Runes

Runes Skill

Provides Bitcoin rune operations using the Unisat API for rune indexing and mempool.space for fee estimation and broadcasting. Rune transfers use Runestone OP_RETURN encoding with explicit change pointers to prevent accidental rune burning.

Requires UNISAT_API_KEY environment variable. Works on both mainnet and testnet.

Usage

bun run runes/runes.ts <subcommand> [options]

Subcommands

balance

Get rune balances for a Bitcoin address. Returns all rune token balances held by the address.

bun run runes/runes.ts balance [--address <addr>]

Options:

• --address (optional) — Bitcoin address to check (uses active wallet's Taproot address if omitted)

Output:

{
  "address": "bc1p...",
  "network": "mainnet",
  "balances": [
    {
      "rune": "UNCOMMONGOODS",
      "runeId": "1:0",
      "spacedRune": "UNCOMMON•GOODS",
      "amount": "1000000",
      "formatted": "1000000 ⧫",
      "symbol": "⧫",
      "divisibility": 0
    }
  ],
  "summary": { "runeCount": 1 },
  "explorerUrl": "https://mempool.space/address/bc1p..."
}

utxos

List rune-bearing UTXOs for a specific rune on a Bitcoin address.

bun run runes/runes.ts utxos --rune-id <id> [--address <addr>]

Options:

• --rune-id (required) — Rune ID (e.g., 840000:1)
• --address (optional) — Bitcoin address to check (uses active wallet's Taproot address if omitted)

Output:

{
  "address": "bc1p...",
  "network": "mainnet",
  "runeId": "840000:1",
  "utxos": [
    {
      "txid": "abc123...",
      "vout": 0,
      "satoshis": 546,
      "runes": [
        {
          "runeId": "840000:1",
          "spacedRune": "UNCOMMON•GOODS",
          "amount": "1000000",
          "formatted": "1000000 ⧫",
          "symbol": "⧫"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "summary": { "utxoCount": 1, "totalSatoshis": 546 }
}

transfer

Transfer runes to a recipient address. Builds a transaction with a Runestone OP_RETURN that directs runes to the recipient and returns remaining runes to the sender via an explicit change pointer.

bun run runes/runes.ts transfer --rune-id <id> --amount <amount> --recipient <addr> [--fee-rate fast|medium|slow|<number>]

Options:

• --rune-id (required) — Rune ID (e.g., 840000:1)
• --amount (required) — Amount of runes to transfer (in smallest unit)
• --recipient (required) — Recipient address
• --fee-rate (optional) — Fee rate (default: medium)

Output:

{
  "success": true,
  "txid": "def456...",
  "explorerUrl": "https://mempool.space/tx/def456...",
  "rune": { "runeId": "840000:1", "amount": "500000" },
  "recipient": "bc1p...",
  "fee": { "satoshis": 1800, "rateUsed": "10 sat/vB" },
  "btcChange": { "satoshis": 5000 },
  "network": "mainnet"
}

Safety

• Rune transfers always include an explicit change pointer in the Runestone to avoid burning remaining rune balances
• Cardinal UTXOs from the SegWit address pay fees — rune-bearing UTXOs are never used for fee payment
• The transfer command validates rune balance before building the transaction

Notes

• Runes are typically held at Taproot (bc1p) addresses
• Fee payment comes from the SegWit (bc1q) address
• Requires an unlocked wallet (use bun run wallet/wallet.ts unlock first)
• Set UNISAT_API_KEY environment variable for Unisat API access