> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/dotandev/hintents/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction to Erst

> A specialized developer tool for debugging Stellar smart contract transactions

Erst is a specialized developer tool for the Stellar network, designed to solve the "black box" debugging experience on Soroban. When a Soroban transaction fails on mainnet, developers typically receive only a generic XDR error code. Erst bridges the gap between opaque network errors and your source code.

<Info>
  Erst is currently in active development (Pre-Alpha). The primary focus is Soroban error decoding and transaction replay.
</Info>

## What problems does Erst solve?

When a Stellar smart contract transaction fails, you need to understand **why** it failed. Erst provides:

* **Transaction replay** - Fetch failed transactions and re-execute them locally
* **Local simulation** - Execute transactions in a controlled environment
* **Trace decoding** - Map execution failures to readable instructions
* **Source mapping** - Link WASM instruction failures to specific Rust source code lines
* **Error suggestions** - Get heuristic-based fix suggestions for common errors
* **GitHub source links** - Automatically generate clickable links to source locations

## Key features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Debug transactions" icon="bug" href="/quickstart">
    Analyze failed transactions with detailed error traces and execution context
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interactive trace viewer" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Explore transaction execution traces with search, syntax highlighting, and tree navigation
  </Card>

  <Card title="Performance profiling" icon="chart-line">
    Generate interactive flamegraphs to visualize CPU and memory consumption
  </Card>

  <Card title="Session management" icon="floppy-disk">
    Save and resume debugging sessions to preserve state across CLI invocations
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How it works

Erst operates through a three-step process:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Fetch transaction data">
    Uses Stellar RPC to retrieve the `TransactionEnvelope` and `LedgerFootprint` (read/write set) for the block where the transaction failed
  </Step>

  <Step title="Simulate execution">
    A Rust binary (`erst-sim`) integrates with `soroban-env-host` to replay transactions in a local environment
  </Step>

  <Step title="Capture diagnostics">
    Feeds inputs into the VM and captures `diagnostic_events`, mapping failures back to source code
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The challenge

Stellar's `soroban-env-host` executes WASM contracts. When a contract traps (crashes), the specific reason is often sanitized or lost in the XDR result to keep the ledger size small. This makes debugging production failures extremely difficult.

Erst solves this by replaying transactions locally where full diagnostic information can be captured and analyzed.

## Get started

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/installation">
    Install Erst using Go or build from source
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quick start" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Debug your first transaction in minutes
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Command groups

Erst organizes commands into logical groups:

* **Core debugging** - `debug`, `trace`, `explain` commands for transaction analysis
* **Testing & validation** - `verify`, `compare`, `fuzz` for contract testing
* **Session & cache management** - `session`, `cache` for workflow optimization
* **Development tools** - `init`, `doctor`, `sandbox` for local development
* **Utility commands** - `version`, `upgrade`, `completion` for CLI management

## Requirements

To use Erst, you need:

* Go 1.24.0 or higher
* Rust 1.70 or higher (for building from source)
* Access to a Stellar RPC endpoint (testnet or mainnet)

## Community and support

Erst is an open-source initiative. Contributions, pull requests, and issues are welcome on [GitHub](https://github.com/dotandev/hintents).