Difference between revisions of "BIP 0073"

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==Abstract==
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{{BipMoved|bip-0073.mediawiki|BIP 0073}}
 
 
This BIP describes an enhancement to the payment protocol ([[BIP 0070|BIP 70]])
 
that addresses the need for short URLs when scanning from QR codes. It
 
generalizes the specification for the behavior of a payment request URL in a
 
way that allows the client and server to negotiate the content of the
 
response using the HTTP Accept: header field.  Specifically, the client
 
can indicate to the server whether it prefers to receive a bitcoin URI or
 
a payment request.
 
 
 
Implementation of this BIP does not require full payment request ([[BIP 0070|BIP 70]]) support.
 
 
 
==Motivation==
 
 
 
The payment protocol augments the bitcoin: uri scheme with an additional
 
"payment" parameter that specifies a URL where a payment request can be
 
downloaded.  This creates long URIs that, when rendered as a QR code, have
 
a high information density.  Dense QR codes can be difficult to scan resulting
 
in a more frustrating user experience.  The goal is to create a standard that
 
would allow QR scanning wallets to use less dense QR codes.  It also makes
 
general purpose QR code scanners more usable with bitcoin accepting
 
websites.
 
 
 
==Specification==
 
 
 
QR scanning wallets will consider a non bitcoin URI scanned from a QR code to
 
be an end point where either a bitcoin URI or a payment request can be obtained.
 
 
 
A wallet client uses the Accept: HTTP header to specify whether it can accept
 
a payment request, a URI, or both.  A media type of text/uri-list specifies that
 
the client accepts a bitcoin URI. A media type of application/bitcoin-paymentrequest
 
specifies that the client can process a payment request.  In the absence of an
 
Accept: header, the server is expected to respond with text/html suitable for
 
rendering in a browser.  An HTML response will ensure that QR codes scanned
 
by non Bitcoin wallet QR scanners are useful (they could render an HTML page
 
with a payment link that when clicked would open a wallet on the device).
 
 
 
It is not required that the client and server support the full semantics of an
 
HTTP Accept header.  If application/bitcoin-paymentrequest is specified in the
 
header, the server should send a payment request regardless of anything else
 
specified in the Accept header.  If text/uri-list is specified (but not
 
application/bitcoin-paymentrequest), a valid Bitcoin URI should be returned.  If
 
neither is specified, the server can return an HTML page.  When a uri-list is returned
 
only the first item in the list is used (and expected to be a bitcoin URI), any additional
 
URIs should be ignored.
 
 
 
==Compatibility==
 
 
 
Only QR scanning wallets that implement this BIP will be able to process QR
 
codes containing payment request URLs.  There are two possible workarounds for QR
 
scanning wallets that do not implement this BIP: 1) the server gives the user an
 
option to change the QR code to a bitcoin: URI or 2) the user scans the code with
 
a generic QR code scanner.
 
 
 
In the second scenario, if the server responds with a webpage containing a link
 
to a bitcoin URI, the user can complete the payment by clicking that link provided
 
the user has a wallet installed on their device and it supports bitcoin URIs.  If the
 
wallet/device does not have support for bitcoin URIs, the user can fall back on
 
address copy/paste.
 
 
 
This BIP should be fully compatible with BIP 70 assuming it is required that wallets
 
implementing BIP 70 make use of the Accept: HTTP header when retrieving a
 
payment request.
 
 
 
==Examples==
 
The first image below is of a bitcoin URI with an amount and payment request
 
specified (note, this is a fairly minimal URI as it does not contain a
 
label and the request URL is of moderate size).  The second image is a QR
 
code with only the payment request url specified.
 
  
 
[[File:BIP_0073a.png]]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[File:BIP_0073b.png]]
 
[[File:BIP_0073a.png]]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[File:BIP_0073b.png]]
 
[[Category:BIP]]
 
[[Category:BIP]]

Revision as of 08:28, 6 December 2013

This page describes a BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal).
Please see BIP 2 for more information about BIPs and creating them. Please do not just create a wiki page.

  BIP: 73
  Title: Use "Accept" header for response type negotiation with Payment Request URLs 
  Author: Stephen Pair <stephen@bitpay.com>
  Status: Draft
  Type: Standards Track
  Created: 27-08-2013

Please do not modify this page. This is a mirror of the BIP from the source Git repository here.

BIP 0073a.png     BIP 0073b.png