Bitcoin signing flow

The Bitcoin signing process is one of the most complicated workflows in the Trezor codebase. This is because Trezor cannot store arbitrarily large transactions in memory, so both the input data and the results must be sent in chunks. The Protobuf messages cannot fully encode the data pertaining to a single transaction; instead, the data is spread out over multiple messages.

Overview

The signing flow is initiated by a SignTx command. The message contains the name of the coin, number of inputs and outputs, and transaction metadata: version, lock time, and others that are required for some coins.

In response, Trezor will send a number of TxRequest messages, asking for additional data from the host. The host is supposed to respond with a TxAck providing the requested data.

Trezor can request the following kinds of items:

input of the transaction being signed
output of the transaction being signed
metadata of a previous transaction, i.e., the transaction whose UTXO is being spent
metadata of an original transaction, i.e., a transaction that is being replaced by the current transaction
input of a previous or original transaction
output of a previous or original transaction
additional trailing data of a previous transaction

As part of each TxRequest message, Trezor can also send a chunk of the resulting serialized transaction, and/or a signature of one of the inputs.

The flow ends when Trezor sends a TxRequest with request_type of TXFINISHED.

Signing phases

The following content is for reference only, and details might change in the future. Host code should make no assumptions about the order of the phases.

The list of phases here also does not necessarily correspond to internal phase numbering.

Gathering info about current transaction

Trezor will request all inputs and outputs of the transaction to be signed, and set up data structures that allow it to verify that the same data is sent in the following phases.

In this phase, Trezor will also ask the user to confirm destination addresses, the transaction fee, metadata, and the total being sent. If the user confirms, we continue to the next phase.

Validation of input data

Trezor must verify that the host does not lie about input amounts, i.e., that the transaction total in the first phase was calculated correctly.

For this reason, Trezor will ask the host to send each input again. It will then request data about the referenced previous transaction: metadata, all inputs, all outputs, and possible trailing data. This allows Trezor to reconstruct the previous transaction and calculate its hash. If this hash matches the provided one, and the amount on selected UTXO matches the input amount, the given input is considered valid.

If all internal inputs are taproot, then the verification of the previous transactions is skipped. This is possible because if the host provides invalid information about the UTXOs being spent, then the resulting taproot signatures will also be invalid.

Trezor T also supports pre-signed inputs for multi-party signing. If an input has script type EXTERNAL and provides a signature, Trezor will validate the signature against the previous transaction in this step.

Serialization and signing

Trezor will ask once again about every input and begin outputting a serialization of the transaction. For every legacy (non-segwit) input, it is necessary to stream the full set of inputs and outputs again, so that Trezor can compute the transaction digest which it then signs. For segwit inputs this is not necessary.

When all inputs are serialized, Trezor will ask for every output, so that it can serialize it, fill out change addresses, and return the full transaction.

Finally Trezor asks again about segwit inputs to sign them and to serialize the witnesses.

Old versus new data structures

Originally, the TxAck message contained one field of type TransactionType. This, in turn, contained all the possible fields that Trezor could request:

TransactionType itself contains fields for all necessary metadata, plus a field extra_data for trailing data.
TransactionType.inputs is an array of TxInputType objects, each of which can describe either the current input, or an input of a previous transaction.
TransactionType.outputs is an array of TxOutputType objects, each of which can describe an output of the current transaction.
TransactionType.bin_outputs is an array of TxOutputBinType objects, each of which can describe an output of a previous transaction.

This organization makes it practical to use the TransactionType for host-side storage: a transaction can be fully stored in one object, and in order to send a TxAck response, you only need to extract the appropriate data.

The cost of this is that this organization makes it extremely unclear which data should be extracted at which points.

To make the constraints more visible, a new set of data types was designed. There is a TxAck<Kind> message for every Kind of data. These only define the fields that are appropriate for that kind of request.

It is possible to use both representations, as they are wire-compatible. However, we recommend using the new definitions for new applications.

Request types

The TxRequest message always contains a request_type field, indicating which kind of data it wants. In addition, request_details specify the particular piece of data requested.

If request_details.tx_hash is set, Trezor is requesting data about a specified previous transaction. If it is unset, Trezor wants data about current transaction.

