Bitcoin: recovery and Lightning
Bitcoin output descriptors: the wallet backup beyond a seed
Keys, derivation paths and spending rules answer different recovery questions.
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Reference guides
What a descriptor describes
A seed can recreate keys without telling the restoring wallet which scripts it should search for. Output descriptors make that missing context explicit: the script template, keys and derivation information belong to one readable expression. BIP-380 defines the common syntax; separate BIPs define particular expressions. A descriptor describes outputs a wallet can recognise or create. It is not a promise that the wallet can spend them. 1
Watching and spending are different powers
A public descriptor may let a service derive receiving addresses and watch balances without authorising a spend. That is useful for separating an online monitor from signing devices. It also exposes a much wider financial history than sharing one address. A descriptor containing private key material is a different object entirely and must be treated as secret. The words ‘descriptor export’ do not tell you which of these you received. 2
A checksum is not a backup test
The optional descriptor checksum detects transcription errors. It does not certify that the keys exist, the wallet supports the expression, or the policy matches the intended custody arrangement. Multisignature recovery also needs the complete policy and the other participants’ public keys. Retain the relevant recovery information offline and document what software can interpret it. Never put a real descriptor into an online tutorial, public issue or support chat.
What to record
A useful recovery inventory identifies the network, script type, key origins, receive and change branches, and whether the export is public-only. Check that a separate recovery environment derives known receiving addresses before relying on it. This is a compatibility check, not an instruction to expose a seed. Versioned wallet documentation matters because an export format can be broader than a particular application’s import support.
Worked example
A watch-only laptop displays a deposit using public derivation information. A disconnected signer still holds the spending key. Losing the laptop need not lose the coins; publishing its public descriptor can nevertheless reveal the wallet’s future receiving addresses. These are different failure modes.