019258c31049344f85f89d5229b531c845836f99b08601f113bce036f9)
describes a P2WPKH output with the specified public key.sh(wpkh(03fff97bd5755eeea420453a14355235d382f6472f8568a18b2f057a1460297556))
describes a P2SH-P2WPKH output with the specified public key.combo(0279be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798)
describes any P2PK, P2PKH, P2WPKH, or P2SH-P2WPKH output with the specified public key.sh(wsh(pkh(02e493dbf1c10d80f3581e4904930b1404cc6c13900ee0758474fa94abe8c4cd13)))
describes an (overly complicated) P2SH-P2WSH-P2PKH output with the specified public key.multi(1,022f8bde4d1a07209355b4a7250a5c5128e88b84bddc619ab7cba8d569b240efe4,025cbdf0646e5db4eaa398f365f2ea7a0e3d419b7e0330e39ce92bddedcac4f9bc)
describes a bare 1-of-2 multisig output with keys in the specified order.sh(multi(2,022f01e5e15cca351daff3843fb70f3c2f0a1bdd05e5af888a67784ef3e10a2a01,03acd484e2f0c7f65309ad178a9f559abde09796974c57e714c35f110dfc27ccbe))
describes a P2SH 2-of-2 multisig output with keys in the specified order.sh(sortedmulti(2,03acd484e2f0c7f65309ad178a9f559abde09796974c57e714c35f110dfc27ccbe,022f01e5e15cca351daff3843fb70f3c2f0a1bdd05e5af888a67784ef3e10a2a01))
describes a P2SH 2-of-2 multisig output with keys sorted lexicographically in the resulting redeemScript.wsh(multi(2,03a0434d9e47f3c86235477c7b1ae6ae5d3442d49b1943c2b752a68e2a47e247c7,03774ae7f858a9411e5ef4246b70c65aac5649980be5c17891bbec17895da008cb,03d01115d548e7561b15c38f004d734633687cf4419620095bc5b0f47070afe85a))
describes a P2WSH 2-of-3 multisig output with keys in the specified order.sh(wsh(multi(1,03f28773c2d975288bc7d1d205c3748651b075fbc6610e58cddeeddf8f19405aa8,03499fdf9e895e719cfd64e67f07d38e3226aa7b63678949e6e49b241a60e823e4,02d7924d4f7d43ea965a465ae3095ff41131e5946f3c85f79e44adbcf8e27e080e)))
describes a P2SH-P2WSH 1-of-3 multisig output with keys in the specified order.pk(xpub661MyMwAqRbcFtXgS5sYJABqqG9YLmC4Q1Rdap9gSE8NqtwybGhePY2gZ29ESFjqJoCu1Rupje8YtGqsefD265TMg7usUDFdp6W1EGMcet8)
describes a P2PK output with the public key of the specified xpub.pkh(xpub68Gmy5EdvgibQVfPdqkBBCHxA5htiqg55crXYuXoQRKfDBFA1WEjWgP6LHhwBZeNK1VTsfTFUHCdrfp1bgwQ9xv5ski8PX9rL2dZXvgGDnw/1/2)
describes a P2PKH output with child key 1/2 of the specified xpub.pkh([d34db33f/44'/0'/0']xpub6ERApfZwUNrhLCkDtcHTcxd75RbzS1ed54G1LkBUHQVHQKqhMkhgbmJbZRkrgZw4koxb5JaHWkY4ALHY2grBGRjaDMzQLcgJvLJuZZvRcEL/1/*)
describes a set of P2PKH outputs, but additionally specifies that the specified xpub is a child of a master with fingerprintd34db33f
, and derived using path44'/0'/0'
.wsh(multi(1,xpub661MyMwAqRbcFW31YEwpkMuc5THy2PSt5bDMsktWQcFF8syAmRUapSCGu8ED9W6oDMSgv6Zz8idoc4a6mr8BDzTJY47LJhkJ8UB7WEGuduB/1/0/*,xpub69H7F5d8KSRgmmdJg2KhpAK8SR3DjMwAdkxj3ZuxV27CprR9LgpeyGmXUbC6wb7ERfvrnKZjXoUmmDznezpbZb7ap6r1D3tgFxHmwMkQTPH/0/0/*))
describes a set of 1-of-2 P2WSH multisig outputs where the first multisig key is the 1/0/i
child of the first specified xpub and the second multisig key is the 0/0/i
child of the second specified xpub, andi
is any number in a configurable range (0-1000
by default).wsh(sortedmulti(1,xpub661MyMwAqRbcFW31YEwpkMuc5THy2PSt5bDMsktWQcFF8syAmRUapSCGu8ED9W6oDMSgv6Zz8idoc4a6mr8BDzTJY47LJhkJ8UB7WEGuduB/1/0/*,xpub69H7F5d8KSRgmmdJg2KhpAK8SR3DjMwAdkxj3ZuxV27CprR9LgpeyGmXUbC6wb7ERfvrnKZjXoUmmDznezpbZb7ap6r1D3tgFxHmwMkQTPH/0/0/*))
describes a set of 1-of-2 P2WSH multisig outputs where one multisig key is the 1/0/i
child of the first specified xpub and the other multisig key is the 0/0/i
child of the second specified xpub, andi
is any number in a configurable range (0-1000
by default). The order of public keys in the resulting witnessScripts is determined by the lexicographic order of the public keys at that index.tr(c6047f9441ed7d6d3045406e95c07cd85c778e4b8cef3ca7abac09b95c709ee5,{pk(fff97bd5755eeea420453a14355235d382f6472f8568a18b2f057a1460297556),pk(e493dbf1c10d80f3581e4904930b1404cc6c13900ee0758474fa94abe8c4cd13)})
describes a P2TR output with thec6...
