nautechsystems/nautilus_trader · error

Manifest probe call data is invalid

Error message

Manifest probe call data is invalid

What it means

The manifest validator parses each contract probe's call_data field with alloy's Bytes::from_str, which requires a valid hex byte string (optionally 0x-prefixed, even length). This error means a probe's call_data is not valid hex, so the verifier cannot build the identity probe call it would use to confirm the deployed contract matches the manifest.

Source

Thrown at crates/adapters/blockchain/src/rpc/verification.rs:1311

            let storage_value = B256::from_str(&proxy.storage_value)
                .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("Proxy storage value is invalid"))?;
            let target = Address::from_str(&proxy.target_address)
                .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("Proxy target address is invalid"))?;
            let target_hash = B256::from_str(&proxy.target_code_hash)
                .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("Proxy target code hash is invalid"))?;
            anyhow::ensure!(
                target != Address::ZERO
                    && target != address
                    && target_hash != B256::ZERO
                    && storage_value[..12].iter().all(|byte| *byte == 0)
                    && storage_value[12..] == *target.as_slice(),
                "Proxy target binding is invalid"
            );
        }

        for probe in &contract.probes {
            Bytes::from_str(&probe.call_data)
                .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("Manifest probe call data is invalid"))?;
            Bytes::from_str(&probe.expected_output)
                .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("Manifest probe output is invalid"))?;
        }
    }

    for contract in &manifest.contracts {
        let Some(proxy) = &contract.proxy else {
            continue;
        };
        let target =
            Address::from_str(&proxy.target_address).expect("validated proxy target address");
        let target_contract = manifest
            .contracts
            .iter()
            .find(|candidate| Address::from_str(&candidate.address).ok() == Some(target))
            .ok_or_else(|| {
                anyhow::anyhow!("Proxy target has no unique deployment manifest identity")
            })?;

View on GitHub (pinned to 18893faf8b)

Solutions

  1. Set probe.call_data to valid even-length hex (e.g. 0x8da5cb5b for owner())
  2. Encode the intended call with an ABI encoder (cast calldata / ethers) and copy the output verbatim
  3. Re-run manifest generation so call_data is produced programmatically

Example fix

// before
{"call_data": "owner()"}
// after
{"call_data": "0x8da5cb5b"}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

fn valid_hex_bytes(s: &str) -> bool {
    let h = s.strip_prefix("0x").unwrap_or(s);
    !h.is_empty() && h.len() % 2 == 0 && h.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_hexdigit())
}
assert!(manifest.contracts.iter().flat_map(|c| &c.probes).all(|p| valid_hex_bytes(&p.call_data)));

Try / catch

match validate_manifest(&config) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("probe call data") => {
        eprintln!("re-encode probe call_data with an ABI encoder: {e}");
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
    Ok(v) => v,
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running deployment manifest verification when a contract's probes[] entry has call_data that is empty, odd-length, or contains non-hex characters — e.g. an ABI signature string like 'owner()' pasted instead of its 4-byte selector.

Common situations: Writing probe call data by hand instead of encoding with an ABI encoder; pasting a Solidity function signature rather than keccak-derived selector bytes; shell/JSON escaping corrupting the 0x prefix; tools emitting odd-length hex.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors


AI-assisted analysis of nautechsystems/nautilus_trader@18893faf8b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/dba10aeb074802dd. Report an issue: GitHub.