LibraryStorage and networks2021Design paperCorpus record
Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors
BIP 381. Pieter Wuille.
BIP 381, Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors. This document specifies pk() , pkh() , and sh() output script descriptors.
Status in the source: Deployed. A reading of the public specification, not a copy of it and not a certification.
Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors is worth reading for the rule it actually adds: This document specifies pk() , pkh() , and sh() output script descriptors.
The five-minute read
The rule
This document specifies pk() , pkh() , and sh() output script descriptors.
What was already failing
A node that cannot fetch, filter, or relay the data it is supposed to validate is not a peer of the network the paper describes.
What the number does not mean
The source marks this deployed. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it.
What a builder should be able to point at
An implementation either constrains P2PK, P2PKH, P2SH or it is a different design.
One action, walked through
- Open BIP 381 and read the status line before the examples.
- Write down the rule in one sentence. A fair version of that sentence is: This document specifies pk() , pkh() , and sh() output script descriptors.
- Name the object that changes: P2PK, P2PKH, P2SH.
- 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 the text is allowed to settle
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 381 can settle the shape of Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors. It cannot settle whether a later client, a later fork, or a later wallet still does this.
What this page will not pretend
There is no benchmark, no adoption number, and no claim that the mechanism is safe outside the assumptions written in the source.
What has to be true
- You are implementing BIP 381 at the status the text itself states: Deployed.
- The object that has to change is P2PK, P2PKH, P2SH. A neighbouring document with a similar name is not this one.
- Measurements of delay in one year do not travel with the specification.
What happened after the paper
The source marks this deployed. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it. Later documents can narrow, replace, or ignore this one. Cite the number you mean.
What to check before you use the idea
- Which message does Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors add, and which old peer must still be answered?
- What does a node do when the short form fails and the full object is required?
- Which names are normative: P2PK, P2PKH, P2SH?
Terms
- BIP 381
- The public text titled Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors.
- Deployed
- The document's own label for how finished the text is. It is not a market fact.
The problem the paper names
A node that cannot fetch, filter, or relay the data it is supposed to validate is not a peer of the network the paper describes.
What the design proposes
- This document specifies pk() , pkh() , and sh() output script descriptors.
- pk() descriptors take a key and produces a P2PK output script.
- pkh() descriptors take a key and produces a P2PKH output script.
How the mechanism is specified
- Taken from the specification, the next constraint is: pk() descriptors take a key and produces a P2PK output script.
- Locate P2PK, P2PKH, P2SH in BIP 381 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 peer protocol is not a consensus rule. A peer can disconnect. A block is still valid or not on its own.
- Measurements of delay in one year do not travel with the specification.
- The source marks this deployed. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it.
Why a venture studio still reads it
Use BIP 381 when a pitch says 'Non-Segwit Output Script Descriptors' without saying whether the rule is consensus, policy, or an interface. The number is the citation. The pitch is not.
This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.
Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.
