EVM - Troubleshooting debug_traceBlockByHash Timeouts

When using the debug_traceBlockByHash method with callTracer, you may receive execution timeout errors.

Example request:

Sonic Mainnet block example: https://sonicscan.org/block/37616150

curl --location 'https://sonic-mainnet.gateway.tatum.io/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: {YOUR_API_KEY}' \
--data '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "debug_traceBlockByHash",
    "params": [
        "0xdf4b451b14728cec5b1f52a2b73dc45229f5afbc266a8c7abb0c219f755bfd3e",
        {
            "tracer": "callTracer",
            "timeout": "5m"
        }
    ],
    "id": 1
}'
//Response
{
    "id": 1,
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "error": {
        "code": -32000,
        "message": "execution timeout"
    }
}

Cause

The callTracer is a resource-heavy tracer. When applied to blocks with many transactions, internal calls, or high gas usage, the node may time out before completing the trace, even with a high timeout value such as "timeout": "5m".

Workaround

If you're analyzing an entire block and do not need full internal call details, switch to a lighter tracer like 4byteTracer. This tracer extracts only the function selectors (4-byte method signatures) and significantly reduces processing time.

Example using 4byteTracer:

curl --location 'https://sonic-mainnet.gateway.tatum.io/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: {YOUR_API_KEY}' \
--data '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "debug_traceBlockByHash",
    "params": [
        "0xdf4b451b14728cec5b1f52a2b73dc45229f5afbc266a8c7abb0c219f755bfd3e",
        {
            "tracer": "4byteTracer",
            "timeout": "5m"
        }
    ],
    "id": 1
}'
//Response:
{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "result": [
        {
            "txHash": "0xda8b7db420780ac9e606937517f09bf6ed3e679a98a28de3ae0387b5711064ec",
            "result": {
                "0x00000000-221": 1,
                "0x07a2d13a-32": 21,
                "0x07a2d13a-96": 13,
                "0x09...

Alternative Option

If full internal call data is required, run callTracer on individual transactions rather than entire blocks:

{
  "method": "debug_traceTransaction",
  "params": ["<transaction_hash>", { "tracer": "callTracer" }]
}