bal-electrum-plugin/HANDOFF.md

HANDOFF — BAL (Bitcoin After Life) Electrum plugin

Purpose: let ANY future AI assistant (Claude or another model, more advanced or cheaper) resume work on this project with full context, without having to re-discover the codebase. Read this file FIRST, then CHANGELOG.md and .agent_memory_tasks.md.

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0. TL;DR — what this project is

• Product: BAL ("Bitcoin After Life") — an inheritance plugin for the Electrum 4.7.2 Bitcoin wallet (Qt / PyQt6).
• Form: external ZIP plugin (not bundled in Electrum). The user installs the ZIP from Electrum's plugin manager.
• What it does: lets a wallet owner pre-build, sign and (later) broadcast Bitcoin transactions that pay one or more heirs after a chosen date (a future UNIX-timestamp nLockTime). Optional will-executors (remote services) can be paid a fee to broadcast the inheritance when due. The owner periodically proves they are alive ("check-alive"); if the deadline passes, the inheritance becomes spendable.
• Current version: see bal/VERSION (last shipped: 0.4.8).

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1. MANDATORY working rules (the owner set these — always follow them)

These are non-negotiable. They come from the owner directly.

• R1 — LANGUAGE. The CHAT language with the owner is Italian. But ALL output — source code, comments, docstrings, UI strings, docs, CHANGELOG.md, commit messages, this handoff — must be in ENGLISH.
• R2 — DOCUMENTED CODE. Every method/class gets a docstring + explanatory comments. Always explain WHY for any non-obvious decision.
• R3 — NEVER INVENT. If something is missing or unclear, STOP and ask the owner clear, simple questions. The owner is NOT a programmer — explain in plain language, avoid jargon. Be "100% sure" before acting.
• R4 — HUMAN CHECKPOINT. Before writing/modifying code, present the PLAN and WAIT for an explicit "OK" from the owner.
• METHOD: DISCOVER → PLAN (wait for OK) → EXECUTE → VERIFY → ITERATE (max ~8 attempts per problem, then step back and ask).
• LOG: keep a single CHANGELOG.md, in English, one numbered entry per task (newest entry appended at the END of the file).
• ZIP-FIRST. Deliver a test ZIP and let the owner test it BEFORE committing. Commit ONLY after the owner explicitly confirms the ZIP works.
• ALWAYS run ruff + the official test suite before committing / reporting / zipping.
• CREDIT-SAVING (important). The owner is low on funds. Minimize token / credit usage: report brief summaries (do NOT paste whole modified code blocks back), and batch work into a single ZIP/test cycle where possible.

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2. Repository layout (what lives where)

bal/                         <- the plugin package (this is what ships in the ZIP)
  __init__.py                <- __version__ (one of 4 version files)
  VERSION                    <- plain-text version (one of 4 version files)
  manifest.json              <- plugin manifest, "version" field (one of 4)
  core/
    plugin_base.py           <- __version__ "AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED" (one of 4)
    heirs.py                 <- HEIRS + transaction building (prepare_lists,
                                prepare_transactions, buildTransactions). CORE LOGIC.
    will.py                  <- Will/WillItem, validation (check_amounts, check_will),
                                exceptions (AmountException, WillExpiredException, ...).
    willexecutors.py         <- remote will-executor services handling.
    util.py                  <- locktime parsing/most helpers (timestamps only).
  gui/qt/
    common.py                <- shared imports; every gui module does
                                `from .common import *`. Add new shared imports HERE.
    dialogs.py               <- the big build/sign/broadcast dialog
                                (BalBuildWillDialog, task_phase1/2), wizard glue.
    widgets.py               <- WillSettingsWidget + wizard widgets/labels.
    window.py                <- BalWalletWindow (build_will, check_will, get_transactions).
    lists.py, calendar.py, theme.py, window_utils.py, ...
tests/                       <- pytest suite (see run command below).
electrum-src/                <- a copy of Electrum source, used ONLY for tests
                                (PYTHONPATH=electrum-src). NOT shipped in the ZIP.
build_zip.py                 <- builds the shippable ZIP (37 files).
CHANGELOG.md                 <- numbered task log (English).
.agent_memory_tasks.md       <- terse internal memory notes per task batch.
HANDOFF.md                   <- this file.