x-only pubkey as internal key, and two script paths.
Reference
Descriptors consist of several types of expressions. The top level expression is either a SCRIPT
, or SCRIPT#CHECKSUM
where CHECKSUM
is an 8-character alphanumeric descriptor checksum.
SCRIPT
expressions:
sh(SCRIPT)
(top level only): P2SH embed the argument.wsh(SCRIPT)
(top level or insidesh
only): P2WSH embed the argument.pk(KEY)
(anywhere): P2PK output for the given public key.pkh(KEY)
(not insidetr
): P2PKH output for the given public key (useaddr
if you only know the pubkey hash).wpkh(KEY)
(top level or insidesh
only): P2WPKH output for the given compressed pubkey.combo(KEY)
(top level only): an alias for the collection ofpk(KEY)
andpkh(KEY)
. If the key is compressed, it also includeswpkh(KEY)
andsh(wpkh(KEY))
.multi(k,KEY_1,KEY_2,...,KEY_n)
(not insidetr
): k-of-n multisig script.sortedmulti(k,KEY_1,KEY_2,...,KEY_n)
(not insidetr
): k-of-n multisig script with keys sorted lexicographically in the resulting script.tr(KEY)
ortr(KEY,TREE)
(top level only): P2TR output with the specified key as internal key, and optionally a tree of script paths.addr(ADDR)
(top level only): the script which ADDR expands to.raw(HEX)
(top level only): the script whose hex encoding is HEX.
KEY
expressions:
- Optionally, key origin information, consisting of:
- An open bracket
[
- Exactly 8 hex characters for the fingerprint of the key where the derivation starts (see BIP32 for details)
- Followed by zero or more
/NUM
or/NUM'
path elements to indicate unhardened or hardened derivation steps between the fingerprint and the key or xpub/xprv root that follows - A closing bracket
]
- An open bracket
- Followed by the actual key, which is either:
- Hex encoded public keys (either 66 characters starting with
02
or03
for a compressed pubkey, or 130 characters starting with04
for an uncompressed pubkey).- Inside
wpkh
andwsh
, only compressed public keys are permitted. - Inside
tr
, x-only pubkeys are also permitted (64 hex characters).
- Inside
- WIF encoded private keys may be specified instead of the corresponding public key, with the same meaning.
xpub
encoded extended public key orxprv
encoded extended private key (as defined in BIP 32).- Followed by zero or more
/NUM
unhardened and/NUM'
hardened BIP32 derivation steps. - Optionally followed by a single
/*
or/*'
final step to denote all (direct) unhardened or hardened children. - The usage of hardened derivation steps requires providing the private key.
- Followed by zero or more
- Hex encoded public keys (either 66 characters starting with
TREE
expressions:
- any
SCRIPT
expression - An open brace
{
, aTREE
expression, a comma,
, aTREE
expression, and a closing brace}
(Anywhere a '
suffix is permitted to denote hardened derivation, the suffix h
can be used instead.)
ADDR
expressions are any type of supported address:
- P2PKH addresses (base58, of the form
1...
for mainnet or[nm]...
for testnet). Note that P2PKH addresses in descriptors cannot be used for P2PK outputs (use thepk
function instead). - P2SH addresses (base58, of the form
3...
for mainnet or2...
for testnet, defined in BIP 13). - Segwit addresses (bech32 and bech32m, of the form
bc1...
for mainnet ortb1...
for testnet, defined in BIP 173 and BIP 350).
Explanation
Single-key scripts
Many single-key constructions are used in practice, generally including P2PK, P2PKH, P2WPKH, and P2SH-P2WPKH. Many more combinations are imaginable, though they may not be optimal: P2SH-P2PK, P2SH-P2PKH, P2WSH-P2PK, P2WSH-P2PKH, P2SH-P2WSH-P2PK, P2SH-P2WSH-P2PKH.
