Introduction

Welcome to Notes On a Chain, an Ordinals documentation repository.

Since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin revolutionized the way we perceive money. With its decentralized nature, bitcoin has established itself as the most relevant and dominant cryptocurrency. It's widespread adoption, global recognition, and substantial market capitalization make it the benchmark against which all other cryptocurrencies are measured. Bitcoin's enduring presence and influence serve as a catalyst for innovation.

Andreas Antonopoulos, a well-respected Bitcoin advocate, while emphasizing the fundamental principles and elegant design of Bitcoin, expressed the beauty of Bitcoin's simplicity with its focus on a single core purpose.

"Bitcoin is beautifully engineered because it is designed to do one thing and one thing only: send money. It doesn't try to be all things to all people. It doesn't compromise on its fundamental principles. It's a robust, elegant solution that empowers individuals to transact in a decentralized and permissionless manner." - Andreas Antonopoulos

Then in January 2023, Casey Rodarmor launched the open-source Ordinals protocol called "Ord" that runs on top of a Bitcoin full node. Ord parses the bitcoin blockchain and indexes its contents in new and exciting ways. With the introduction of "Ordinal Theory", Bitcoin was not directly altered and therefore became no less elegant as a result of Ordinals and their design.

When delving into the world of Ordinals, one quickly realizes that there are numerous tools and methodologies to accomplish various tasks. On the one hand, this offers flexibility and creativity, enabling individuals to explore different avenues. On the other hand, it can lead to confusion and inefficiency.

The purpose of this document is to address this dilemma directly. While the approaches outlined in this collection are not purported to be the definitive way of accomplishing any specific task, they aim to provide a solid foundation for individuals seeking a reliable method. By narrowing down the choices and presenting a curated selection, we hope to alleviate the confusion and enable readers with tried and tested practices.

It is important to note that the world of Bitcoin and Ordinals is ever-evolving, and new techniques, technologies, and best practices emerge continuously. Therefore, this collection of notes serves as a snapshot in time, capturing a specific set of approaches that were proven effective at the time of writing.

The technical notes herein were taken while performing tasks on a Mac. Many of the details are very specific to macOS. As required, you will need to research how to handle such things on Windows.