donkey-ai 5b707e647b feat(bal): UI batch v0.3.9 + expired-will invalidate regression fix
UI batch (TASK A/B/C/D):
- (A) Clearer 'Will expired' message: shortened will id (8+8 chars) and
  readable UTC date instead of raw UNIX timestamp; shown in WARNING colour
  (orange) instead of ERROR (red) in the wizard, as it is an expected step.
- (A2) Split the orange message onto two lines via <br> (rendered as HTML by
  msg_warning) to avoid an overly long single line.
- (B) History tab labels (text only): inheritance txs -> 'BAL Inheritance
  transaction'; invalidate tx -> 'BAL Invalidate transaction'. Colours left
  to Electrum defaults.
- (C) New 'No will-executor TX' checkbox in plugin settings, bound to the
  existing NO_WILLEXECUTOR config (default ON, kept in sync with the wizard),
  with help text, and included in the settings reset action.
- (D) Wizard button label 'Create your will' -> 'Build Your Will'.

Regression fix (A3):
- When an heir was added to an already-expired will via the wizard, the
  automatic invalidation no longer triggered. Root cause: the inner
  check_will() after build_will() raised WillExpiredException and the handler
  returned (False, None), which never invalidated.
- Auto-opening the invalidation tx window from the closing wizard proved
  unreliable (the window ended up behind the main wallet on some window
  managers; a re-check loop could ask to invalidate repeatedly before the tx
  reached the mempool). The robust fix: close the wizard and show a clear
  instruction popup guiding the user to run 'Tools -> Invalidate' and then
  press 'Check' to finish the will. Reasoning documented in the code.

Version bumped to 0.3.9 (manifest.json, __init__.py, plugin_base.py, VERSION).
CHANGELOG entry #15 updated. Verified: py_compile OK, ruff clean (no new
errors), full test suite 239 passed.
2026-06-28 23:02:11 -04:00

BAL — Bitcoin After Life (Electrum plugin)

Free and decentralized Bitcoin inheritance support for the Electrum wallet. Build time-locked "will" transactions that transfer your funds to your heirs if you stop refreshing them (dead-man's switch), optionally relayed by will-executor servers.

This repository contains a behavior-preserving refactor of the original plugin. The logic was kept byte-identical wherever possible; only the file layout was reorganized to cleanly separate business logic from the PyQt GUI.

Repository layout

bal/                     the installable Electrum plugin package
├── manifest.json        plugin metadata (Electrum reads this)
├── qt.py                Qt entry-point shim (re-exports Plugin)
├── core/                GUI-free logic (importable without Qt)
│   ├── util.py
│   ├── plugin_base.py
│   ├── heirs.py
│   ├── will.py
│   └── willexecutors.py
├── gui/qt/              PyQt6 presentation layer
│   ├── theme.py         status → color mapping
│   ├── common.py        shared imports / helpers
│   ├── widgets.py       leaf widgets
│   ├── calendar.py      calendar widget
│   ├── dialogs.py       dialog windows
│   ├── lists.py         tree/list views
│   ├── window.py        per-wallet GUI controller
│   └── plugin.py        Plugin (Electrum @hooks → GUI)
├── icons/  wallet_util/  LICENSE  VERSION  README.md
build_zip.py             builds a clean, zipimport-friendly distribution zip
tests/                   smoke + external-zip regression tests

Requirements

  • Electrum 4.7.2 — the last stable release exposing json_db.register_dict, which this plugin relies on. Newer versions removed it.
  • PyQt6 (bundled with the Electrum desktop GUI).

Installation

Build the distribution archive

python3 build_zip.py
# -> bal-electrum-plugin.zip  (prints size + SHA-256 for integrity checks)

The builder writes a zipimport-friendly archive (files only, standard DEFLATE, deterministic order) to avoid loader errors seen on some Electrum portable builds.

Install as an external plugin (zip)

  1. Electrum → Tools → Plugins → install from file → pick the built zip.
  2. Enable Bitcoin After Life and restart Electrum.
  3. (Recommended) verify the downloaded zip's SHA-256 matches the value printed by build_zip.py.

Install as an internal plugin

Copy the bal/ directory into your Electrum installation's electrum/plugins/ directory, so that electrum/plugins/bal/manifest.json exists, then enable it from Tools → Plugins.

Inheritance safety: anticipate / postpone

A will transaction is signed with a fixed, immutable locktime and then optionally sent to will-executor servers, which are economically incentivised to broadcast it (they collect fees). Because the locktime is baked into the signed transaction, simply changing the delivery time later is not enough: the old, already-signed transaction keeps living on the will-executors.

The plugin handles the two cases as follows (triggered when you press Tools → Prepare):

  • Anticipate (new delivery time earlier than the signed locktime): the will is treated as expired and you are asked to invalidate the old transaction on-chain, then rebuild.
  • Postpone (new delivery time later than the signed locktime) on a will that was already signed and/or pushed: the previously committed coins must be invalidated on-chain first, otherwise a will-executor could broadcast the old (earlier-locktime) transaction and execute the inheritance too early. The plugin detects this by comparing the requested locktime with the locktime frozen inside the signed transaction (tx.locktime), and asks you to sign and broadcast an invalidation transaction. After it is broadcast, press Prepare again to rebuild, re-sign and re-send the new (postponed) inheritance. Postponing a will that was never signed/sent just rebuilds it (no on-chain fee).

Transaction list: the "Server" column

The will transaction list shows a dedicated Server column so you always know whether each inheritance transaction is actually stored on the will-executor servers, independently of the row colour:

Label Meaning
Confirmed on server the will-executor confirmed it stored the transaction
Sent (not checked) pushed to the will-executor, not yet re-checked
Send failed / Not on server push failed or the server no longer has it
Signed (not sent) signed locally, not sent to any will-executor
Not sent not signed/sent yet

Hovering the cell shows a tooltip with the will-executor URL and the current state.

Testing

# imports + behavior
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen PYTHONPATH=<electrum-src> \
    python3 tests/smoke_test.py electrum.plugins.bal

# external-zip loading regression
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen PYTHONPATH=<electrum-src> \
    python3 tests/external_zip_test.py bal-electrum-plugin.zip

⚠️ Safety

This plugin builds real Bitcoin inheritance transactions with time-locks. Test on testnet or a fund-less wallet first, and review the generated transactions before broadcasting.

License

MIT — see bal/LICENSE.

Description
Plugin Bitcoin After Life for Electrum Bitcoin Wallet
Readme 6.9 MiB
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