Agent skill
bitcoin-auth-diagnostics
Diagnose and troubleshoot bitcoin-auth token generation and verification issues. This skill should be used when users encounter authentication failures, signature verification errors, or integration problems with the bitcoin-auth library.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/Microck/ordinary-claude-skills/tree/main/skills_all/bitcoin-auth-diagnostics
SKILL.md
Bitcoin Auth Diagnostics
Overview
This skill enables comprehensive diagnosis of bitcoin-auth authentication issues across client and server implementations. Use this skill when encountering token generation failures, signature verification errors, or integration problems with the bitcoin-auth library.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Bitcoin auth token verification is failing
- Investigating "invalid signature" or "invalid token" errors
- Debugging integration with bitcoin-auth in APIs (especially Sigma Auth)
- Token generation produces unexpected results
- Time skew or timestamp-related authentication failures occur
- Body hash mismatches are suspected
- Scheme confusion between bsm and brc77 exists
Bitcoin Auth Token Format
All bitcoin-auth tokens follow this pipe-delimited format:
pubkey|scheme|timestamp|requestPath|signature
Components:
pubkey: Hex-encoded public key (66 characters)scheme: Eitherbsm(legacy) orbrc77(recommended)timestamp: ISO8601 format (e.g.,2025-01-15T14:30:00.000Z)requestPath: Full path including query parameters (e.g.,/api/endpoint?param=value)signature: Base64-encoded signature
Example valid token:
02a1b2c3d4e5f6...|brc77|2025-01-15T14:30:00.123Z|/api/status|dGVzdHNpZ25hdHVyZQ==
Diagnostic Workflow
Step 1: Token Structure Validation
First, validate the token structure before checking cryptographic validity:
import { parseAuthToken } from 'bitcoin-auth';
const token = "..."; // The failing token
const parsed = parseAuthToken(token);
if (!parsed) {
console.error("FAILED: Token structure is invalid");
// Check: Does token have exactly 5 pipe-delimited parts?
const parts = token.split('|');
console.log(`Token has ${parts.length} parts (expected 5)`);
console.log("Parts:", parts);
// Common issues:
// - Missing parts (incomplete token)
// - Extra pipes in requestPath or other fields
// - Invalid scheme (not 'bsm' or 'brc77')
} else {
console.log("✅ Token structure is valid");
console.log("Parsed token:", parsed);
}
Step 2: Component Validation
Validate each component individually:
const { pubkey, scheme, timestamp, requestPath, signature } = parsed;
// Validate public key
console.log("Public key length:", pubkey.length); // Should be 66 chars
console.log("Public key starts with 02/03:", pubkey.startsWith('02') || pubkey.startsWith('03'));
// Validate scheme
console.log("Scheme:", scheme); // Must be 'bsm' or 'brc77'
// Validate timestamp
const tokenTime = new Date(timestamp);
console.log("Token timestamp:", tokenTime.toISOString());
console.log("Current time:", new Date().toISOString());
console.log("Age (minutes):", (Date.now() - tokenTime.getTime()) / 60000);
// Default timePad is 5 minutes - token older than 5 minutes will fail
// Validate request path
console.log("Request path:", requestPath);
// Must match EXACTLY including query parameters and their order
// Validate signature
console.log("Signature (base64):", signature);
console.log("Signature length:", signature.length);
Step 3: Signature Verification
If structure is valid, diagnose verification failures:
import { verifyAuthToken } from 'bitcoin-auth';
import type { AuthPayload } from 'bitcoin-auth';
const authPayload: AuthPayload = {
requestPath: "/api/endpoint?param=value", // Must match token exactly
timestamp: new Date().toISOString(), // Server's current time
body: requestBody // Optional, must match if token was signed with body
};
const isValid = verifyAuthToken(
token,
authPayload,
5, // timePad in minutes (default 5)
'utf8' // bodyEncoding: 'utf8', 'hex', or 'base64'
);
if (!isValid) {
console.error("FAILED: Signature verification failed");
// Diagnose specific failures:
// 1. Request path mismatch
if (parsed.requestPath !== authPayload.requestPath) {
console.error("❌ Request path mismatch:");
console.error(" Token path:", parsed.requestPath);
console.error(" Verify path:", authPayload.requestPath);
// Common issue: Query parameter order differs
}
// 2. Timestamp issues
const tokenTimestamp = new Date(parsed.timestamp);
const targetTime = new Date(authPayload.timestamp);
targetTime.setMinutes(targetTime.getMinutes() + 5); // Add timePad
if (tokenTimestamp > targetTime) {
console.error("❌ Token timestamp too far in future");
