nautechsystems/nautilus_trader · error

Missing timestamp

Error message

Missing timestamp

What it means

transform_hypersync_block requires the block timestamp to build the Block's UnixNanos time. When HyperSync returns a block without a timestamp (None), the transform fails with this error instead of producing a Block with an unknown time. Timestamps are mandatory because downstream event aggregation and ordering depend on them.

Source

Thrown at crates/adapters/blockchain/src/hypersync/transform.rs:51

        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing block number"))?;
    let gas_limit = from_str_hex_to_u64(
        received_block
            .gas_limit
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing gas limit"))?
            .encode_hex()
            .as_str(),
    )?;
    let gas_used = from_str_hex_to_u64(
        received_block
            .gas_used
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing gas used"))?
            .encode_hex()
            .as_str(),
    )?;
    let timestamp = from_str_hex_to_u64(
        received_block
            .timestamp
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing timestamp"))?
            .encode_hex()
            .as_str(),
    )?;

    let mut block = Block::new(
        received_block
            .hash
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing hash"))?
            .to_string(),
        received_block
            .parent_hash
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing parent hash"))?
            .to_string(),
        number,
        Ustr::from(
            received_block
                .miner
                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing miner"))?

View on GitHub (pinned to 18893faf8b)

Solutions

1. Include timestamp in the HyperSync query's selected fields so every block carries it.
2. Confirm the block record actually has a timestamp for the target chain (e.g. skip chains without block timestamps).
3. If a default is acceptable, fall back to 0 or the parent block's timestamp instead of erroring.
4. Check that the queried block range refers to finalized blocks, not pending ones lacking timestamps.

Example fix

// before
let timestamp = from_str_hex_to_u64(
    received_block.timestamp.ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("Missing timestamp"))?.encode_hex().as_str(),
)?;
// after (defaulting when absent)
let timestamp = received_block
    .timestamp
    .map(|t| from_str_hex_to_u64(t.encode_hex().as_str()))
    .transpose()?
    .unwrap_or(0);

fn block_has_timestamp(b: &hypersync_client::simple_types::Block) -> bool {
    b.timestamp.is_some()
}
// skip or backfill blocks where this returns false

fn has_timestamp(b: &hypersync_client::simple_types::Block) -> bool {
    matches!(b.timestamp, Some(_))
}

match transform_hypersync_block(chain, block) {
    Ok(b) => process(b),
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("Missing timestamp") => {
        tracing::warn!(block = ?block.number, "block missing timestamp; requerying");
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: pool_events_from_response receiving a HyperSync block where timestamp is None — typically because the query projection omitted the timestamp field or the provider returned an incomplete block record.

Common situations: Building HyperSync queries with selective column lists that forgot to include timestamp; chain integrations where timestamps are absent for early-genesis or pending blocks; stale hypersync-client schema mismatches.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Missing transaction hash in log
• Missing transaction index in the log
• Missing log index in the log
• Missing block number in the log
• Missing block number

AI-assisted analysis of nautechsystems/nautilus_trader@18893faf8b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4df1194ce0128b73. Report an issue: GitHub.