Base58

Warnings

• breaking Python 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.
• gotcha Encoding 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')`).
• gotcha When 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.
• gotcha If 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.
• gotcha When 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.

Install

• pip install base58 Install stable version

Imports

• b58encode

  import base58
  base58.b58encode(...)

  Input must be a bytes-like object, not a string.
• b58decode

  import base58
  base58.b58decode(...)

  Input must be a bytes-like object (or a string that decodes to bytes), not a plain string, for consistent behavior.
• b58encode_check

  import base58
  base58.b58encode_check(...)

  Encodes with a built-in checksum. Input must be bytes.
• b58decode_check

  import base58
  base58.b58decode_check(...)

  Decodes with a built-in checksum verification. Input must be bytes.
• XRP_ALPHABET

  import base58
  base58.XRP_ALPHABET

  `XRP_ALPHABET` is the recommended alias for the Ripple alphabet, though `RIPPLE_ALPHABET` is also provided for compatibility.

Quickstart

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')}")