📅 Original date posted:2023-08-11
🗒️ Summary of this message: The author suggests using base64url instead of base64 encoding for the psk in the URI, and recommends UR encoding for displaying via QR codes.
📝 Original message:
On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 3:29 PM symphonicbtc via bitcoin-dev <
bitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> Quick little nit I noticed as well, are you sure base64 encoding is the
> best choice for the psk in the URI? You may find that having to urlencode
> the special characters in base64 it impacts readability and adds a layer of
> complexity if a human wanted to extract the psk from the URI for some
> reason. I suggest using something like [base64url](
> https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4648#section-5) which modifies
> base64 slightly to be more suited to this purpose.
Yes, the URI version of base64 is better.
>
However, If you plan to display these via QRs, either will double the
density of the QR as QR libraries treat them as binary data (like hex of
hex data). Thus you may want to use UR encoding, which is what over a dozen
bitcoin wallets use to encode PSBTs. URs are very efficient with QRs, and
have the optional benefit that if the data carried becomes too large, they
can be animated. The have other advantages.
* A top level link about URs:
https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/crypto-commons/blob/master/Docs/README.md#uniform-resources-urs
* About the base64 encoding with QRs problem:
https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Research/blob/master/papers/bcr-2020-003-uri-binary-compatibility.md
* The base UR tech spec:
https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Research/blob/master/papers/bcr-2020-005-ur.md
* List of bitcoin wallets using UR for PSBTs:
https://github.com/blockchaincommons/gordian-developer-community#urs
* List of UR libraries:
https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/crypto-commons#bc-ur
Let me know if you’re interested.
— Christopher Allen
>
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Christopher Allen [ARCHIVE] /
npub19g…ct5d0
2023-08-12 09:56:46
in reply to nevent1q…snal
Author Public Key
npub19g47w5ewcqlpd7n07wpkp5cvcu2gjwrse0vl47l0avwl9hu933xsqct5d0Published at
2023-08-12 09:56:46Event JSON
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"content": "📅 Original date posted:2023-08-11\n🗒️ Summary of this message: The author suggests using base64url instead of base64 encoding for the psk in the URI, and recommends UR encoding for displaying via QR codes.\n📝 Original message:\nOn Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 3:29 PM symphonicbtc via bitcoin-dev \u003c\nbitcoin-dev at lists.linuxfoundation.org\u003e wrote:\n\n\u003e Quick little nit I noticed as well, are you sure base64 encoding is the\n\u003e best choice for the psk in the URI? You may find that having to urlencode\n\u003e the special characters in base64 it impacts readability and adds a layer of\n\u003e complexity if a human wanted to extract the psk from the URI for some\n\u003e reason. I suggest using something like [base64url](\n\u003e https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4648#section-5) which modifies\n\u003e base64 slightly to be more suited to this purpose.\n\n\nYes, the URI version of base64 is better.\n\n\u003e\nHowever, If you plan to display these via QRs, either will double the\ndensity of the QR as QR libraries treat them as binary data (like hex of\nhex data). Thus you may want to use UR encoding, which is what over a dozen\nbitcoin wallets use to encode PSBTs. URs are very efficient with QRs, and\nhave the optional benefit that if the data carried becomes too large, they\ncan be animated. The have other advantages.\n\n* A top level link about URs:\nhttps://github.com/BlockchainCommons/crypto-commons/blob/master/Docs/README.md#uniform-resources-urs\n\n* About the base64 encoding with QRs problem:\nhttps://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Research/blob/master/papers/bcr-2020-003-uri-binary-compatibility.md\n\n* The base UR tech spec:\nhttps://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Research/blob/master/papers/bcr-2020-005-ur.md\n\n* List of bitcoin wallets using UR for PSBTs:\nhttps://github.com/blockchaincommons/gordian-developer-community#urs\n\n* List of UR libraries:\nhttps://github.com/BlockchainCommons/crypto-commons#bc-ur\n\nLet me know if you’re interested.\n\n— Christopher Allen\n\n\u003e\n-------------- next part --------------\nAn HTML attachment was scrubbed...\nURL: \u003chttp://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/attachments/20230811/5be29a12/attachment.html\u003e",
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