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3. How to build, test and lint

Run everything from /home/user/webapp.

Full test suite (expected: 266 passed as of v0.4.8):

QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen PYTHONPATH=electrum-src python3 -m pytest \
  tests/test_core_*.py tests/test_gui_*.py \
  tests/test_anticipate_past_locktime.py tests/test_anticipate_manual_locktime.py \
  tests/test_group_b_auto_sign.py tests/test_group_c_settings.py \
  tests/test_group_d_alarms.py tests/test_group_e_mock_karen7.py \
  tests/test_group_f_heir_change_rebuild.py tests/test_group_g_basic_calendar.py \
  tests/test_group_h_v048.py -q

Lint (only NEW errors matter; ignore pre-existing noise):

ruff check <files> | grep -oE "^[^ ]+\.py:[0-9]+:[0-9]+: [A-Z][0-9]+" \
  | grep -vE "F401|F403|F405|F841"

Pre-existing, KNOWN-OK ruff noise: F401/F403/F405 (star-imports via from .common import *) and 2× F841 (an unused e in two except blocks). Do NOT "fix" these unless asked — they are intentional / out of scope.

Build the ZIP (always clear caches first so zipimport doesn't ship stale .pyc):

find bal -name "__pycache__" -type d -exec rm -rf {} + ; find bal -name "*.pyc" -delete
python3 build_zip.py bal-electrum-plugin-vX.Y.Z.zip      # produces 37 files

Bump version — there are FOUR files, keep them in sync:

bal/core/plugin_base.py   ->  __version__ = "X.Y.Z"  # AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED DO NOT EDIT
bal/__init__.py           ->  __version__ = "X.Y.Z"
bal/VERSION               ->  X.Y.Z
bal/manifest.json         ->  "version": "X.Y.Z",

IMPORTANT for the owner when testing: after installing a ZIP, the owner must fully restart Electrum (not just reload the plugin) — Electrum's zipimport caches modules, so a partial reload runs stale code.

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4. Key technical knowledge (hard-won — saves you hours)

