Surfpool Error Repro

surfpool_bug_gist.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Minimal repro: solana-py crashes when parsing certain surfpool error responses

Bug: Parser panics with "missing field `data`" instead of handling errors gracefully

To reproduce:
1. pip install solana
2. Start surfpool: surfpool start --no-tui  
3. Run this script: python surfpool_bug_gist.py
"""

import base64
import base58
from solana.rpc.api import Client
from solders.keypair import Keypair
from solders.system_program import transfer, TransferParams
from solders.transaction import Transaction
from solders.message import Message
from solders.hash import Hash
from solders.pubkey import Pubkey

# Connect to surfpool
client = Client("http://localhost:8899")

# Create a transaction (this one has an invalid blockhash)
sender = Keypair()
transfer_ix = transfer(TransferParams(
    from_pubkey=sender.pubkey(),
    to_pubkey=Pubkey.from_string("11111111111111111111111111111111"),
    lamports=1
))

dummy_blockhash = Hash.from_string("4vJ9JU1bJJE96FWSJKvHsmmFADCg4gpZQff4P3bkLKi")
msg = Message.new_with_blockhash([transfer_ix], sender.pubkey(), dummy_blockhash)
tx = Transaction.new_unsigned(msg)
tx.sign([sender], dummy_blockhash)

# Print transaction details
tx_bytes = bytes(tx)
tx_base64 = base64.b64encode(tx_bytes).decode('ascii')
tx_base58 = base58.b58encode(tx_bytes).decode('ascii')

print(f"Sender pubkey: {sender.pubkey()}")
print(f"Transaction size: {len(tx_bytes)} bytes")
print(f"\nSerialized transaction (base64):\n{tx_base64}")
print(f"\nSerialized transaction (base58):\n{tx_base58}")
print(f"\nCurl command with base58:")
print(f'''curl -X POST http://localhost:8899 -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"sendTransaction","params":["{tx_base58}"]}}\'''')
print("\n" + "="*60 + "\n")

# This should return an error, but instead crashes with:
# PanicException: called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: Error("missing field `data`")
try:
    print("Sending transaction via solana-py...")
    result = client.send_transaction(tx)
    print(f"Success: {result}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error type: {type(e).__name__}")
    print(f"Error: {e}")
    if "missing field `data`" in str(e):
        print("\n🐛 BUG: Parser panicked instead of returning error gracefully!")
        print("\nTo see the actual RPC response, run the curl command above.")
        print("\nSurfpool response:")
        print('''{"jsonrpc":"2.0","error":{"code":-32002,"message":"Transaction simulation failed..."},"id":1}''')
        print("\nDevnet response (includes 'data' field):")
        print('''{"jsonrpc":"2.0","error":{"code":-32002,"message":"...","data":{...}},"id":1}''')
        print("\nThe difference: devnet includes a 'data' field in errors, surfpool doesn't.")
        print("solana-py's parser expects this 'data' field and crashes without it.")

SurfpoolBugReport.md

Surfpool RPC Response Parsing Error

Issue Description

When sending transactions that result in errors through surfpool, the Python solana-py client crashes with a panic instead of handling the error gracefully:

thread '<unnamed>' panicked at crates/rpc-responses/src/lib.rs:363:84:
called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: Error("missing field `data`", line: 0, column: 0)

This happens when surfpool returns an error response that solana-py's parser cannot handle.

Environment

• surfpool: latest
• solana-py: 0.36.7
• Python: 3.12
• OS: macOS

Quick Test - No Code Needed!

Just run these two curl commands to see the difference:

1. Test with Surfpool (missing 'data' field):

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8899 -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"sendTransaction","params":["4vJ9JU1bJJE96FWSJKvHsmmFADCg4gpZQff4P3bkLKi"]}' | jq .

Response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "error": {
    "code": -32002,
    "message": "Transaction simulation failed: Blockhash not found: 0 log messages:\n"
  },
  "id": 1
}

2. Test with Devnet (includes 'data' field):

curl -s -X POST https://api.devnet.solana.com -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"sendTransaction","params":["4vJ9JU1bJJE96FWSJKvHsmmFADCg4gpZQff4P3bkLKi"]}' | jq .

Response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "error": {
    "code": -32002,
    "message": "Transaction simulation failed: Blockhash not found",
    "data": {
      "accounts": null,
      "err": "BlockhashNotFound",
      "innerInstructions": null,
      "logs": [],
      "replacementBlockhash": null,
      "returnData": null,
      "unitsConsumed": 0
    }
  },
  "id": 1
}

The Issue: Surfpool is missing the "data" field that Solana includes in error responses.

Why This Matters

When solana-py tries to parse surfpool's error response (without the 'data' field), it crashes with:

thread '<unnamed>' panicked at crates/rpc-responses/src/lib.rs:363:84:
called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: Error("missing field `data`", line: 0, column: 0)

Instead of getting a nice error message like "Blockhash not found", Python developers get a panic crash.

Root Cause

The error happens in solana-py's Rust-based response parser:

File "solana/rpc/providers/core.py", line 96, in _parse_raw
    parsed = parser.from_json(raw)  # This is a Rust function via PyO3

The parser expects a "data" field that isn't present in error responses, causing a panic instead of a proper error.

Hypothesis

This appears to be a bug in solana-py's response parser, not necessarily in surfpool. However, there might be a subtle difference in how surfpool formats error responses compared to standard Solana RPC nodes that triggers this bug.

The Fix

Surfpool should include the "data" field in error responses to match Solana's RPC format. Even if some fields are null/empty, the structure should match.

Questions

1. For Surfpool Team: Does surfpool format error responses differently than standard Solana RPC nodes?
2. For solana-py Team: Should the response parser handle error responses without panicking?
3. Could this be related to how surfpool handles specific error types?

Workaround

For now, we catch the panic exception and treat it as a generic error, but this prevents us from getting the actual error message.

Suggested Fix

Either:

1. solana-py should handle error responses gracefully without panicking
2. surfpool could format error responses to match what solana-py expects
3. Document the expected error response format

Thank you for looking into this! Both surfpool and solana-py are great tools and this seems like a simple compatibility issue.