Search
Search is the fastest way into Core, and it is built on one rule: it never asserts that an asset exists. A result is either an entity whose shape identifies it outright, or a lookup a protocol’s own naming rules permit. A query no protocol can name returns no protocol rows at all, rather than one speculative row per registered protocol.
Press Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K) to focus it from anywhere.
The three confidence levels
Section titled “The three confidence levels”Every row is labelled. The label is the most useful part of the result.
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Exact | The query is that entity. Nothing else has this shape. |
| Likely | The shape identifies the entity, but another reading exists. |
| Candidate | A lookup the protocol’s naming rules permit. It is not a claim that the asset exists. Only that protocol’s index can settle that. |
Results are sorted by confidence, so exact matches come first and candidates last. At most 18 results are shown, and at most 6 protocol candidates, so a short generic word does not fan out across the whole registry.
What is recognised outright
Section titled “What is recognised outright”| Input shape | Read as | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
<64 hex>:<vout> | An outpoint, that is output n of a transaction | Exact |
<64 hex>i<n> | An inscription id | Exact |
bc1…, tb1…, bcrt1…, 1…, 3… | A Bitcoin address | Exact |
D…, A…, 9… | A Dogecoin address | Exact |
| 64 hex characters | Both a transaction and a block hash | Likely and candidate, ordered |
| A bare integer | A block height, an inscription number, or a sat number | Likely and candidate |
Why 64 hex characters give two answers
Section titled “Why 64 hex characters give two answers”A block hash and a transaction id are both 64 hexadecimal characters. Nothing in the string says which one you meant. Core uses the one real signal available: proof of work forces a block hash to begin with a long run of zeros, and a transaction id has no such constraint.
- Eight or more leading zeros: block is offered first as likely, and transaction second as candidate.
- Otherwise: transaction first as likely, block second as candidate.
Both readings are always offered. Core orders them; it does not choose for you.
Why a bare number gives three answers
Section titled “Why a bare number gives three answers”792435 is a plausible block height, a plausible inscription number, and (for
larger values) a plausible sat number. Core offers each reading that is still in
range, labelled, rather than silently picking one.
| Reading | Offered when | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Block height | Up to 10,000,000 | Likely |
| Inscription number | Up to 500,000,000 | Candidate |
| Sat number | Above the inscription ceiling, up to 2,100,000,000,000,000 | Candidate |
The sat ceiling is 21 million bitcoin times 100 million satoshis, which is the real bound rather than an arbitrary one.
Ticker and name lookups
Section titled “Ticker and name lookups”For a word rather than an identifier, Core checks each protocol’s actual naming rules and offers only the protocols that admit the query. Those rules are the protocols’ own, not approximations:
| Protocol | Rule Core applies |
|---|---|
| BRC-20 | 4 to 5 UTF-8 bytes, measured in bytes so a four-emoji tick measures the way an indexer measures it |
| DRC-20, DUST-20, LRC-20 | The same tick rule |
| SRC-20 | At most 5 UTF-8 bytes |
| Runes, Mezcal | Letters only, at most 28 once • and . spacers are removed. Whitespace is not a spacer, so a letters-only sentence cannot read as a rune name |
| Bitmap | Digits, with or without a .bitmap suffix |
| ARC-20 | Lowercase alphanumeric with dashes |
| Stamps | A number, or a Counterparty asset id beginning with A |
| Names, SRC-101 | A name, optionally with a dot suffix |
Rules that are tighter carry more signal, so a fixed-length tick rule is offered before a catch-all label rule when several protocols admit the same query.
Where each result takes you
Section titled “Where each result takes you”| Result | Destination |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin or Dogecoin address | The address view, in explore mode, with nothing connected |
| Inscription id or number | The Core inscription view |
| Sat number | The Rare Sats surface |
| Transaction, block hash, or block height | An external block explorer, because Core has no route of its own for those entities |
| A ticker | That protocol’s market or index page |
The external explorer origin is a deployment setting. Chain data always comes from Universe-operated infrastructure through the Core API; the external origin is used only to build the outbound link for entities Core does not have its own page for. Blocks and transactions explain that boundary.
Quick-jump commands
Section titled “Quick-jump commands”Beside entity search, the field accepts short commands.
| Type | Goes to |
|---|---|
A protocol name, for example runes, bitmap, arc20, stamps | That market |
A protocol name plus a ticker, for example brc20 ordi | That asset |
trade, portfolio, explorer, index, chat, mint, inscribe | That section |
A path beginning with / | That route |
| A full Core URL | The path inside it |
When nothing matches
Section titled “When nothing matches”Core does not invent a match. A query that resolves to nothing offers a set of labelled rescue destinations, matched on the words you typed, so a half-remembered term still lands somewhere useful rather than on an empty page.
A collection name offers a search of the Ordinals market rather than claiming a match it has not made.
Common failure states
Section titled “Common failure states”| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Several results for one input | The input genuinely has several readings | Read the confidence labels and pick |
| Only candidate rows | No shape matched; these are permitted lookups | Follow one. The protocol’s index settles whether it exists |
| No protocol rows at all | No protocol’s naming rules admit the query | Check the spelling, or search the market directly |
| An entity page that says unavailable | The index behind it did not answer | Not a fact about the asset. See reading the numbers |