• Locktimes are UNIX timestamps only. Block-height locktimes were removed (CHANGELOG #1). Ordering/expiry compare timestamps.
• heirs.py data shape. An heir is a list indexed by constants (heirs.py top): HEIR_ADDRESS=0, HEIR_AMOUNT=1 (sats or "<n>%"), HEIR_LOCKTIME=2, HEIR_REAL_AMOUNT=3 (resolved sats, or the string "DUST: <n>" when below the dust limit), HEIR_DUST_AMOUNT=4 (raw dust sats).
• Will-executor pseudo-heirs. Internally, each selected will-executor is injected as a fake "heir" whose NAME starts with the reserved marker w!ll3x3c" (i.e. 'w!ll3x3c"' + url + '"' + str(locktime)). Its amount is the executor base_fee (always non-dust). When you count/iterate "real" heirs you MUST skip names starting with w!ll3x3c".
• Transaction-building pipeline: window.build_will() → Heirs.get_transactions() (recursive over locktimes) → Heirs.buildTransactions() → Heirs.prepare_lists() (builds the locktimes dict for ALL future locktimes, resolves amounts, marks dust) and prepare_transactions() (builds ONE tx for the LOWEST locktime only; the recursion handles the others via leftover available_utxos).
• DUST logic (v0.4.7 — verify before touching):
  • The "all heirs are dust" guard lives at the END of prepare_lists (NOT in prepare_transactions). Reason: prepare_transactions only sees the single lowest locktime, so a guard there would FALSE-POSITIVE block a will whose later locktimes still have valid heirs. prepare_lists is the only place that sees ALL heirs across ALL locktimes with their final dust state (fixed AND percentage).
  • Guard: count real heirs (skip w!ll3x3c"); if there are real heirs but NONE has a valid (non-"DUST") HEIR_REAL_AMOUNT, raise HeirAmountIsDustException (defined in heirs.py). A mix of dust + valid heirs keeps building normally.
  • Critical nuance: with FIXED amounts and a LARGE balance, leftover funds are REDISTRIBUTED (normalize_perc(..., real=True)), so small fixed amounts end up with a VALID HEIR_REAL_AMOUNT (not dust). The real all-dust case is small balance + percentage heirs (matches the owner's log: shares of 214 / 316 / 3 sat). Tests reproduce this with prepare_lists(800, 100, wallet) and "40%"/"60%" heirs.
  • The exception is NOT a WillExecutorFeeException, so it skips that handler in buildTransactions and propagates cleanly to the GUI.
  • GUI: dialogs.py task_phase1 has a dedicated except HeirAmountIsDustException BEFORE the generic except Exception. It shows a RED message and stops (return False, None) — no signing/checking, no empty will in the list. HeirAmountIsDustException is imported in common.py and re-exported via from .common import *.
• broadcast_transaction returns None (Electrum network.py). To get a txid, use tx.txid() — do NOT rely on the broadcast return value (this was the root cause of the missing "BAL Invalidate transaction" label, CHANGELOG #21 / v0.4.5).
• Qt label truncation gotcha (CHANGELOG #22). A QLabel added with alignment=Qt.AlignmentFlag.AlignLeft is NOT stretched by Qt, so word-wrap computes on a narrow sizeHint and the text gets truncated. Fix: drop the alignment flag, add setSizePolicy(Expanding, Minimum) + setMinimumWidth. With setWordWrap(True), an explicit \n in the text forces a line break.
• BalBuildWillDialog report area. Messages are accumulated as HTML in self.labels and joined by msg_update ("<br><br>".join(...), \n→<br>). The report is inside a QScrollArea (v0.4.8: setMinimumHeight(450), setMaximumHeight(700)); the Close button sits BELOW the scroll area so it stays reachable. Each report row is set via msg_set_status(label, row, status, color); passing row=None APPENDS a new line (used to add an extra note without overwriting an existing row), passing the saved row id OVERWRITES it (used by msg_set_checking, which reuses self.check_row).
• BASIC vs ADVANCED (USER TYPE). A global setting USER_TYPE (plugin_base.py, config key bal_user_type, default "basic"). Read it via bal_plugin.is_basic_mode(). ADVANCED reveals the Raw/Date selector and the Check-Alive field; BASIC hides them and disables the check-alive postpone behaviour. Toggling it calls BalWindow.update_all(), which calls WillSettingsWidget.apply_user_type_visibility() on each open settings widget.
• Raw/Date selector visibility (v0.4.8 / task #04 — important gotcha). The WILL/HEIR tab toolbars are built ONCE and REUSED for the whole session; they are NOT rebuilt when USER TYPE changes. So any per-widget state decided only in __init__ (like the Raw/Date combo's visibility) gets "stuck". The fix pattern: give the widget an apply_user_type_visibility() method that re-reads is_basic_mode() and re-applies visibility WITHOUT changing the value/editor, and call it from WillSettingsWidget.apply_user_type_visibility() (already wired for locktime and threshold). The wizard avoids the bug only because it is recreated on every open. Keep this in mind for any future per-widget ADVANCED-dependent UI.
• Will-item status flags (CONFIRMED / MEMPOOL). Will.check_will (core/will.py) sets each will item's status to CONFIRMED / MEMPOOL (read with witem.get_status("CONFIRMED") etc.). After an inheritance is executed the wallet is fully EMPTIED, so a later CHECK makes check_willexecutors_and_heirs raise NotCompleteWillException (heirs no longer match the empty wallet). v0.4.8 adds dialogs.py::_executed_inheritance_status() (CONFIRMED wins over MEMPOOL) to show a reassuring note instead of an alarming "the will must be rebuilt" only.
• Dates shown in the plugin are LOCAL time, not UTC. The Date editor (LockTimeDateEdit, a QDateTimeEdit) uses datetime.fromtimestamp(ts) with NO timezone, i.e. the user's local time. So an Italian user sees Italian time; the on-chain nLockTime is the same instant expressed in UTC (e.g. ts 1782370800 = 2026-06-25 09:00 Italy = 07:00 UTC). There is a helper Will._format_locktime that renders a timestamp in UTC. (A planned "(UTC)" label in the wizard is currently SUSPENDED — see suspended item below.)

