# Sparkle Protocol Technical Specification

Version 1.0 – January 2025

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## Abstract

Sparkle Protocol is a metaprotocol for Bitcoin Ordinals enabling cost-efficient NFT collections through recursive parent-child inscription architecture. This specification defines the JSON metadata format, inscription patterns, and composition rules for Sparkle-compatible NFTs.

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## Protocol Identifier

All Sparkle inscriptions use:

```json
{"p": "sparkle", "v": 1}
```

- `p` (protocol): Always `"sparkle"`
- `v` (version): Protocol version number (currently `1`)

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## Operations

### 1. Deploy (Collection Genesis)

Defines a new NFT collection.

```json
{
  "p": "sparkle",
  "v": 1,
  "op": "deploy",
  "name": "Collection Name",
  "collection": {
    "supply": 10000,
    "trait_count": 176,
    "description": "Collection description",
    "license": "CC0-1.0"
  }
}
```

**Required fields:**
- `p`, `v`, `op`, `name`

**Optional fields:**
- `collection` (object): Collection metadata
- `lightning` (object): Lightning trading metadata (future use)

### 2. Mint (Individual NFT)

Creates an individual NFT referencing traits.

```json
{
  "p": "sparkle",
  "v": 1,
  "op": "mint",
  "parent": "<genesis_inscription_id>",
  "nft": {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "NFT #0001"
  },
  "layers": [
    {"id": "<trait_inscription_id>", "z": 0},
    {"id": "<trait_inscription_id>", "z": 1}
  ]
}
```

**Required fields:**
- `p`, `v`, `op`, `parent`, `layers`

**Optional fields:**
- `nft` (object): NFT metadata

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## Composition Rules

### Layer Rendering

NFTs are composed by:

1. Parsing the `layers` array
2. Fetching each trait image by inscription ID
3. Drawing layers in ascending z-index order (0 = back, higher = front)
4. Compositing on a canvas (recommended: 1024×1024px)

### Inscription ID Format

Inscription IDs follow Ordinals standard:

```
<txid>i<index>
```

Example: `3b19f7c514ca61cde03a8ff6ca694209ac60e3c73f7e62d0c9b2e7442f9ed57bi0`

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## See Also

- [DARKITA Integration](./DARKITA_INTEGRATION.md) for real-world implementation
- [API Usage](./API_USAGE.md) for integration guide
- [Website Technical Spec](https://sparkleprotocol.com/technical-reality.html) for detailed analysis

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**TODO:** This spec will be expanded with full formal specification in future versions.