# What are Ordinals? Ordinals are a numbering scheme for Dogecoin shibes (the smallest units of DOGE). They enable us to track and transfer individual shibes across different wallets. Each shibe is assigned a number in the order in which they're mined, and are transferred from "transaction inputs" to "transaction outputs" in a first-in-first-out basis. They're called "ordinals" because both the number and the transfer schemes each rely on their respective *order.* Numbering is based on the *order* in which shibes are mined, and transfers are based on the *order* of the transaction inputs and outputs. ## Ordinal Theory Ordinal theory is a protocol sequentially assigning numbers to shibes - the smallest units of Dogecoin - and then tracking these shibes as they're spent across various transactions. Ordinal theory works natively on Dogecoin, entirely independent of any other tokens, blockchains, or changes to Dogecoin itself. Other assets, such as images, texts, video files, etc., can then be attached to shibes using ordinal numbers as identifiers and tracked as they move across doginal-friendly wallets. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://doge-labs.gitbook.io/doginals/doginals-protcol/what-are-ordinals.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.