doc: add note for watch-only wallet migration

rkrux commented at 11:57 am on July 3, 2025: contributor

This was suggested in a previous PR #31423.

DrahtBot added the label Docs on Jul 3, 2025

DrahtBot commented at 11:57 am on July 3, 2025: contributor

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For details see: https://corecheck.dev/bitcoin/bitcoin/pulls/32866.

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ACK	brunoerg, jonatack, achow101
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Sammie05 commented at 2:47 am on July 13, 2025: none

Checked this branch locally. the added note clarifies what happens if the legacy wallet only contains watch-only scripts. It helps make migration behavior clearer for users. it actually Looks good to me! Also noticed the LLM linter suggested rewording ‘which the wallet knows but is not watching…’ maybe worth considering for clarity. Thanks for adding this

furszy commented at 10:49 pm on July 15, 2025: member

ACK 9d25880bb720bc675a533098268b9e02f86e17ce

brunoerg approved

brunoerg commented at 8:03 pm on July 24, 2025: contributor

ACK 9d25880bb720bc675a533098268b9e02f86e17ce

Happy to re-ack if you touch it again to address the LLM linter suggestion.

in doc/managing-wallets.md:155 in 9d25880bb7 outdated

152 contains all of the watchonly scripts. `<name>_solvables` contains any scripts which the wallet
153-knows but is not watching the corresponding P2(W)SH scripts.
154+knows but is not watching the corresponding P2(W)SH scripts. In case, the legacy wallet doesn't
155+contain the private key materials and contains only the watch-only scripts, then only the
156+`<name>_watchonly` wallet will be created and the descriptor wallet with the same name will not
157+be created. Additionally, the created watch-only descriptor wallet will not have private keys enabled.

achow101 commented at 10:17 pm on July 25, 2025:

The first sentences starts oddly to me. I would write it as

If the legacy wallet only contains watch-only scripts and no private keys, then only <name>_watchonly …

rkrux commented at 9:29 am on July 28, 2025:

Done

rkrux force-pushed on Jul 28, 2025

rkrux commented at 9:29 am on July 28, 2025: contributor

ACK 9d25880

Happy to re-ack if you touch it again to address the LLM linter suggestion.

Done

brunoerg commented at 11:01 am on July 28, 2025: contributor

reACK 3d7a0219a9819e67690ed5acfc1331703dd0eb3a

DrahtBot requested review from furszy on Jul 28, 2025

in doc/managing-wallets.md:148 in 3d7a0219a9 outdated

144@@ -145,11 +145,14 @@ If the wallet passphrase is too complex and is subsequently forgotten or lost, t
145 Legacy wallets (traditional non-descriptor wallets) can be migrated to become Descriptor wallets
146 through the use of the `migratewallet` RPC. Migrated wallets will have all of their addresses and private keys added to
147 a newly created Descriptor wallet that has the same name as the original wallet. Because Descriptor
148-wallets do not support having private keys and watch-only scripts, there may be up to two
149+wallets do not support having private keys and watch-only scripts together, there may be up to two

jonatack commented at 11:28 pm on July 28, 2025:

0wallets do not support having both private keys and watch-only scripts, there may be up to two

also s/Because/As/ at the start of the sentence

in doc/managing-wallets.md:151 in 3d7a0219a9 outdated

144@@ -145,11 +145,14 @@ If the wallet passphrase is too complex and is subsequently forgotten or lost, t
145 Legacy wallets (traditional non-descriptor wallets) can be migrated to become Descriptor wallets
146 through the use of the `migratewallet` RPC. Migrated wallets will have all of their addresses and private keys added to
147 a newly created Descriptor wallet that has the same name as the original wallet. Because Descriptor
148-wallets do not support having private keys and watch-only scripts, there may be up to two
149+wallets do not support having private keys and watch-only scripts together, there may be up to two
150 additional wallets created after migration. In addition to a descriptor wallet of the same name,
151 there may also be a wallet named `<name>_watchonly` and `<name>_solvables`. `<name>_watchonly`
152 contains all of the watchonly scripts. `<name>_solvables` contains any scripts which the wallet

jonatack commented at 11:28 pm on July 28, 2025:

0contains all of the watchonly scripts. `<name>_solvables` contains any scripts that the wallet

jonatack commented at 11:30 pm on July 28, 2025: member

Approach ACK

rkrux force-pushed on Jul 29, 2025

doc: add note for watch-only wallet migration

This was suggested in a previous PR 31423.

5888b4a2a5

rkrux force-pushed on Jul 29, 2025

rkrux requested review from jonatack on Jul 29, 2025

brunoerg approved

brunoerg commented at 12:47 pm on July 29, 2025: contributor

reACK 5888b4a2a5566c64141b78a0e7660a166ec99775

minimal changes since my last review.

jonatack commented at 2:18 pm on July 29, 2025: member

ACK 5888b4a2a5566c64141b78a0e7660a166ec99775

(fwiw, it’s unclear to me in this document why sometimes we write “Descriptor” and other times “descriptor”)

achow101 commented at 6:06 pm on July 29, 2025: member

ACK 5888b4a2a5566c64141b78a0e7660a166ec99775

achow101 merged this on Jul 29, 2025

achow101 closed this on Jul 29, 2025

doc: add note for watch-only wallet migration #32866

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