---

name: bitcoin-libraries-btcsuite description: | btcsuite: collection of Go Bitcoin libraries. btcec (secp256k1), btcutil (helpers), txscript (Script engine), wire (P2P). USE WHEN: building Bitcoin Go apps, integrating with LND / btcd. allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob

btcsuite Libraries

Collection of Go libraries powering btcd and LND.

GitHub org: github.com/btcsuite.

Major libraries

btcec

secp256k1 wrapper. ECDSA, Schnorr, ECDH.

import "github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcec/v2"

priv, _ := btcec.NewPrivateKey()
pub := priv.PubKey()
sig := ecdsa.Sign(priv, msgHash[:])

btcutil

Helpers: addresses, networks, base58, bech32.

import "github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcutil"

addr, _ := btcutil.DecodeAddress("bc1q...", &chaincfg.MainNetParams)

txscript

Bitcoin Script engine and helpers.

import "github.com/btcsuite/btcd/txscript"

builder := txscript.NewScriptBuilder()
builder.AddOp(txscript.OP_DUP).AddOp(txscript.OP_HASH160)
builder.AddData(hashBytes)
builder.AddOp(txscript.OP_EQUALVERIFY).AddOp(txscript.OP_CHECKSIG)
script, _ := builder.Script()

wire

P2P message types, serialization.

import "github.com/btcsuite/btcd/wire"

msg := &wire.MsgVersion{...}
buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
wire.WriteMessage(buf, msg, wire.ProtocolVersion, wire.MainNet)

chaincfg

Network parameters.

Use cases

• Backend services in Go consuming Bitcoin data.
• LND ecosystem integrations (LND uses btcsuite extensively).
• Tools like chantools, loopd, poold.

Common pitfalls

• API stability mostly OK; minor breaking changes between major versions.
• v2 of btcec is API-different from v1.

See also

• btcd/SKILL.md
• lnd-go/SKILL.md