bal-docs/internal/source-notes.md

Source notes — where this manual came from, and what to verify

Compiled July 2026. Keep this updated whenever the manual is revised.

Sources used

Source	Used for
bitcoin-after.life (homepage + FAQ)	Current behaviour: wizard, Server column, postpone/anticipate logic, compatibility, wallet-backup use case. Primary source — most current.
WeList	Listing fee, ranking, networks, renewal window
bal-server README + RPC.md	The entire "Running a Will-Executor" page
bal-electrum-plugin releases	Version/Electrum compatibility table
BAL MANUAL revB (PDF, Jan 2025)	Operational detail retained where still valid: 100% sizing rules, heir fields, wallet-file vs seed, UTXO privacy, export list
Internal drafts (July 2026)	Will-Executor FAQ, competition/incentive model, consortium & multisig, renewal cadence

Where the old PDF is now WRONG — do not reuse

PDF revB says	Reality
Install by copying files into the plugins/ folder	Tools → Plugins → install from file (zip), Electrum 4.7.2
"BAL 1.0"	Plugin v0.2.6
Manual step-by-step parameter setup	Guided wizard since v0.2.0
Check Alive is a base parameter	Advanced mode only
9-state colour table for transaction status	Still correct — this was my error. Verified 2026-07-27 by sampling pixels from will-tab.png (v0.6.1): #2BC8ED Signed and #8AFA6C Checked match the PDF exactly. Status (9 colour-coded stages, cumulative, dot-joined) and Server (5 textual labels) are two different columns that coexist. The PDF documents only Status because Server is newer.
Postponing always requires an on-chain invalidation	Balance/heir changes → will anticipated by one day and redistributed, no on-chain fee. On-chain invalidation only for a genuine postponement
Will-Executor lists come from BitcoinTalk	WeList directory, downloaded by default
"prepare / sign / broadcast" run automatically on close	Still true, but the plugin asks — it never signs on your behalf

Version bumps log

Date	plugin_version	electrum_latest	Note
2026-07 (initial)	0.2.6	4.7.2	Last version explicitly documented in a release ("tested with electrum 4.7.1")
2026-07-26	0.6.1	4.8.0	Jump from 0.2.6 → 0.6.1: releases v0.5.18/v0.6.0/v0.6.1 mostly cover Tor/onion will-executor support.
2026-07-27	0.6.1	4.8.0	Confirmed: v0.6.1 tested against Electrum 4.8.0. electrum_tested updated from 4.7.1 → 4.8.0; the compatibility table row simplified to a single Electrum version.

To verify with the developers before the next revision

0. Electrum version actually tested for plugin v0.6.1 — confirmed 2026-07-27: Electrum 4.8.0. 0b. Architecture diagram version label mismatch — fixed 2026-07-26: docs/img/architecture.svg now reads "Python · v0.6.1", matching plugin_version. Still worth asking the diagram's source (likely a design tool, not this repo) to drop the hardcoded version label so it doesn't need a manual edit at every future release.
1. Exact execution tolerance. The manual states "~1 hour after the set time, due to the 11-block median". Confirm this still holds.
2. Relative (Raw) date syntax. The PDF documents d and y suffixes. Confirm which suffixes the current wizard accepts, and whether Raw input still exists alongside the calendar.
3. What a Will-Executor can actually see — the FAQ answer is deliberately cautious. A precise formulation would be better.
4. Default miner fee. The PDF said 100 sat/vbyte. The current wording says only "a prudent default" — confirm the actual value so it can be stated.
5. Fee range currently charged by Will-Executors on the network (for the recruitment article).
6. Minimum system requirements for a Will-Executor node, stated concretely.
7. BIP 128 critique — see design-choices-DRAFT.md. The single most exposed point.
8. docs/examples.md (new, 2026-07-28) — needs a full accuracy pass. Written from updating.md/delivery-time.md rather than tested behaviour; user flagged it as containing "parecchie imprecisioni" without specifying which. Marked with a draft warning on the page itself. Re-check in particular: whether ordinary balance/heir changes really re-anticipate for free every time (vs. some limit or condition), and whether postponing to hold a rolling 5-year horizon really costs only "a small miner fee" as stated.

Deliberately left out of the published manual

• Competitor comparison and BIP 128 response → design-choices-DRAFT.md (needs dev validation).
• Will-Executor recruitment article → belongs on the blog, not in a manual, and still has [to complete] fields.