To describe these, we model these as functions. The functions pk
(P2PK), pkh
(P2PKH) and wpkh
(P2WPKH) take as input a KEY
expression, and return the
corresponding scriptPubKey. The functions sh
(P2SH) and wsh
(P2WSH)
take as input a SCRIPT
expression, and return the script describing P2SH and P2WSH
outputs with the input as embedded script. The names of the functions do
not contain "p2" for brevity.
Multisig
Several pieces of software use multi-signature (multisig) scripts based
on Bitcoin's OP_CHECKMULTISIG opcode. To support these, we introduce the
multi(k,key_1,key_2,...,key_n)
and sortedmulti(k,key_1,key_2,...,key_n)
functions. They represent a k-of-n
multisig policy, where any k out of the n provided KEY
expressions must
sign.
Key order is significant for multi()
. A multi()
expression describes a multisig script
with keys in the specified order, and in a search for TXOs, it will not match
outputs with multisig scriptPubKeys that have the same keys in a different
order. Also, to prevent a combinatorial explosion of the search space, if more
than one of the multi()
key arguments is a BIP32 wildcard path ending in /*
or *'
, the multi()
expression only matches multisig scripts with the i
th
child key from each wildcard path in lockstep, rather than scripts with any
combination of child keys from each wildcard path.
Key order does not matter for sortedmulti()
. sortedmulti()
behaves in the same way
as multi()
does but the keys are reordered in the resulting script such that they
are lexicographically ordered as described in BIP67.
BIP32 derived keys and chains
Most modern wallet software and hardware uses keys that are derived using
BIP32 ("HD keys"). We support these directly by permitting strings
consisting of an extended public key (commonly referred to as an xpub)
plus derivation path anywhere a public key is expected. The derivation
path consists of a sequence of 0 or more integers (in the range
0..231-1) each optionally followed by '
or h
, and
separated by /
characters. The string may optionally end with the
literal /*
or /*'
(or /*h
) to refer to all unhardened or hardened
child keys in a configurable range (by default 0-1000
, inclusive).
Whenever a public key is described using a hardened derivation step, the script cannot be computed without access to the corresponding private key.
Key origin identification
In order to describe scripts whose signing keys reside on another device, it may be necessary to identify the master key and derivation path an xpub was derived with.
For example, when following BIP44, it would be useful to describe a
change chain directly as xpub.../44'/0'/0'/1/*
where xpub...
corresponds with the master key m
. Unfortunately, since there are
hardened derivation steps that follow the xpub, this descriptor does not
let you compute scripts without access to the corresponding private keys.
Instead, it should be written as xpub.../1/*
, where xpub corresponds to
m/44'/0'/0'
.
When interacting with a hardware device, it may be necessary to include the entire path from the master down. BIP174 standardizes this by providing the master key fingerprint (first 32 bit of the Hash160 of the master pubkey), plus all derivation steps. To support constructing these, we permit providing this key origin information inside the descriptor language, even though it does not affect the actual scriptPubKeys it refers to.
Every public key can be prefixed by an 8-character hexadecimal fingerprint plus optional derivation steps (hardened and unhardened) surrounded by brackets, identifying the master and derivation path the key or xpub that follows was derived with.
Note that the fingerprint of the parent only serves as a fast way to detect parent and child nodes in software, and software must be willing to deal with collisions.
Including private keys
Often it is useful to communicate a description of scripts along with the necessary private keys. For this reason, anywhere a public key or xpub is supported, a private key in WIF format or xprv may be provided instead. This is useful when private keys are necessary for hardened derivation steps, or for dumping wallet descriptors including private key material.
Compatibility with old wallets
In order to easily represent the sets of scripts currently supported by
existing Bitcoin Core wallets, a convenience function combo
is
provided, which takes as input a public key, and describes a set of P2PK,
P2PKH, P2WPKH, and P2SH-P2WPKH scripts for that key. In case the key is
uncompressed, the set only includes P2PK and P2PKH scripts.
Checksums
Descriptors can optionally be suffixed with a checksum to protect against typos or copy-paste errors.
These checksums consist of 8 alphanumeric characters. As long as errors are
restricted to substituting characters in 0123456789()[],'/*abcdefgh@:$%{}
for others in that set and changes in letter case, up to 4 errors will always
be detected in descriptors up to 501 characters, and up to 3 errors in longer
ones. For larger numbers of errors, or other types of errors, there is a
roughly 1 in a trillion chance of not detecting the errors.
All RPCs in Bitcoin Core will include the checksum in their output. Only
certain RPCs require checksums on input, including deriveaddress
and
importmulti
. The checksum for a descriptor without one can be computed
using the getdescriptorinfo
RPC.