Standardized Naming Conventions for BRC-22 Topic Managers and BRC-24 Lookup Services
Independent implementations picking their own names for the same index or query will not interoperate. This proposes naming conventions so a name means the same thing wherever it appears.
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Reference for an AI
Everything an assistant needs to answer questions about BRC-87 accurately, including what it depends on.
Summary
- Why
- Overlay network nodes handling the same transactions and protocols had no agreed way to name their topic managers and lookup services, making it hard to find or synchronize the same service across different nodes.
- What
- BRC-87 is a naming convention that standardizes how BRC-22 topic manager names and BRC-24 lookup service names are written, using fixed prefixes, a limited character set, and a length cap.
- How
- A developer names a topic manager with a tm_ prefix and a lookup service with an ls_ prefix, followed by a lowercase, underscore-separated descriptor (or an asset identifier like a txid and vout for per-asset services), keeping the whole name under 256 bytes and free of leading, trailing, or doubled underscores.
What this lets you do
- Name a BRC-22 topic manager with a predictable tm_ prefix
- Name a BRC-24 lookup service with a predictable ls_ prefix
- Build per-asset service names that embed a txid and vout as in BRC-207
- Agree on a shared name with other node operators so services are findable across nodes
- Validate a name against fixed character, underscore, and length rules
Written by claude-sonnet-5 from the specification text. Where the two differ, the original is correct.
The specification
Abstract
This document proposes standardized naming conventions for topic managers in BRC-22 and lookup services in BRC-24 to ensure clarity, interoperability, and uniformity across different implementations. The goal is to provide consistent and easily understandable names that facilitate efficient communication and integration between overlay network nodes and services within the BSV ecosystem.
Motivation
Currently, there is no unified naming convention for topic managers and lookup services utilized in BRC-22 and BRC-24 standards. This absence can lead to confusion and errors in integration.
Specification
Naming Consistency Across Nodes
Network services that deal with the same transactions and protocols should negotiate to agree upon a common name for their topic managers and lookup services. This ensures resiliency, in that network users are able to access the same services at known locations across nodes, even if one node in an overlay network goes down. It also aids node operators in synchronizing relevant transactions with one another.
General Guidelines
- Consistency: Names should be consistent across different implementations to avoid ambiguity.
- Clarity: Names should be clear and descriptive enough for developers to understand their purpose.
- Length: While names should be descriptive, they should also be concise to ensure ease of use in configurations and codebases. Names that embed an on-chain identifier, such as the per-asset names of BRC-207 (
tm_color_<txid>_<vout>,ls_color_<txid>_<vout>), are necessarily longer; the 256-byte limit bounds them.
Master Rules
- Only lower-case letters, digits (0-9) and underscores.
- Must not start or end with an underscore.
- No consecutive underscores.
- No longer than 256 bytes.
Naming Conventions for BRC-22 Topic Managers
- Prefix: Use the prefix
tm_to indicate a topic manager. - Topic Identifier: Follow the prefix with a short descriptor of the topic.
- Example:
tm_uhrp_filestm_tempo_songstm_color_<txid>_<vout>(BRC-207, one topic per asset)
Naming Conventions for BRC-24 Lookup Services
- Prefix: Use the prefix
ls_to denote a lookup service. - Service Identifier: Follow the prefix with a brief descriptor of the lookup service functionality.
- Example:
ls_uhrp_filesls_tempo_songs_searchls_color_<txid>_<vout>(BRC-207, one lookup service per asset)
Implementation
Each overlay network node and service provider must update their naming conventions to comply with the standardized guidelines described in this document. This update involves renaming existing topic managers and lookup services accordingly and ensuring that new implementations follow these standardized conventions.
By standardizing naming conventions for topic managers and lookup services, we can significantly enhance the clarity, consistency, and interoperability of overlay networks on the BSV blockchain.