bech32

local bech32 = require 'bech32'

This module exposes a bech32 codec. The implementation is based on the original C++ reference implementation, but changes were made to fill user-provided buffers (instead of relying on memory allocators). The new interface is friendlier to botan.secure_byte_span.

Usually it’s not important use secure allocators for bech32 as it’s mostly used to encode public keys. However that’s not always the case (e.g. nostr’s nsec1… addresses). Even if you do use bech32 to encode secrets, it still doesn’t warrant an excuse to use secure allocators. Nonetheless this module will always — except for the human-readable part — avoid allocations as a way to be useful even for those few who need it. If you need to hold bech32 data exclusively through secure allocations (except for the human-readable part^[1]), you can use this module.

1. Memory allocations might still happen to hold the lower-case version of the human-readable part. However even the source code for your program already holds the expected human-readable part of a bech32 address. In a way, your program is already “leaking” the human-readable part. It’s not a safe pattern to depend on the secrecy of the human-readable part of bech32 addresses.