[BUG] v2.4.0 regression: "transaction type not supported" error - keep-common header fix removed

[lrsaturnino]

Description

v2.4.0 reintroduces the "transaction type not supported" error that was fixed in v2.3.1. The fix (using HeaderByNumber instead of BlockByNumber in keep-common) was accidentally removed when the replace directive pointing to threshold-network/keep-common was dropped.

Related Issues

• Original issue: ENG-469 Irritating error transaction type not supported #3841
• Original fix: ENG-469 Fix: prefer headers for block info keep-common#1

Root Cause

When fetching the initial block during BlockCounter initialization, the code uses BlockByNumber() which deserializes all transactions in the block. Blocks containing newer transaction types (EIP-4844 blob transactions from the Dencun upgrade) cause go-ethereum to fail with "transaction type not supported".

The fix in threshold-network/keep-common PR #1 changed this to use HeaderByNumber() which avoids transaction deserialization.

Evidence

v2.3.1 go.mod (has fix):

replace (
    github.com/keep-network/keep-common => github.com/threshold-network/keep-common v1.7.1-tlabs.0
    // ...
)

v2.4.0 go.mod (regression):

require (
    github.com/keep-network/keep-common v1.7.1-0.20240424094333-bd36cd25bb74
    // No replace directive - uses unfixed keep-network/keep-common
)

Symptoms

• Intermittent startup failures with error:

  error connecting to Ethereum node: [could not create base chain handle:
  [failed to create Ethereum blockcounter: [failed to get initial block
  from the chain: [transaction type not supported]]]]
  

• When acting as coordination leader, queries fail with fromBlock: 0x0 causing:

  Requested range exceeds maximum RPC range limit
  

• Workaround: restart repeatedly (3-10 attempts) until a block without unsupported tx types is fetched

Environment

• keep-core version: v2.4.0
• Ethereum client: Besu (also reproducible with other clients)
• Network: Ethereum Mainnet

Proposed Fix

Restore the replace directive in go.mod:

replace github.com/keep-network/keep-common => github.com/threshold-network/keep-common v1.7.1-tlabs.0

Or merge the header fix into keep-network/keep-common and update the dependency.

Affected Versions

Version	Status
v2.4.0	AFFECTED
v2.3.1	NOT AFFECTED (has fix)