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5. Git / delivery workflow

• Branch: work on genspark_ai_developer. Open PRs into main.
• Commit policy: ZIP-FIRST — build a test ZIP, let the owner confirm it works, THEN commit. (This differs from "commit after every change"; the owner explicitly prefers ZIP-first because they manually test each build.)
• Before opening/updating a PR: git fetch origin main, rebase, resolve conflicts preferring remote main unless a local change is essential, squash local commits into ONE comprehensive commit, push (force if needed), then create/update the PR and SHARE the PR URL with the owner.
• ZIPs are NOT committed (.gitignore excludes *.zip). They are distributed via GitHub Releases (gh release create vX.Y.Z file.zip ...). The newest release is the "Latest" and is the owner's convenient download.
• Deliverable ZIPs are ALSO uploaded with the file-wrapper tool so the owner can download them directly from chat.
• Auth note: if git push / gh fails with "Invalid username or token", re-run the GitHub environment setup, then retry.
• PR history for this line of work: #13 (v0.4.7), #14 (docs/DUST section + translation), #15 (v0.4.8). All merged into main.
• Releases: latest is v0.4.8 (asset bal-electrum-plugin-v0.4.8.zip); v0.4.7 kept in history.

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6. Version history (short — full detail in CHANGELOG.md)

• v0.4.5 — fix invalidation loop; add "BAL Invalidate transaction" label on the automatic path (root cause: broadcast_transaction returns None → use tx.txid()); fix wizard text truncation.
• v0.4.6 — DUST one-line-per-heir report; heirs on one line; scrollable report area; wizard final check (on_next_we now calls check_transactions); wizard truncation fix (remove AlignLeft); anticipated- date notice styling.
• v0.4.7 — report area opens 500px tall (max 700); heirs reverted to ONE per line (green/bold); explicit \n line breaks in two wizard texts (after "(or backup)" and after "miner fees"); ALL-DUST guard in prepare_lists that blocks (clear RED message) only when EVERY heir is dust; 3 new tests pinning the dust behaviour. 258 tests pass.
• v0.4.8 — seven UX fixes: (#04) Raw/Date selector now reappears on the WILL/HEIR tabs when switching to ADVANCED (and on a raw value from the wizard), via a new BalTimeEditWidget.apply_user_type_visibility(); (#3) Building Will report min height 500→450; (#5) "User Type" setting moved to the bottom (above "Rebroadcast transactions"); (#6) enabling ADVANCED now requires typing "at My Risk" (case-insensitive); (#7a) on CHECK with an emptied wallet, an extra note on "Checking your will": "Inheritance already executed (on blockchain)" GREEN / "Inheritance in mempool (waiting confirmation)" ORANGE; (#7b) "Balance is too low… Skipped" recoloured ORANGE + space fix; Reset button renamed "Reset to Default Setting". 8 new tests (test_group_h_v048.py). 266 tests pass.

Open / suspended / backlog items (see .agent_memory_tasks.md for detail)

• SUSPENDED — "(UTC)" label in the wizard. The owner asked to show an "(UTC - Greenwich Time)" hint next to the date with a tooltip. We discovered the date field shows LOCAL time, not UTC, so the label would be misleading. Options proposed (A: label it "Local time"; B: also show the UTC equivalent; C: convert the field to UTC). The owner suspended it ("salta le modifiche UTC per ora"). Decide the approach with the owner before implementing.
• Backlog (NOT started, analysis saved): #01 misleading "heir not found" message when the date was only anticipated; #02 will-executor list should green-check only servers that responded + green ping, re-evaluated each download; #03 missing "BAL Invalidate transaction" history label when invalidating from the AUTO-opened window (linked to a "unify invalidate procedure" task). Task #04 is DONE (v0.4.8).

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7. How to resume (checklist for the next AI)

1. Read this file, then CHANGELOG.md (last entries) and .agent_memory_tasks.md.
2. Confirm the environment: git status, current branch, bal/VERSION.
3. Run the full test suite (Section 3) — expect all green (266 as of v0.4.8).
4. Talk to the owner in Italian, write everything else in English.
5. For any change: present a PLAN, wait for "OK" (R4), then implement, test, build a ZIP, let the owner test, and only commit after explicit confirmation.
6. Keep credit usage low: summarize, don't paste big code blocks; batch work.
7. When the owner confirms a ZIP works: commit (ZIP-first), sync with main, squash to one commit, push, open a PR, merge it, then create/refresh a GitHub Release with the ZIP attached (it becomes the owner's "Latest" download). Always give the owner the PR URL and the Release URL.