Transaction input

Trezor sets request_type to TXINPUT, and request_details.tx_hash is unset.

request_details.request_index is the index of the input in the transaction: 0 is the first input, 1 is second, etc.

Old style: Host must respond with a TxAck message. The field tx.inputs must be set to an array of one element, which describes the requested input. All other fields should be left unset.

New style: Host must respond with a TxAckInput message. All relevant data must be set on tx.input.

Normal (internal) inputs

Usually, the user owns, and wants to sign, all inputs of the transaction. For that, the host must specify a derivation path for the key, and script type SPENDADDRESS (legacy), SPENDP2SHWITNESS (P2SH segwit), SPENDWITNESS (native segwit) or SPENDTAPROOT.

Multisig inputs

For multisig inputs, the XPUBs of all signers (including the current user) must be provided in the multisig structure. Legacy multisig uses type SPENDMULTISIG, P2SH segwit and native segwit multisig use the same type as non-multisig inputs, i.e. SPENDP2SHWITNESS or SPENDWITNESS.

Full documentation for multisig is TBD.

External inputs

Trezor can include inputs that it will not sign, typically because they are owned by another party. Such inputs are of type EXTERNAL and the host does not specify a derivation path for the key, but sets the script_pubkey field to the scriptPubKey of the previous output that is being spent by the external input. An external input can either be verified or unverified. The amounts supplied to the transaction by verified external inputs are subtracted from the transaction total that the user is asked to confirm, whereas unverified external inputs are not subtracted.

Verified external inputs are only supported on the Trezor T. They must either already have a valid signature or they must come with an ownership proof. If the input already has a valid signature, then the host provides the script_sig and/or witness fields. If the other signing party hasn't signed their input yet (i.e., with two Trezors, one must sign first so that the other can include a pre-signed input), they can instead provide a SLIP-19 ownership proof in the ownership_proof field, with optional commitment data in commitment_data.

Unverified external inputs are accepted by Trezor only if safety checks are disabled on the device.

Transaction output

Trezor sets request_type to OUTPUT, and request_details.tx_hash is unset.

request_details.request_index is the index of the output in the transaction: 0 is the first input, 1 is second, etc.

Old style: Host must respond with a TxAck message. The field tx.outputs must be set to an array of one element, which describes the requested output. All other fields should be left unset.

New style: Host must respond with a TxAckOutput message. All relevant data must be set on tx.output.

External outputs

Outputs that send coins to a particular address are always of type PAYTOADDRESS. The address is sent as a string in the field address.

Change outputs

Outputs that send coins back to the same owner must specify a derivation path and the appropriate script type. If the derivation path has the same prefix as all inputs, and a matching script type (legacy, p2sh segwit, native segwit), it is considered to be a change output, and its amount is subtracted from the total.

address must not be specified in this case. It is instead derived internally from the provided derivation path.

OP_RETURN outputs

Outputs of type PAYTOOPRETURN must not specify address nor address_n, and the amount must be zero. The OP_RETURN data is sent as op_return_data field.

Previous transaction metadata

Trezor sets request_type to TXMETA. request_details.tx_hash is a transaction hash, matching one of the current transaction inputs.

Old style: Host must respond with a TxAck message. The structure tx must be filled out with relevant data, in particular, inputs_cnt and outputs_cnt must be set to the number of transaction inputs and outputs. Arrays inputs, outputs, bin_outputs and extra_data should be empty.

New style: Host must respond with a TxAckPrevMeta message. All relevant data must be set on tx.

Extra data

Some coins (e.g., Zcash) contain data at the end of transaction serialization that Trezor does not understand. The host must indicate the length of this extra data in the field extra_data_len.

To figure out which is the extra data, the host must parse the serialized previous transaction up to the last field understood by Trezor. In case of Zcash, that is:

version + version group ID
number of inputs, and every input
number of outputs, and every output
lock time
expiry

All data after the expiry field is considered "extra data".

Previous transaction input

Trezor sets request_type to TXINPUT. request_details.tx_hash is a transaction hash, matching one of the current transaction inputs.

Old style: Host must respond with a TxAck message. The field tx.inputs must be set to an array of one element, which describes the requested input of the specified previous transaction. All other fields should be left unset.

