trace_transaction

trace_transaction returns the OpenEthereum/Nethermind-style call tree for one historical Arbitrum One transaction, flattened into trace objects that show every internal call, contract create, and self-destruct, each with a traceAddress path encoding its place in the tree. Unlike debug_traceTransaction, it gives you the action-level call graph rather than opcode logs — ideal for following ETH and value flows. Arbitrum One is a Nitro Optimistic Rollup (chain ID 42161) that pays gas in ETH and settles to Ethereum L1, so this surfaces the internal transactions behind any tx on Arbiscan. Send requests to https://arbitrum.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY.

Use cases

• Enumerate all internal ETH transfers in an Arbitrum One transaction, including ones that emit no event and are invisible to eth_getLogs.
• Trace fund flows across multiple contracts in a multi-hop DeFi interaction (for example a swap routed through Uniswap and Camelot).
• Identify which sub-call caused a revert in a multi-hop Arbitrum One transaction by walking the traceAddress path.
• Index internal transactions for an Arbitrum One block explorer or analytics product.

Parameters

Response

Example request

1curl https://arbitrum.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  -X POST \
3  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
4  -d '{
5    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
6    "method": "trace_transaction",
7    "params": ["0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"],
8    "id": 1
9  }'

Try it live in the Arbitrum One playground.

Errors & troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Requires a trace-enabled archive node (Geth with --gcmode=archive plus the trace API, or Erigon/Nethermind with trace enabled); most public Arbitrum One light nodes do not expose it.
• The output differs from debug_traceTransaction: there is no opcode-level data here, only call, create, and self-destruct actions — pick the right method for the detail you need.
• A failed Arbitrum One transaction produces a truncated trace up to the revert point, so the call tree may stop short of the full intended path.

Supported networks

• Mainnet — Chain ID: 42161
• Sepolia — Chain ID: 421614

See also

• trace_replayTransaction
• trace_block
• trace_filter
• debug_traceTransaction

1curl https://arbitrum.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  -X POST \
3  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
4  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"trace_transaction","params":["0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"]}'