ASSIGN Protocol

ASSIGN protocol (Authorized Secure Signing Inscribed Governance Notation) is a delegation system using paired inscriptions to establish authority between two wallets: an Anchor Wallet and a Delegate Wallet.

The reference implementation by The Wizards of Ord includes:

• assign.space - Tool for setting up delegations
• API - ORD API to retrieve delegation information

Protocol Design

The protocol involves two wallets:

• Anchor Wallet (typically a cold or hardware wallet) that maintains control
• Delegate Wallet that receives authority

The protocol requires two linked inscriptions:

• Anchor Inscription that establishes trust
• Delegate Inscription that represents transferable authority

These inscriptions must:

• Be created in the same batch transaction
• Set ASSIGN as their metaprotocol
• Have IDs <reveal txid>i0 for Anchor Inscription and <reveal txid>i1 for Delegate Inscription
• Be initially inscribed to Anchor Wallet
• For simplicity, only Anchor Wallet can appear as non op_return output in reveal transaction that creates the inscription pair

These inscriptions may:

• Include optional contextual information in on-chain metadata

States

State	Anchor Inscription	Delegate Inscription
Initialized	Anchor Wallet	Anchor Wallet
Active	Anchor Wallet	Delegate Wallet
Terminated	Moved/Burned	Burned

Initialized

• Ready for delegation but inactive

Active

• Delegate Wallet can prove authority via Delegate Inscription
• Delegate Inscription can be transferred to change delegate

Terminated

• Cannot be reactivated
• Triggered by:
  • Anchor Inscription moved from original Anchor Wallet
  • Either inscription burned

Implementation Notes

• A wallet can have multiple active delegations
• Services implementing the protocol can:
  • Choose how to handle multiple delegations
  • Prioritize delegations in chronological order (recommended)

API

This is the reference API implementation as an ord node PR TheWizardsOfOrd/ord#3.

Retrieve Delegations

Endpoint: POST https://api.assign.space/delegates

Request:

• Content-Type: application/json
• Accept: application/json
• Body: Array of wallet addresses to query

Example request:

curl -X POST https://api.assign.space/delegates \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -d '["bc1pvkumrkmmr4jgp9u3xg6qjx52wupu5vcp0rh6zfpha2tlhslpf0eqt3c4m0"]'

Response:

• Array of objects mapping each queried address to its active delegations
• Each delegation includes:
  • address: The delegate wallet address
  • anchor: Details about the anchor inscription
  • delegate: Details about the delegate inscription

Example response:

[
  {
    "bc1pvkumrkmmr4jgp9u3xg6qjx52wupu5vcp0rh6zfpha2tlhslpf0eqt3c4m0": [
      {
        "address": "bc1pz6sh480m7a43vs5nlwfvf7k0l85a49ctwnvauuxdcql4wrwhxqhqpap82c",
        "anchor": {
          "id": "b742e6f548ccb1c3995964c65d685926ad0d851bfb5c4f32498b7b3a41a22366i0",
          "metadata": "wizards"
        },
        "delegate": {
          "id": "b742e6f548ccb1c3995964c65d685926ad0d851bfb5c4f32498b7b3a41a22366i1", 
          "metadata": "ordinals"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
]

An empty array [] indicates no active delegations for that address.