New style: Host must respond with a TxAckPrevInput message. All relevant data must be set on tx.input.

Previous transaction output

Trezor sets request_type to TXOUTPUT. request_details.tx_hash is a transaction hash, matching one of the current transaction inputs.

Old style: Host must respond with a TxAck message. The field tx.bin_outputs must be set to an array of one element, which describes the requested output of the specified previous transaction. All other fields should be left unset.

New style: Host must respond with a TxAckPrevOutput message. All relevant data must be set on tx.output.

Previous transaction trailing data

On some coins, such as Zcash, the transaction serialization can contain data not understood by Trezor. This data is not relevant for validation, but it must be included so that Trezor can correctly compute the previous transaction hash.

Trezor sets request_type to TXEXTRADATA. request_details.tx_hash is a transaction hash, matching one of the current transaction inputs.

request_details.extra_data_offset specifies the offset of the requested data from the start of the extra data. request_details.extra_data_length specifies the length of the requested chunk.

Old style: Host must respond with a TxAck message. The field tx.extra_data must contain the specified chunk, starting at the given offset and of exactly the given length. All other fields should be unset.

New style: Host must respond with a TxAckPrevExtraData message. The chunk must be set to tx.extra_data_chunk.

Original transaction input

Trezor sets request_type to TXORIGINPUT. request_details.tx_hash is the transaction hash of the original transaction.

The host must respond with a TxAckInput message. All relevant data must be set in tx.input. The derivation path and script_type are mandatory for all original internal inputs. All original internal inputs must also be accompanied with full transaction signature data in the script_sig and/or witness fields.

Original transaction output

Trezor sets request_type to TXORIGOUTPUT. request_details.tx_hash is the transaction hash of the original transaction.

Host must respond with a TxAckOutput message. All relevant data must be set in tx.output. The derivation path and script type are mandatory for all original change-outputs.

Payment request

Trezor sets request_type to TXPAYMENTREQ, and request_details.tx_hash is unset. request_details.request_index is the index of the payment request in the transaction: 0 is the first payment request, 1 is second, etc.

The host must respond with a TxAckPaymentRequest message.

Replacement transactions

A replacement transaction is a transaction that uses the same inputs as one or more transactions which have already been signed (the original transactions). Replacement transactions can be used to securely bump the fee of an already signed transaction (BIP-125) or to participate as a sender in PayJoin (BIP-78). Trezor only supports signing of replacement transaction which do not increase the amount that the user is spending on external outputs. Thus when signing a replacement transaction the user only needs to confirm the fee modification and the original TXIDs without being shown any outputs, since the original external outputs must have already been confirmed by the user and any new external outputs can only be paid for by new external inputs.

The host signals that a transaction is a replacement transaction by setting the orig_hash and orig_index fields for at least one TxInput. Trezor will then automatically request metadata about the original transaction and verify the original signatures.

A replacement transaction in Trezor must satisfy the following requirements:

All inputs of the original transactions must be inputs of the replacement transaction.
All external outputs of the original transactions must be outputs of the replacement transaction.
The value of an external output may be decreased only if there are no new external inputs. This should only be used to bump the fee if the original transaction transfers the entire account balance and there is no other source available to bump the fee.
The replacement transaction must not increase the amount that the user is spending on external outputs.
Original transactions must have the same effective nLockTime as the replacement transaction.
The inputs and outputs of the original transactions must not be permuted in the replacement transaction, but they can be interleaved with new inputs or with inputs from another original transaction.
New OP_RETURN outputs cannot be added in the replacement transaction.

So the replacement transaction is, for example, allowed to:

Increase the user's contribution to the mining fee by adding new inputs or decreasing or removing change outputs.
Decrease the user's contribution to the mining fee by increasing or adding change-outputs.
Add external inputs (PayJoin) and use them to introduce new outputs, increase the original external outputs or even to increase the user's change outputs so as to decrease the amount that the user is spending.

Payment requests

In Trezor T a set of transaction outputs can be accompanied by a payment request. Multiple payment requests per transaction are also possible. A payment request is a message signed by a trusted party requesting payment of certain amounts to a set of outputs as specified in SLIP-24. The user then does not have to verify the output addresses, but only confirms the payment of the requested amount to the recipient.

