{"id":3992,"date":"2026-10-13T15:29:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nownodes.io\/blog\/?p=3992"},"modified":"2026-10-13T15:29:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:29:23","slug":"bitcoin-ordinals-and-runes-how-to-query-inscriptions-and-runes-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nownodes.io\/blog\/bitcoin-ordinals-and-runes-how-to-query-inscriptions-and-runes-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes: How to Query Inscriptions and Runes Data"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bitcoin Ordinals let you attach data \u2014 an image, a line of text, even a small program \u2014 to a single satoshi, turning it into a one-of-a-kind artifact that lives on-chain. Bitcoin Runes do something different: they create fungible tokens directly on Bitcoin. Both sit on the same blockchain, and neither can be read straight from Bitcoin’s base layer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To query inscriptions or runes data, you need two things: software that scans the chain and decodes these protocols, called an indexer, and an interface that serves the decoded results back to your app. There are three practical routes \u2014 run the official ord<\/code> indexer yourself, self-host a third-party indexer, or call a hosted API that someone else maintains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide explains what the data actually is, why Bitcoin doesn’t expose it on its own, and how each route works in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n

What Are Inscriptions and Tokens on Bitcoin?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Both features extend Bitcoin without changing its consensus rules. They lean on two older upgrades \u2014 SegWit and Taproot \u2014 which made room for arbitrary data in a cheaper part of a transaction. The difference is what each one produces.<\/p>\n\n\n

What Is an Inscription?<\/h3>\n\n\n
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An inscription is content written to a specific satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin (one hundred-millionth of a coin). Bitcoin Ordinals is the protocol that makes this possible by assigning every satoshi a sequential number based on the order it was mined. That numbering scheme is called ordinal theory, and it gives each satoshi a stable identity you can track and inscribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The content itself lives in the witness portion of a Bitcoin transaction. Once written, it stays on-chain permanently and moves with the satoshi when it’s spent. You can browse live examples on ordinals.com<\/a>, the reference explorer maintained by the protocol’s creator, Casey Rodarmor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inscriptions started slowly in January 2023 and then grew fast. More than 117 million had been made by early 2026, and text-based content \u2014 most of it token data \u2014 accounts for roughly 83% of the total (Spark research<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n

What Are Runes?<\/h3>\n\n\n

Runes is a protocol for issuing fungible tokens on Bitcoin. Where an inscription is “inscribed,” a rune is “etched” \u2014 a single transaction defines the token’s name, supply, and decimal precision, and those rules become immutable once confirmed. Rodarmor, who also created Ordinals, launched Runes at the April 2024 halving, when Bitcoin reached block 840,000 (Decrypt<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Runes store token balances inside Bitcoin’s unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs), the same accounting units Bitcoin already uses to track who owns what. Transfer instructions are written into a special output called a runestone. This design is deliberately lean, which is the main reason Runes was pitched as a cleaner alternative to the earlier BRC-20 standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRC-20 is worth naming because the three concepts get confused. BRC-20 also creates fungible tokens, but it does so by inscribing JSON text through Ordinals \u2014 which is why most inscriptions today are text, not images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/th>Bitcoin Ordinals<\/th>Bitcoin Runes<\/th>BRC-20<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Creates<\/td>Unique artifacts (inscriptions)<\/td>Fungible tokens<\/td>Fungible tokens<\/td><\/tr>
Action<\/td>Inscribed<\/td>Etched<\/td>Inscribed via JSON<\/td><\/tr>
Where data lives<\/td>Witness data, tied to a numbered satoshi<\/td>UTXOs, via a runestone output<\/td>Text inscriptions<\/td><\/tr>
Launched<\/td>January 2023<\/td>April 2024 (block 840,000)<\/td>March 2023<\/td><\/tr>
Readable from Bitcoin alone?<\/td>No<\/td>No<\/td>No<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n

Why Can’t You Read This Data From Bitcoin Directly?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Because Bitcoin doesn’t know these protocols exist. To Bitcoin, an inscription is just some witness data and a rune transfer is just a normal transaction. Ordinal numbers, inscription IDs, rune balances \u2014 none of that is tracked by the chain itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of it is a convention layered on top. The rules for assigning satoshi numbers, decoding inscription content, and interpreting runestones live in the protocol specifications, not in Bitcoin’s own logic. So reading the data means running software that applies those rules to every block, from genesis forward, and keeps a separate database of the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That software is an indexer. It connects to a fully synced copy of Bitcoin, replays history while applying the Ordinals and Runes rules, and then answers questions like “what’s inscribed on this satoshi?” or “who holds this rune?” Everything in the rest of this guide is a different way of getting at that indexed database.<\/p>\n\n\n

Who Needs Inscription and Runes Data?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Anyone building a product that has to show, verify, or track this data rather than just create it. The reader is usually a developer or a team, not an end user clicking a wallet button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common cases include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n