console.error(" Token time:", tokenTimestamp.toISOString());
console.error(" Target time:", targetTime.toISOString());
}
// 3. Body hash mismatch
if (authPayload.body) {
console.log("Verifying with body present");
console.log(" Body encoding:", 'utf8'); // Check encoding matches
console.log(" Body length:", authPayload.body.length);
// Try different encodings if utf8 fails
}
// 4. Scheme-specific issues
if (parsed.scheme === 'bsm') {
console.log("Using legacy BSM signature scheme");
// BSM uses different signature format than BRC77
} else {
console.log("Using BRC77 signature scheme (recommended)");
}
}
Step 4: Common Integration Issues
Check for common integration mistakes:
Server-side (verification):
// ❌ WRONG: Using token's timestamp (defeats the purpose)
const authPayload = {
requestPath,
timestamp: parsedToken.timestamp, // DON'T DO THIS
body
};
// ✅ CORRECT: Use server's current time
const serverTime = new Date().toISOString();
const authPayload = {
requestPath,
timestamp: serverTime,
body
};
Client-side (generation):
// ✅ Token generation
import { getAuthToken } from 'bitcoin-auth';
const token = getAuthToken({
privateKeyWif,
requestPath: '/api/endpoint?param=value', // Include full path with query
body: JSON.stringify(requestBody), // If POST/PUT with body
scheme: 'brc77', // Default, recommended
bodyEncoding: 'utf8' // Default
});
// Include in request headers
fetch(url + requestPath, {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'X-Auth-Token': token,
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
},
body: JSON.stringify(requestBody)
});
Common Error Patterns
"Invalid bitcoin-auth token format"
Cause: Token doesn't have exactly 5 pipe-delimited parts
Solutions:
- Check token isn't truncated or corrupted
- Verify no extra pipes in requestPath or signature
- Ensure token is properly URL-encoded if passed in query params
"Bitcoin signature verification failed"
Cause: Signature doesn't match the payload
Solutions:
- Verify request path matches exactly (including query params)
- Check timestamp isn't older than timePad (default 5 minutes)
- Ensure body hash matches (if body present)
- Confirm correct bodyEncoding (utf8, hex, base64)
- Verify scheme matches (bsm vs brc77)
"Invalid token: time skew"
Cause: Token timestamp too far from server time
Solutions:
- Increase timePad parameter (default 5 minutes)
- Check client/server clock synchronization
- Verify timestamp format is ISO8601
"Request path mismatch"
Cause: Token requestPath doesn't match verification path
Solutions:
- Include full path with query parameters
- Ensure query parameter order is consistent
- Don't include domain/protocol in requestPath
- Match case sensitivity
"Body hash mismatch"
Cause: Body used for signing doesn't match verification body
Solutions:
- Use exact same body string (not re-serialized JSON)
- Check bodyEncoding matches (utf8, hex, base64)
- Verify body isn't modified between signing and verification
- Ensure Content-Type header matches body encoding
Integration with Sigma Auth
When working with Sigma Auth (auth.sigmaidentity.com), common patterns:
Token verification endpoint:
// POST /api/auth/token-for-endpoint
// Body: { authToken: "...", requestBody: "..." }
// Server parses and verifies:
const parsed = parseAuthToken(authToken);
const authPayload = {
requestPath: "/api/auth/token-for-endpoint",
timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
body: requestBody
};
const isValid = verifyAuthToken(authToken, authPayload);
Wallet connect flow:
// Uses BSM scheme for compatibility
const token = getAuthToken({
privateKeyWif,
requestPath: "/wallet/connect",
scheme: 'bsm'
});
Reference Documentation
For detailed API documentation and implementation examples, see:
references/bitcoin-auth-api.md- Complete API referencereferences/common-issues.md- Detailed troubleshooting guide- Bitcoin Auth GitHub: https://github.com/b-open-io/bitcoin-auth
- BRC-77 Specification: https://github.com/bitcoin-sv/BRCs/blob/master/peer-to-peer/0077.md
Environment Requirements
- Node.js/Bun runtime with
@bsv/sdkpeer dependency - bitcoin-auth library installed:
bun add bitcoin-auth - For testing: Access to bitcoin-auth repository test suite
Security Considerations
Never log private keys or WIF strings - Only log public keys, tokens, and diagnostic information.
When diagnosing authentication issues:
- Use test/development keys for diagnostics
- Sanitize logs before sharing (remove signatures/private data)
- Verify token expiry (timePad) is appropriate for your use case
- Use BRC77 scheme (default) for new implementations
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