base58

library2.1.1pypypi✓ verified 24d ago

The `base58` library provides an implementation of Base58 and Base58Check encoding and decoding, compatible with schemes used by the Bitcoin network. It also supports custom alphabets, such as the XRP one. The current version is 2.1.1, and the library has a stable release history with periodic updates to address compatibility and features.

serialization

pip install base58

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · BASE58

base58

serializationpythonv2.1.1

Install

1.6s avg

Import

14ms

Disk

16MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v2.1.1 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.014s · 17.8MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 1.6s · import 0.014s · 18MB

16MB installed

● package 16MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

b58encode

✓ from base58 import b58encode

✗ import base58

b58decode

✓ from base58 import b58decode

✗ import base58

b58encode_check

✓ from base58 import b58encode_check

✗ import base58

Demonstrates basic Base58 encoding and decoding, including the Base58Check functionality and using a custom alphabet like XRP's. It's crucial to work with byte strings for all encoding/decoding operations.

import base58 # Encode binary data data_bytes = b'hello world' encoded_data = base58.b58encode(data_bytes) print(f"Encoded: {encoded_data.decode('ascii')}") # Decode Base58 string back to bytes decoded_bytes = base58.b58decode(encoded_data) print(f"Decoded: {decoded_bytes.decode('utf-8')}") # Encode with Base58Check (includes a checksum) data_for_check = b'my secret data' encoded_check = base58.b58encode_check(data_for_check) print(f"Encoded (with check): {encoded_check.decode('ascii')}") # Decode Base58Check (verifies checksum) decoded_check = base58.b58decode_check(encoded_check) print(f"Decoded (with check): {decoded_check.decode('utf-8')}") # Using a custom alphabet (e.g., XRP/Ripple) xrp_data = b'xrp address seed' encoded_xrp = base58.b58encode(xrp_data, alphabet=base58.XRP_ALPHABET) print(f"Encoded (XRP alphabet): {encoded_xrp.decode('ascii')}")

base58 --version

Debug

Known issues

breakingPython 2 support was dropped in version 2.0.0. Projects still on Python 2 must use the 1.x series, which will not receive new features.

fix

Upgrade to Python 3.5+ to use base58 >= 2.0.0. If unable to upgrade Python, pin to base58<2.0.0.

affects: >=2.0.0

gotchaEncoding and decoding functions (`b58encode`, `b58decode`, etc.) strictly expect bytes-like objects as input. Passing a plain Python string will result in errors or incorrect encoding.

fix

Always convert string inputs to bytes (e.g., `my_string.encode('utf-8')`) before passing them to `base58` functions. Similarly, if you need a string output, decode the resulting bytes (e.g., `encoded_bytes.decode('ascii')`).

affects: All versions

gotchaWhen decoding, the input string must strictly adhere to the Base58 character set. The library's decoding functions will raise a `ValueError` if invalid characters (e.g., '0', 'O', 'I', 'l' which are excluded from Base58) are present.

fix

Ensure input strings for decoding are valid Base58. Implement robust error handling (e.g., `try-except ValueError`) when processing external or untrusted Base58 strings.

affects: All versions

gotchaIf using custom alphabets (e.g., `base58.XRP_ALPHABET`), ensure that the *exact same alphabet* is used for both encoding and subsequent decoding. Mismatched alphabets will lead to `ValueError` or corrupted data.

fix

Explicitly pass the `alphabet` parameter to both `b58encode` and `b58decode` functions to guarantee consistency, especially when dealing with data from different systems.

affects: All versions

gotchaWhen dealing with Base58Check, the checksum calculation (typically a double SHA-256 hash) and its inclusion are crucial. Manually implementing this can be prone to errors in hashing or byte extraction.

fix

Always use `base58.b58encode_check()` and `base58.b58decode_check()` for Base58Check operations to leverage the library's correct handling of checksums. Avoid manual checksum computations where possible with this library.

affects: All versions

Upgrade

Version history

2.1.1latest on PyPI · released Oct 30, 2021

Audit

Dependencies

PythonrequiredRequires Python 3.5 or higher for versions 2.x.

Agent activity

28 hits · last 30 days

node

OpenAI (training)

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/keis/base58 ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/base58/ ↗