TYPE 0x0804 · GOVERNANCE FAMILY

OUTPUT_COUNT

Bounds on the number of outputs in the spending transaction. Controls fan-out behavior and prevents excessive output creation. No Tapscript equivalent.

Governance Invertible

Ladder Diagram

Fields

Field	Data Type	Size	Side	Description
min_outputs	NUMERIC	1-4 B	Conditions	Minimum number of outputs required (≥ 0)
max_outputs	NUMERIC	1-4 B	Conditions	Maximum number of outputs allowed (≥ min_outputs)

Wire Format Breakdown

0x0804 0 2 NUMERIC NUMERIC Conditions = 14 bytes

0x0804 0 0 Witness = 4 bytes

Total 20 bytes

Evaluation Logic

1.Read min_outputs and max_outputs

2.Validate: min ≥ 0, max ≥ 0, min ≤ max. If invalid → ERROR

3.If no tx context → SATISFIED

4.Count outputs: if min ≤ count ≤ max → SATISFIED

5.Otherwise → UNSATISFIED

JSON Wire Format

{
  "type": "OUTPUT_COUNT",
  "fields": [
    { "type": "NUMERIC", "value": 1 },
    { "type": "NUMERIC", "value": 2 }
  ]
}

Use Cases

Simple Transfer Enforcement

Setting max=2 forces the spend to create at most 2 outputs (payment + change). Prevents the UTXO from being used in batch payouts or CoinJoin-style transactions.

Covenant Output Structure

Combined with RECURSE_SAME, ensures the spending transaction creates exactly the right number of covenant outputs. Setting min=max=1 forces a 1-to-1 covenant chain.

Anti-Fragmentation

Capping output count prevents value fragmentation attacks where an adversary splits a large UTXO into many dust outputs to increase future spending costs.

← INPUT_COUNT RELATIVE_VALUE →