RFC - BIP: URI scheme for Blockchain exploration
Summary:
A new URI scheme for Blockchain exploration is being proposed in this email conversation. The purpose of this proposal is to enable users to handle all the requests for details about blocks, transactions, etc. with their preferred tool (being that a web service or a local application) rather than relying on arbitrary blockchain explorers. The proposed blockchain URI scheme follows a simple format: blockchain:///. Examples include blockchain:00000000000000001003e880d500968d51157f210c632e08a652af3576600198 and blockchain:3b95a766d7a99b87188d6875c8484cb2b310b78459b7816d4dfc3f0f7e04281a. The proposal suggests using a real URI scheme, blockchain://, so that normal URL parsing libraries can be used instead of additional code to mutate it into a proper URI before passing it to URL parsing. The author also recommends including type looking up as part of the authority, like block:testnet, and suggests using little endian searching. The BIP should also specify what the return results should look like. While the proposal suggests keeping the blockchain URI scheme simple, explorers can apply disambiguation rules they are already using to process the usual search box. From the point of view of a wallet developer, using this scheme means that he can simply make it a blockchain: link and be done with it, without having to worry about any specific Blockchain explorer or provide a means for the user to select one. Blockchain explorers, in turn, will simply offer to handle the blockchain: URI, the first time the user visits their website or launches/installs the application, or even set themselves if there isn't already one.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T21:17:39.991714+00:00