BIP 329 guide to JSON Lines wallet-label export, typed references, optional origin and spendable fields, privacy controls, validation and migration testing.
This guide explains BIP 329 Wallet Labels Export Format in plain English. It covers the problem behind the BIP, why it matters and whether the proposal is part of Bitcoin today.
BIP 329 Wallet Labels Export Format: A wallet may ignore unsupported records and may truncate labels, preferably with a warning. Unknown types should be ignored, allowing extension without making old importers unsafe.
A node operator is checking BIP 329 Wallet Labels Export Format. Exports can map counterparties, UTXOs, addresses and wallet structure. Encrypt them in transit and at rest, minimise retention, avoid ticket attachments and destroy temporary plaintext copies.
BIP 329 remains Draft and Informational. It standardises label interchange, not wallet seeds, signatures, balances or complete restoration, and support differs between applications.
Every UTF-8 line is a valid JSON object. Type and ref are required; label, origin and spendable are optional. Multiline values are forbidden and omitted values should not be silently cleared.
Defined types include tx, addr, pubkey, input, output, xpub and spscan. Inputs and outputs use transaction ID plus index, while spendable is valid only for output records.
origin is an abbreviated BIP 380 descriptor with key-origin information but no actual keys, child path or checksum. It helps separate labels belonging to different accounts or wallets.
A wallet may ignore unsupported records and may truncate labels, preferably with a warning. Unknown types should be ignored, allowing extension without making old importers unsafe.
Exports can map counterparties, UTXOs, addresses and wallet structure. Encrypt them in transit and at rest, minimise retention, avoid ticket attachments and destroy temporary plaintext copies.
Developers test the proposal with made-up data on an isolated test network. They check normal cases and deliberately invalid cases. Different implementations should reach the same result before anyone relies on the proposal.
BIP 329 Wallet Labels Export Format: A wallet may ignore unsupported records and may truncate labels, preferably with a warning.
BIP 329 remains Draft and Informational. It standardises label interchange, not wallet seeds, signatures, balances or complete restoration, and support differs between applications.
Every UTF-8 line is a valid JSON object. Type and ref are required.
Defined types include tx, addr, pubkey, input, output, xpub and spscan. Inputs and outputs use transaction ID plus index, while spendable is valid only for output records.
BIP 329 can preserve valuable coin-control context during wallet migration, but it is not a backup substitute. Safe use combines strict parsing, explicit compatibility checks, protected transport and a reconciled test import.
Check the current specification status and the documentation for the exact implementation you operate before moving production funds or changing a mining node.
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