bip3: Address feedback prompted by Motion to Activate #2051

pull murchandamus wants to merge 12 commits into bitcoin:master from murchandamus:2025-12-bip3-address-activation-motion-feedback changing 1 files +39 −20
  1. murchandamus commented at 0:37 am on December 10, 2025: contributor

    This PR addresses feedback from the mailing list and a recent pull request to BIP 3. The following functional changes are made:

    • Revert the recently added AI guidance
    • Broaden the formats per which reference implementations may be provided
    • Move Type header responsibility to the author(s)

    A Changelog section is added and backfilled, and a few editorial improvements are made. The Version header is omitted at this time, since it is not permitted under BIP 2.

  2. Revert "BIP3: add guidance on originality, quality, LLMs"
    This reverts commit d083ce5a9b9d96bbbedec94a3c7878df11edd085.
    3d07d12de5
  3. bip3: Broaden reference implementation formats
    Based on Luke Dashjr’s b46e8195914fc3479760fef4c443390c01825e63
    56ac1c2686
  4. murchandamus force-pushed on Dec 10, 2025
  5. murchandamus force-pushed on Dec 10, 2025
  6. real-or-random approved
  7. real-or-random commented at 9:25 am on December 10, 2025: contributor
    ACK 4429b139fc397fa8c24cca6081586fc4f594fd5e
  8. in bip-0003.md:484 in 4429b139fc outdated
    480@@ -481,22 +481,23 @@ repository](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips) where it may get further feedback.
    481 
    482 For each new BIP pull request that comes in, an editor checks the following:
    483 
    484-* The idea has been previously proposed by one of the authors to the Bitcoin Development Mailing List and discussed there
    485+* The idea has been previously proposed to the Bitcoin Development Mailing List and discussed there
    


    jonatack commented at 4:53 pm on December 11, 2025:
    Why remove this? It helps avoid sniping.

    murchandamus commented at 5:04 pm on December 11, 2025:

    The way I understood the request, it seemed the most transparent to revert the whole commit. Regarding whether the idea must have been proposed by the same person writing the BIP: We have had only three instances in which BIP drafts came from other people than the ones proposing an idea. One was a misunderstanding (AJ suggesting to Chris to help, while Antoine wasn’t in the loop), the others explicitly said that they won’t pursue their idea and it’s up for grabs. I also added a second line here, that states that the authors’ BIP draft has to have been discussed, which seems more important to me.

    0-* The idea has been previously proposed by one of the authors to the Bitcoin Development Mailing List and discussed there
    1+* The idea has been previously proposed to the Bitcoin Development Mailing List and discussed there
    2 * The described idea is on-topic for the repository
    3+* A draft of the BIP by one of the authors has been previously discussed on the Bitcoin Development Mailing List
    

    jonatack commented at 5:08 pm on December 11, 2025:

    BIP110 was an example as well.

    the others explicitly said that they won’t pursue their idea and it’s up for grabs

    We had a case like this recently where the discussion author said that on social media (X), rather than in the list thread, causing confusion as well.


    jonatack commented at 5:09 pm on December 11, 2025:
    Ok, the latest change you propose LGTM.
  9. in bip-0003.md:494 in 4429b139fc outdated
    492 * Motivation, Rationale, and Backward Compatibility have been addressed
    493 * Specification provides sufficient detail for implementation
    494-* The defined Layer header must be correctly assigned for the given specification
    495-* The BIP is ready: it is comprehensible, technically feasible and sound, and all aspects are addressed as necessary
    496+* The defined Layer and Type headers must be correctly assigned for the given specification
    497+* The BIP is ready: it is comprehensible, technically feasible, and all aspects are addressed as necessary
    


    jonatack commented at 4:54 pm on December 11, 2025:
    Why remove soundness?

    murchandamus commented at 5:11 pm on December 11, 2025:
    That was collateral damage of rolling back the AI-guidance commit, but lemme add it back in a separate commit.

    murchandamus commented at 5:18 pm on December 11, 2025:
    Added it back in a later commit.
  10. bip3: Clarify editor assignment of BIP numbers
    Adopted from:
    https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/2037/commits/a399d0791d173510badd3cbf954be547c3d347e4k
    
    Co-authored-by: luke+github_public@dashjr.org
    6f62034db8
  11. bip3: Avoid implying BIP editors must reply to every ML post
    Co-authored-by: Luke Dashjr <luke-jr+git@utopios.org>
    25810a0a4a
  12. bip3: Clarify that draft needs to be discussed on ML e44d11ebb9
  13. bip-0003: Move Type header responsibility to the author(s) 86d9737e41
  14. bip-0003: Changes from BIP 2: Make it match actual spec 5fd4162378
  15. bip3: Fix capitalization and drop footnote f29514f21c
  16. bip3: Avoid onus f389e9b1bb
  17. bip3: Add and backfill Changelog section
    The Version header is omitted at this time, as it is not permitted under BIP 2.
    41fe83f750
  18. in bip-0003.md:40 in 4429b139fc outdated
    40 BIPs are intended to be a means for proposing new protocol features, coordinating client standards, and
    41-documenting design decisions that have gone into implementations. A BIP may be submitted by anyone,
    42-provided it is the original work of its authors and the content is of high quality, e.g. does not waste
    43-the community's time. No content may be generated by AI/LLMs and authors must proactively disclose
    44-up-front any use of AI/LLMs.
    45+documenting design decisions that have gone into implementations. BIPs may be submitted by anyone.
    


    jonatack commented at 4:55 pm on December 11, 2025:
    This not only removes the AI guidance, but also that the content be of high-quality and not waste the community’s time.

    jonatack commented at 5:02 pm on December 11, 2025:

    Edit, wider discussion, not necessarily for here:

