Output Script Descriptor Annotations

The five-minute read

One action, walked through

1. Open BIP 393 and read the status line before the examples.
2. Write down the rule in one sentence. A fair version of that sentence is: This document specifies an optional annotation syntax for output script descriptors as defined in [[bip-0380.mediawiki|BIP 380]].
3. Name the object that changes: URL.
4. Ask what an old client, an old contract, or an offline counterparty does. If the document is silent, the silence is part of the design.

The argument, unpacked

What has to be true

• You are implementing BIP 393 at the status the text itself states: Draft.
• The object that has to change is URL. A neighbouring document with a similar name is not this one.
• Wallet support is not the same as consensus validity.

What happened after the paper

The source marks this draft. It is not a live consensus rule just because it has a number. Later documents can narrow, replace, or ignore this one. Cite the number you mean.

What to check before you use the idea

• What is covered by the signed bytes in Output Script Descriptor Annotations?
• Can the same signature be replayed on another chain, account, or message?
• Which primitive does the text require: URL?

Terms

BIP 393

The public text titled Output Script Descriptor Annotations.

Draft

The document's own label for how finished the text is. It is not a market fact.

The problem the paper names

A signature that does not commit to what the user saw can be replayed into a different spend, a different chain, or a different message.

What the design proposes

• This document specifies an optional annotation syntax for output script descriptors as defined in [[bip-0380.mediawiki|BIP 380]].
• Annotations are key/value pairs appended to a descriptor expression using URL-like query string delimiters ( ? , & , = ).
• They convey operational metadata (such as a blockchain scan start height or gap limit) to aid recovery of funds without altering the scripts produced by the descriptor.

How the mechanism is specified

• Taken from the specification, the next constraint is: Annotations are key/value pairs appended to a descriptor expression using URL-like query string delimiters ( ? , & , = ).
• Locate URL in BIP 393 and apply it to one transaction or call.
• Then check the failure the class of rule always has: a node that did not upgrade, a reverted call, a replayed signature, or a peer that does not speak the message.

What this page does not treat as proven

• A signature scheme is not a privacy system. It hides the signer only if the protocol says so.
• Wallet support is not the same as consensus validity.
• The source marks this draft. It is not a live consensus rule just because it has a number.

Why a venture studio still reads it

Use BIP 393 when a pitch says 'Output Script Descriptor Annotations' without saying whether the rule is consensus, policy, or an interface. The number is the citation. The pitch is not.