Rate Limit Error Explainer

WHAT IT DOES

Rate Limit Error Explainer takes a pending or recent transaction hash and determines whether the sender has exceeded a contract-imposed rate limit. Many EVM contracts implement rate limiting to prevent spam, abuse, or excessive usage—for example, limiting the number of calls per block, maximum tokens that can be transferred per day, or enforcing a cooldown between actions. This tool reads the transaction's target contract and sender, then attempts to query common rate limit view functions such as rateLimit(), usageCount(), maxUsage(), lastAction(), cooldown(), getRemainingAllowance(), and maxCallsPerBlock(). It computes the sender's current usage against the configured limits, checks if the cooldown has expired, and determines whether the transaction would be rejected. The output includes the current usage, the limit, the cooldown period, the last action timestamp, the reset time, and a plain‑language explanation of whether the transaction will fail and what the user should do (e.g., wait for the cooldown to expire, reduce frequency, or use a different address).

HOW TO USE

Paste any transaction hash into the input field, select the network, and click "Check rate limit". The tool connects to your wallet via the EVM bridge (read‑only; it never signs or sends anything) to fetch the transaction details and the target contract's rate limit state. It attempts multiple common rate limit function signatures to maximize compatibility with different contract patterns. It fetches the current block timestamp to compare against cooldown and reset times. Historical usage events are fetched in chunks (500 blocks per request) with automatic backoff and halving on failure to avoid public RPC caps. The AI layer generates a plain‑English summary: whether the rate limit has been exceeded, the current usage vs. the limit, when the limit resets, and what action the user can take. You can click on the transaction hash or contract address to view them on the block explorer.

CHUNKED LOG SCANNING WITH BACKOFF FOR USAGE EVENTS

Rate limits often depend on historical usage tracked via events or storage. However, public RPCs aggressively cap eth_getLogs block ranges—a full-range request over 10,000 blocks will fail with a "block range too large" error. This tool automatically chunkes log requests into 500‑block slices to stay within safe limits for all major RPC providers. If a chunk fails (due to timeout or provider‑specific caps), it halves that chunk and retries recursively—ensuring that even with aggressive caps, the tool reliably retrieves all relevant usage events. This is essential for detecting past actions that contribute to the current usage count, and for determining when the rate limit will reset. The tool also caches the current block timestamp and block number at the start of the scan to maintain consistency across all requests and calculations.

WHAT IT CANNOT SEE

This tool cannot detect rate limits that depend on off‑chain state (e.g., limits that are enforced by an off‑chain relayer or based on external data feeds). It cannot predict future usage or rate limit resets that might occur before the transaction is mined—the check reflects the current block, not the future. It cannot verify that the sender intended to respect the rate limit—the tool reads what is on‑chain, not the user's intent. It cannot detect rate limits in contracts that use non‑standard patterns (e.g., limits that are not exposed via view functions, or limits that are calculated using complex logic not easily queryable). It cannot guarantee that a retry will succeed even if the rate limit appears to have room, as other conditions may also need to be met (e.g., balance, allowance, paused state). It cannot detect if the rate limit is a security measure or a temporary throttle—this tool only checks whether the limit has been exceeded based on current state, it does not assess intent or risk. It also cannot detect rate limits that are enforced at the proxy implementation layer without being exposed through the proxy's own interface.

PLEASE NOTE

This tool works only for EVM‑compatible chains (Ethereum, Polygon, BSC, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche C‑chain, etc.) and relies on standard rate limit function signatures (rateLimit, usageCount, maxUsage, cooldown, lastAction, getRemainingAllowance). It does not support custom rate limit logic that does not expose these functions as public view methods. All explanations are AI‑generated from data the app reads on‑chain—the AI synthesizes the usage data, limit parameters, cooldown state, and transaction context into plain English, but it does not have special access to private contract logic or off‑chain data. Always review what you are actually signing in your wallet before approving any transaction; a rate limit check does not replace your own verification of the transaction details, including the target contract and the function you are calling. This tool is provided free of charge, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness.