feat(bitcoin): add region markers to basic_bitcoin examples for stable developer workflow embeds

[marc0olo]

Background

docs/guides/chain-fusion/bitcoin.mdx has a Developer workflow section that lists 5 steps for building a Bitcoin send transaction. Step 3 (UTXO selection, fee estimation, transaction construction) is currently described with no code — the section says "see the examples." A developer recently searched for a UTXO selection algorithm and couldn't find it because the old portal docs that referenced it are gone.

The authoritative implementations already exist in the basic_bitcoin examples. The blocker is that the code is not annotated with stable named regions, so docs can't embed slices without fragile line-number references that break when files change.

This issue tracks the work needed on both sides: region annotations in the examples repo, and the docs expansion that follows.

What are region markers

Named anchor comments that mark stable, embeddable slices of code regardless of line numbers. Convention (mdBook-style, widely understood by tooling and scripts):

// ANCHOR: select-utxos-greedy
pub fn select_utxos_greedy(...) { ... }
// ANCHOR_END: select-utxos-greedy

// ANCHOR: get-utxos
public func get_utxos(...) { ... }
// ANCHOR_END: get-utxos

Scope: Rust basic_bitcoin

The 5-step workflow maps to these files and regions:

src/common.rs

Region name	Content
select-utxos-greedy	Greedy UTXO selection: iterate in reverse (oldest first), accumulate until sum >= amount + fee. General-purpose payment flow.
select-one-utxo	Single-UTXO selection: find first UTXO that alone covers amount + fee. Required for Ordinals/Runes/BRC-20 where asset must be tied to specific satoshis.
get-fee-per-byte	Query bitcoin_get_current_fee_percentiles, return 50th percentile; fall back to 2000 msat/vB on regtest.
build-transaction-with-fee	Construct unsigned transaction from selected UTXOs, primary output (address or OP_RETURN), change output, dust threshold.

src/p2pkh.rs

Region name	Content
build-transaction	Iterative fee-size loop: start with fee=0, build + mock-sign, measure vsize, recalculate fee until stable. Calls select_utxos_greedy + build_transaction_with_fee.
sign-transaction	P2PKH signing: compute SIGHASH_ALL per input, call sign_with_ecdsa, encode DER signature, set script_sig.

src/service/get_p2pkh_address.rs

Region name	Content
get-p2pkh-address	Whole function: derive ECDSA public key at BIP-44 path, convert to P2PKH address. Step 1 of the workflow.

src/service/get_utxos.rs

Region name	Content
get-utxos	Whole function: call bitcoin_get_utxos. Step 2 of the workflow. Pagination note is important (current implementation assumes all UTXOs fit in one response).

src/service/send_from_p2pkh_address.rs

Region name	Content
send-end-to-end	Full orchestration (steps 2–5): get UTXOs, get fee, build transaction, sign, submit, return txid. Best overview of the complete flow.

Scope: Motoko basic_bitcoin

src/basic_bitcoin/src/BitcoinApi.mo

Region name	Content
get-utxos	get_utxos function. Step 2 of the workflow.
get-current-fee-percentiles	get_current_fee_percentiles function.

src/basic_bitcoin/src/P2pkh.mo

Region name	Content
get-address	get_address function. Step 1.
build-transaction	build_transaction function: iterative fee-size loop using Bitcoin.buildTransaction from mo:bitcoin. Step 3.
sign-transaction	sign_transaction function. Step 4.
send-end-to-end	send function: full flow orchestration (steps 2–5).

Gap: Motoko has no explicit UTXO selection function

In Rust, select_utxos_greedy and select_one_utxo are explicit, documented, documentable functions. In Motoko, UTXO selection is delegated to Bitcoin.buildTransaction from mo:bitcoin, which handles it internally. This means:

• There is no Motoko equivalent to show alongside the Rust algorithm
• Developers reading the Motoko example cannot learn or adapt the selection strategy
• The single-UTXO variant (for Ordinals/inscriptions) has no Motoko equivalent at all

Request: add an explicit selectUtxosGreedy (and optionally selectOneUtxo) function to the Motoko basic_bitcoin example, parallel to the Rust implementation in common.rs. This would be called before Bitcoin.buildTransaction rather than relying on the library's internal selection.

Docs follow-up (this repo)

Once region markers exist in the examples, we can:

1. Expand ### Developer workflow in bitcoin.mdx to inline the UTXO selection step (both variants) for both languages, directly from the examples source.
2. Optionally inline the other steps (address generation, UTXOs, fee estimation, signing, submission) with stable embeds rather than links to line numbers that drift.
3. This requires either a custom Astro/rehype plugin for region embedding, or a pre-build script that materializes the regions into the MDX source. That tooling decision is tracked separately.

The immediate value even without tooling: stable region names give docs maintainers a reliable copy target that doesn't break when surrounding code changes.

Files NOT needing regions for this workflow

• src/runes.rs, src/ordinals.rs, src/brc20.rs — asset-specific flows, not part of the core workflow
• src/p2wpkh.rs, src/p2tr.rs — alternative address types; share common.rs utilities but have their own signing logic. Worth separate region treatment once P2PKH is done.
• src/ecdsa.rs, src/schnorr.rs — key derivation internals; documented elsewhere

Related

• Closes the navigational gap from the retired https://docs.internetcomputer.org/current/developer-docs/integrations/bitcoin/ URL path
• Refs: dfinity/examples — rust/basic_bitcoin/src/common.rs, motoko/basic_bitcoin/src/basic_bitcoin/src/P2pkh.mo