The host signals that an output belongs to a payment request by setting the payment_req_index field in the TxOutput message. When Trezor encounters the first output that has this field set to a particular index, it will ask for the payment request that has the given index.

All outputs belonging to one payment request must be consecutive in the transaction.

Implementation notes

Pseudo-code

The following is a rough outline of host-side implementation. See above for detailed info.

transaction_bytes = ""
signatures = [""] * len(INPUTS)

def sign_tx():
    # send initial message
    send_message(
        SignTx(
            coin_name,
            inputs_count=len(INPUTS),
            outputs_count=len(OUTPUTS),
            # ...fill individual metadata fields
        )
    )

    # wait for TxAck forever, until Trezor indicates we are finished
    while True:
        msg = receive_message()

        # extract data first
        extract_streamed_data(msg.serialized)

        if msg.request_type == TXFINISHED:
            # we are done
            break

        if msg.details.tx_hash is not None:
            # Trezor requires data about some previous transaction
            send_response_prev(msg.request_type, msg.details)
        else:
            # Trezor requires data about this transaction
            send_response_current(msg.request_type, msg.details)

def extract_streamed_data(ser: TxRequestSerializedType):
    global transaction_bytes, signatures
    # append serialized data to what we got so far
    transaction_bytes += ser.serialized_tx
    if ser.signature_index is not None:
        # read the signature
        signatures[ser.signature_index] = ser.signature

def send_response_prev(request_type: RequestType, details: TxRequestDetailsType):
    prev_tx = get_prev_tx(details.tx_hash)
    if request_type == TXINPUT:
        send_prev_input(prev_tx.inputs[details.request_index])
    elif request_type == TXOUTPUT:
        send_prev_output(prev_tx.outputs[details.request_index])
    elif request_type == TXMETA:
        send_prev_metadata(prev_tx)
    elif request_type == TXEXTRADATA:
        offset = details.extra_data_offset
        length = details.extra_data_length
        extra_data_chunk = prev_tx.extra_data[offset : offset + length]
        send_prev_extra_data(extra_data_chunk)

def send_response_current(request_type: RequestType, details: TxRequestDetailsType):
    if request_type == TXINPUT:
        send_input(INPUTS[details.request_index])
    elif request_type == TXOUTPUT:
        send_output(OUTPUTS[details.request_index])

Wire compatibility

The new definitions are structured so that the Protobuf binary encoded form can be decoded into both representations. This means that the host can encode data in the old representation, and Trezor will successfully and correctly decode it into the new one.

This is done by reusing field IDs as appropriate, and taking advantage of the fact that Protobuf encodes arrays as a sequence of the same field repeated a number of times.

For example, here is a part of the TxAck definition:

message TxAck {
    optional TransactionType tx = 1;

    message TransactionType {
        // ... some fields omitted ...
        repeated TxInputType inputs = 2;
        // ... some fields omitted ...

        message TxInputType {
            repeated uint32 address_n = 1;
            // ... some fields omitted ...
            optional uint64 amount = 8;
            // ... some fields omitted ...
        }
    }
}

A message carrying these fields would look like this:

FIELD 1 (type NESTED):
    FIELD 2 (type NESTED):
        FIELD 1 (type int): 0x8000002c
        FIELD 1 (type int): 0x80000000
        FIELD 1 (type int): 0x80000000
        FIELD 1 (type int): 0
        FIELD 1 (type int): 0
        FIELD 8 (type int): 1234567

We can see that this is identical as if the type definition looked as follows; indeed, we only renamed the types, removed some fields, and set some optional or repeated to required instead.

message TxAckInput {
    required TxAckInputWrapper tx = 1;

    message TxAckInputWrapper {
        required TxInput input = 2; // the field is now required instead of repeated

        message TxInput {
            repeated uint32 address_n = 1;
            required uint64 amount = 8;
        }
    }
}

A caveat of this approach is that this introduces invisible dependencies: TxInput and PrevInput fold into the same old-style TxInputType, so adding new fields must be done carefully.

We expect to gradually deprecate the TransactionType. At that point, the new-style types will be fully independent.

Trezor Firmware