---
eip: 2733
title: Transaction package
author: Matt Garnett (@lightclient)
discussions-to: https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/eip-transaction-package/4365
status: Draft
type: Standards Track
category: Core
created: 2020-06-16
requires: 2718
---

## Simple Summary
Creates a new transaction type which executes a package of one or more
transactions.

## Abstract
After `FORK_BLOCK`, a new [EIP-2718](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-2718)
transaction of type `N` is recognized. Transactions of type `N` will define a
list of transactions, which must be executed serially by clients. Execution
information (e.g. `success`, `gas_used`, etc.) will be propagated forward to
the next transaction. 

## Motivation
Meta-transaction relay contracts have historically been designed to catch
reversions in their inner transactions by only passing a portion of the
available gas to the subcall. This has been considered bad practice for a long
time, but in the case of untrust subcalls -- it is the only available solution.
Transaction packages are an alternative solution which allow multiple
transactions to be bundled into one package and executed atomically.

## Specification

### Definitions

```
N = TBD transaction type number
INTRINSIC_COST = TBD
TOTAL_COST = INTRINSIC_COST + inner_txs.reduce(|itx, acc| acc += itx.value + itx.gas_price * itx.gas_limit)
TOTAL_GAS_LIMIT = inner_txs.reduce(|itx, acc| acc += itx.gas_limit)
TX_HASH = hash of transaction as defined below
SENDER = ecrecover(hash, v, r, s)
RESULT = result as defined below for the previous transaction, empty if its the first tx in a package
```

### Serialization
After `FORK_BLOCK`, a new [EIP-2718](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-2718)
transaction type `N` will be interpreted as follows:

`rlp([N, rlp([nonce, v, r, s, [inner_tx_0, ..., inner_tx_n]])`

where `inner_tx_n` is defined as:

`[chain_id, to, value, data, gas_limit, gas_price]`

### Hashing
The hash of transaction type `N` is defined to be the Keccak-256 hash of the
rlp encoding of the entire transaction with `v`, `r`, and `s` values omitted.

### Results
Subsequent transactions will be able to receive the result of the previous
transaction via `RETURNDATACOPY (0x3E)` in first frame of exeuction, before
making any subcalls. Each element except the last will be `0`-padded left to 32
bytes.

| Name | Type | Description  |
|---|---|---|
| `success`      | bool    | Status of the previous transaction |
| `gas_used`     | uint256 | Total gas used by the previous transaction |
| `cum_gas_used` | uint256 | Cumulative gas used by previous transactions |
| `return_size`  | uint256 | The size of the return value |
| `return_value` | bytes   | The return value of the previous transaction

### Validation

* (v, r, s) are a valid signature of the hash of the transaction
* The nonce is one greater than recovered address' current nonce
* The recovered address has a balance of at least `TOTAL_COST`
* The `TOTAL_GAS_LIMIT` is less than the current block's `gas_limit`

### Execution

Transaction packages should be executed as follows:

1. Deduct `TOTAL_COST` from `SENDER`'s balance
2. Execute the first inner transaction in the list
3. Refund any unused `gas`
4. If there are no more transaction, stop
5. Compute `RESULT` for the previously executed transaction
6. Prepare `RESULT` to be available via return opcodes in the next
   transaction's first frame
7. Execute the transaction
9. Goto `3`


## Rationale

#### Non-recursive inner transactions
For simplicity, inner transactions are fully defined within this EIP. However,
there is value in supporting recursive transaction definitions. For example,
suppose there is a transaction type which can become invalid after a certain
block number. It would be beneficial to support those types of transactions
within a package, but the complexity of this EIP would dramatically increase.


#### Appending result data to transaction input data
An alternative to using return opcodes to propagate `RESULT` would be to append
the `RESULT` to the subsequent transaction's `data` field. Unfortunately, in
many cases contracts generated using Solidity [will
fail](https://solidity.readthedocs.io/en/v0.6.0/contracts.html#overload-resolution-and-argument-matching)
to resolve the intended function if additional data is present. Another
alternative is introducing new opcodes to expose the result data were not
proposed.


## Backwards Compatibility
Contracts which rely on `ORIGIN (0x32) == CALLER (0x33) && RETURNDATASIZE
(0x3D) == 0x00` will now always fail in transaction packages, unless they are
the first executed transaction. It's unknown if any contracts conduct this
check.

## Test Cases
TBD

## Implementation
TBD

## Security Considerations
TBD

## Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via [CC0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).