Inconsistent hardened derivation marker in listdescriptors output #31694

1. 
   jp1ac4 commented at 9:05 pm on January 20, 2025: none

   Is there an existing issue for this?

   • I have searched the existing issues

   Current behaviour

   If I use importdescriptors to import a descriptor that uses only ' as the hardened derivation marker, the corresponding output of listdescriptors sometimes uses a mix of ' and h.

   Expected behaviour

   I would expect the output for a given imported descriptor to either match my input or otherwise use only one of ' and h.

   I would also expect the behaviour to be consistent across different descriptors.

   Steps to reproduce

   1. Create wallet:

   0$ bitcoin-cli -regtest createwallet test_h_vs_apostrophe true
   1{
   2  "name": "test_h_vs_apostrophe"
   3}
   

   2. Import tr descriptor:

   0$ bitcoin-cli -regtest -rpcwallet=test_h_vs_apostrophe importdescriptors "[{\"desc\": \"tr([1dce71b2/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDEeP3GefjqbaDTTaVAF5JkXWhoFxFDXQ9KuhVrMBViFXXNR2B3Lvme2d2AoyiKfzRFZChq2AGMNbU1qTbkBMfNv7WGVXLt2pnYXY87gXqcs/0/*,and_v(v:pk([1dce71b2/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDEeP3GefjqbaDTTaVAF5JkXWhoFxFDXQ9KuhVrMBViFXXNR2B3Lvme2d2AoyiKfzRFZChq2AGMNbU1qTbkBMfNv7WGVXLt2pnYXY87gXqcs/2/*),older(65535)))#xhrh0cvn\", \"timestamp\": \"now\"}]"
   1[
   2  {
   3    "success": true,
   4    "warnings": [
   5      "Range not given, using default keypool range"
   6    ]
   7  }
   8]
   

   3. Import wsh descriptor:

   0$ bitcoin-cli -regtest -rpcwallet=test_h_vs_apostrophe importdescriptors "[{\"desc\": \"wsh(or_d(pk([a233d117/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDF8d1Q2U8WWfxUHMiqqrYiavBReX2r7hwD7oQsEuq1AiXj5nJcLBkoh1uTLZVx66VrbRfeHyg5bSFvRKzesa1yzYuXDvawZeRi9m97a2Qzd/0/*),and_v(v:pkh([a233d117/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDF8d1Q2U8WWfxUHMiqqrYiavBReX2r7hwD7oQsEuq1AiXj5nJcLBkoh1uTLZVx66VrbRfeHyg5bSFvRKzesa1yzYuXDvawZeRi9m97a2Qzd/2/*),older(65535))))#segwrd5h\", \"timestamp\": \"now\"}]"
   1[
   2  {
   3    "success": true,
   4    "warnings": [
   5      "Range not given, using default keypool range"
   6    ]
   7  }
   8]
   

   When calling listdescriptors, the tr descriptor uses a mix of h and ' (and checksum has changed), while wsh uses only ' (and has same checksum):

    0$ bitcoin-cli -regtest -rpcwallet=test_h_vs_apostrophe listdescriptors
    1{
    2  "wallet_name": "test_h_vs_apostrophe",
    3  "descriptors": [
    4    {
    5      "desc": "tr([1dce71b2/48h/1h/0h/2h]tpubDEeP3GefjqbaDTTaVAF5JkXWhoFxFDXQ9KuhVrMBViFXXNR2B3Lvme2d2AoyiKfzRFZChq2AGMNbU1qTbkBMfNv7WGVXLt2pnYXY87gXqcs/0/*,and_v(v:pk([1dce71b2/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDEeP3GefjqbaDTTaVAF5JkXWhoFxFDXQ9KuhVrMBViFXXNR2B3Lvme2d2AoyiKfzRFZChq2AGMNbU1qTbkBMfNv7WGVXLt2pnYXY87gXqcs/2/*),older(65535)))#2h7g2wme",
    6      "timestamp": 1296688602,
    7      "active": false,
    8      "range": [
    9        0,
   10        999
   11      ],
   12      "next": 0,
   13      "next_index": 0
   14    },
   15    {
   16      "desc": "wsh(or_d(pk([a233d117/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDF8d1Q2U8WWfxUHMiqqrYiavBReX2r7hwD7oQsEuq1AiXj5nJcLBkoh1uTLZVx66VrbRfeHyg5bSFvRKzesa1yzYuXDvawZeRi9m97a2Qzd/0/*),and_v(v:pkh([a233d117/48'/1'/0'/2']tpubDF8d1Q2U8WWfxUHMiqqrYiavBReX2r7hwD7oQsEuq1AiXj5nJcLBkoh1uTLZVx66VrbRfeHyg5bSFvRKzesa1yzYuXDvawZeRi9m97a2Qzd/2/*),older(65535))))#segwrd5h",
   17      "timestamp": 1296688602,
   18      "active": false,
   19      "range": [
   20        0,
   21        999
   22      ],
   23      "next": 0,
   24      "next_index": 0
   25    }
   26  ]
   27}
   

   Relevant log output

   No response

   How did you obtain Bitcoin Core

   Pre-built binaries

   What version of Bitcoin Core are you using?

   v28.0.0

   Operating system and version

   Ubuntu 24.04

   Machine specifications

   No response

2. 
   brunoerg commented at 1:56 pm on January 21, 2025: contributor

   If I use importdescriptors to import a descriptor that uses only ’ as the hardened derivation marker, the corresponding output of listdescriptors sometimes uses a mix of ’ and h.

   I think this is due to ToNormalizedString called by GetDescriptorString fromlistdescriptors:

    0bool ToNormalizedString(const SigningProvider& arg, std::string& ret, const DescriptorCache* cache) const override
    1{
    2    std::string sub;
    3    if (!m_provider->ToNormalizedString(arg, sub, cache)) return false;
    4    // If m_provider is a BIP32PubkeyProvider, we may get a string formatted like a OriginPubkeyProvider
    5    // In that case, we need to strip out the leading square bracket and fingerprint from the substring,
    6    // and append that to our own origin string.
    7    if (sub[0] == '[') {
    8        sub = sub.substr(9);
    9        ret = "[" + OriginString(StringType::PUBLIC, /*normalized=*/true) + std::move(sub);
   10    } else {
   11        ret = "[" + OriginString(StringType::PUBLIC, /*normalized=*/true) + "]" + std::move(sub);
   12    }
   13    return true;
   14}
   

3. 
   pythcoiner commented at 6:42 am on January 24, 2025: none

   it looks I got a fix, will write tests & PR

Contributors
jp1ac4 brunoerg pythcoiner