    It may be useful to set expectations, e.g. (simplifying), whether we’re (a) relatively strict about the quality of what is accepted and it being in-scope, and thereby validated/legitimized by inclusion, versus (b) giving most everything a number and making everyone happy, at the risk of diluting the value of the repository.


    murchandamus commented at 5:10 pm on December 11, 2025:
    It was my understanding that the “original work” part was also controversial, e.g., @real-or-random had pushed back on that. High quality is already required in the first line of the Draft section, but I’d be fine with reiterating here and stating that people shouldn’t waste the community’s time.

    murchandamus commented at 5:18 pm on December 11, 2025:
    @jonatack: I added a commit to add language to that effect. Please let me know whether that meets your expectations.

    jonatack commented at 5:23 pm on December 11, 2025:

    Thanks

    nit: s/their/the/ content


    murchandamus commented at 9:30 pm on December 11, 2025:
    Taken, thanks.
  19. murchandamus force-pushed on Dec 11, 2025
  20. murchandamus commented at 4:58 pm on December 11, 2025: contributor

    Added a missing comma:

    0-"bip-title.[md|mediawiki]". Only BIP Editors may assign BIP numbers. Until one has done so authors should refer to their
    1+"bip-title.[md|mediawiki]". Only BIP Editors may assign BIP numbers. Until one has done so, authors should refer to their
    
  21. bip3: Require technical soundness
    Co-authored-by: jon@atack.com
    a9308f362e
  22. in bip-0003.md:631 in f29514f21c outdated
    625@@ -626,9 +626,6 @@ feedback, and helpful comments.
    626     has frequently led to confusion, with authors using the date of opening the pull request, the date they started
    627     writing their proposal, the date of number assignment (as prescribed), or various other dates. Aligning the name of
    628     the header and the text in the preamble template with the descriptions will reduce the confusion.
    629-[^capitalization]: **When is Bitcoin capitalized and when is it lowercased?**  
    630-    This document uses capitalized Bitcoin to refer to the system, network and abstract concept, and only uses lowercase
    631-    bitcoin to refer to units of the bitcoin currency.
    


    darosior commented at 5:02 pm on December 11, 2025:
    Your previous use of capitalization seemed preferable to me. Not a big deal either way.

    murchandamus commented at 9:34 pm on December 11, 2025:
    A reviewer pointed out that the currency unit “bitcoin” never appears in the document, and as far as I can tell, all instances of Bitcoin otherwise refer to the system, which I would capitalize. Either way, I think capitalization of the word Bitcoin should not be a blocker.
  23. darosior approved
  24. darosior commented at 6:07 pm on December 11, 2025: member

    ACK c6375317696e88868d14e451f91ad4f12520bc0d

    Looks good to me. Overall, the changes are minor with the exception of removing the explicit ban on LLM-generated content.

    This is an important document which is important to get right, and i understand that we want to keep refining it. But it is also a living one, which can be updated and improved after being activated, and is already a substantial improvement over the current process. I hope we can collectively come to an agreement soon and conclude this years-long effort.

  25. bip3: Do not waste community’s time
    Co-authored-by: jon@atack.com
    897fa1b9df
  26. murchandamus force-pushed on Dec 11, 2025
  27. darosior approved
  28. darosior commented at 2:22 am on December 12, 2025: member
    reACK 897fa1b9dfd0eb77996144e83c1e1cc63a49bf6a
  29. dni commented at 5:16 am on December 12, 2025: none
    :+1:
  30. in bip-0003.md:41 in 897fa1b9df
    41-documenting design decisions that have gone into implementations. A BIP may be submitted by anyone,
    42-provided it is the original work of its authors and the content is of high quality, e.g. does not waste
    43-the community's time. No content may be generated by AI/LLMs and authors must proactively disclose
    44-up-front any use of AI/LLMs.
    45+documenting design decisions that have gone into implementations. BIPs may be submitted by anyone, provided the
    46+content is of high quality, e.g., does not waste the community’s time.
    


    jonatack commented at 8:23 pm on December 15, 2025:

    Would something roughly like this (didn’t cross-verify with the rest of the BIP) be a good idea? (to discourage skipping steps and opening a PR prematurely)

    0content is of high quality and the process followed, e.g., does not waste the community’s time.
    

    jonatack commented at 8:29 pm on December 15, 2025:
    The ease with which LLMs are enabling people to submit complete-looking, “thorough” techno-babbly drafts (h/t Greg Maxwell) might be counteracted somewhat byy insisting on following the process of discussing first the idea, and then maybe later a draft, on the list before opening a PR here.

    murchandamus commented at 8:33 pm on December 15, 2025:
    Since the whole document is providing guidance for participating in the process, the suggestion that the process should be followed does not strike me as controversial. I’d prefer to wrap on making changes, though, as every additional change resets prior ACKs. Would it be fine with you to relegate this to a follow-up?

    jonatack commented at 8:37 pm on December 15, 2025:
    SGTM (for a possible follow-up).

    murchandamus commented at 8:51 pm on December 15, 2025:
    Great, thanks. I’ll leave this unresolved so it won’t be missed for the follow-up.
  31. jonatack commented at 8:24 pm on December 15, 2025: member
    ACK
  32. murchandamus added the label Proposed BIP modification on Dec 15, 2025
  33. sipa commented at 9:04 pm on December 15, 2025: member
    LGTM
  34. jonatack requested review from real-or-random on Dec 15, 2025
  35. real-or-random approved
  36. real-or-random commented at 9:36 pm on December 15, 2025: contributor
    ACK 897fa1b9dfd0eb77996144e83c1e1cc63a49bf6a
  37. jonatack merged this on Dec 15, 2025
  38. jonatack closed this on Dec 15, 2025


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