From 148ac237bede6127ad42265f0ead0e929abcf1b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: yyforyongyu <yy2452@columbia.edu>
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:47:01 +0800
Subject: [PATCH] chain: wait for `bitcoind` to finish loading blocks during
 startup
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

We sometimes see this error in test,
```
--- FAIL: TestBitcoindEvents (7.72s)
    --- FAIL: TestBitcoindEvents/Events_via_RPC_Polling (1.00s)
        bitcoind_events_test.go:480:
            	Error Trace:	/home/runner/work/btcwallet/btcwallet/chain/bitcoind_events_test.go:480
            	            				/home/runner/work/btcwallet/btcwallet/chain/bitcoind_events_test.go:49
            	Error:      	Received unexpected error:
            	            	-28: Loading block index…
            	Test:       	TestBitcoindEvents/Events_via_RPC_Polling
FAIL
```
which can also happen in real life if `bitcoind` is still loading
blocks. This commit adds a retry logic to wait for `bitcoind` to finish
its startup.
---
 chain/bitcoind_conn.go | 66 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 65 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/chain/bitcoind_conn.go b/chain/bitcoind_conn.go
index a59c335726..88edf1b05a 100644
--- a/chain/bitcoind_conn.go
+++ b/chain/bitcoind_conn.go
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 package chain
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcjson"
 	"github.com/btcsuite/btcd/chaincfg"
@@ -38,8 +41,21 @@ const (
 	// errBlockPrunedStr is the error message returned by bitcoind upon
 	// calling GetBlock on a pruned block.
 	errBlockPrunedStr = "Block not available (pruned data)"
+
+	// errStillLoadingCode is the error code returned when an RPC request
+	// is made but bitcoind is still in the process of loading or verifying
+	// blocks.
+	errStillLoadingCode = "-28"
+
+	// bitcoindStartTimeout is the time we wait for bitcoind to finish
+	// loading and verifying blocks and become ready to serve RPC requests.
+	bitcoindStartTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 )
 
+// ErrBitcoindStartTimeout is returned when the bitcoind daemon fails to load
+// and verify blocks under 30s during startup.
+var ErrBitcoindStartTimeout = errors.New("bitcoind start timeout")
+
 // BitcoindConfig contains all of the parameters required to establish a
 // connection to a bitcoind's RPC.
 type BitcoindConfig struct {
@@ -311,9 +327,57 @@ func (c *BitcoindConn) sendTxToClients() {
 	}
 }
 
+// getBlockHashDuringStartup is used to call the getblockhash RPC during
+// startup. It catches the case where bitcoind is still in the process of
+// loading blocks, which returns the following error,
+// - "-28: Loading block index..."
+// - "-28: Verifying blocks..."
+// In this case we'd retry every second until we time out after 30 seconds.
+func getBlockHashDuringStartup(
+	client *rpcclient.Client) (*chainhash.Hash, error) {
+
+	hash, err := client.GetBlockHash(0)
+
+	// Exit early if there's no error.
+	if err == nil {
+		return hash, nil
+	}
+
+	// If the error doesn't start with "-28", it's an unexpected error so
+	// we exit with it.
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), errStillLoadingCode) {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Starts the timeout ticker(30s).
+	timeout := time.After(bitcoindStartTimeout)
+
+	// Otherwise, we'd retry calling getblockhash or time out after 30s.
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-timeout:
+			return nil, ErrBitcoindStartTimeout
+
+		// Retry every second.
+		case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
+			hash, err = client.GetBlockHash(0)
+			// If there's no error, we return the hash.
+			if err == nil {
+				return hash, nil
+			}
+
+			// Otherwise, retry until we time out. We also check if
+			// the error returned here is still expected.
+			if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), errStillLoadingCode) {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // getCurrentNet returns the network on which the bitcoind node is running.
 func getCurrentNet(client *rpcclient.Client) (wire.BitcoinNet, error) {
-	hash, err := client.GetBlockHash(0)
+	hash, err := getBlockHashDuringStartup(client)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}