History
Changelog
Version history of this documentation, and the protocol milestones it describes. Documentation versions track this site, not the protocol: the Runes consensus rules have not changed since activation.
Document 2.0.0, released 2026-09-01
- Rebuilt as a complete protocol documentation site: overview, normative specification, guide, implementer reference, test vectors, decoder, and changelog.
- Added a numbered normative specification with 47 rules covering carrier anatomy, varint encoding, the full tag table, flags, etching preconditions, minting, edict delta encoding, pointer, state transitions, and all ten cenotaph flaws.
- Added 24 test vectors as complete output script hex with expected outcomes: 8 valid runestones, 14 cenotaphs covering every flaw, and 2 non-runestone scripts.
- Added a client-side runestone decoder that mirrors the ord decoding order, including the distinction between silently ignored odd tags and fatal unconsumed even tags.
- Added worked byte-level walkthroughs for transfer, sweep, split, mint, and a full etching.
- Replaced the previous marketing-oriented support language with a support matrix verified against the marketplace protocol registry and its deployed policy: runes are read-only first-party data in Bitcoin Universe products.
- Added local search, a theme toggle,
llms.txt,sitemap.xml,robots.txt,docs.manifest.json, a 404 page, and repository policy documents. - New visual language: engraved stone. Removed gradients, cards, and decorative animation.
Document 1.0.0, released 2026-08
- Initial three-page public site: overview, a plain-language discovery page, and a short getting-started page.
- Established the accurate core facts carried forward into 2.0.0: runestones live in an OP_RETURN output marked for the protocol, etchings fix a rune's supply properties, mints follow the terms chosen at etching, edicts direct amounts to outputs, and malformed messages become cenotaphs that burn balances.
Protocol milestones
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Runes proposed by Casey Rodarmor as a UTXO-native alternative to account-based token schemes on Bitcoin. |
| Block 840,000, April 2024 | Activation, at the fourth halving. Etchings before this height are not indexed. Name unlocking begins: only names of 13 letters and longer are available. |
| Every 17,500 blocks after activation | The minimum name length steps down by one letter, interpolating between thresholds. |
| Block 1,050,000 | All names unlock, down to single letters. The hardcoded genesis rune UNCOMMON•GOODS also closes its mint window at this height. |
The consensus rules described in the specification have been stable since activation. Cenotaphs exist so that future changes can be introduced without misleading clients built against the current rules: see R46.
How this documentation is versioned
- Major: the site's structure or normative rule numbering changes.
- Minor: pages or sections are added, or rules are clarified without renumbering.
- Patch: corrections and editorial fixes.
Every page footer carries the document version, the ord version the content is grounded in, and the date it was last verified. Corrections are welcome as pull requests against the repository.