Warn user if using -limitancestorsize/-limitdescendantsize that the options have no effect
What the developer wrote
Authored by Suhas Daftuar
Warn user if using -limitancestorsize/-limitdescendantsize that the options have no effect
Also update the help text for -limitancestorcount/-limitdescendantcount to
explain they no longer affect the mempool, and are only used by the wallet for
coin selection.
What changed, and why it matters
This commit only changes help text and adds warning messages for two command-line options that no longer affect how Bitcoin Core handles transactions. It does not fix a security bug, change network behavior, or introduce a vulnerability. It is a user-facing cleanup to prevent confusion after an earlier redesign replaced ancestor/descendant size limits with new cluster limits.
No security action required. Treat as routine documentation/usability cleanup. Operators should note the new cluster limit options (-limitclustercount, -limitclustersize) if they previously tuned ancestor/descendant size limits.
Security signals we found
No memory safety, cryptographic, or network rule changes
No authorization or validation logic changes
Only help text and startup warnings added
Evidence from the diff
The patch updates src/init.cpp to mark -limitancestorsize and -limitdescendantsize as hidden arguments and to emit InitWarning messages if a user still sets them. It also revises the help text for -limitancestorcount and -limitdescendantcount to note they are deprecated and now only used by the wallet for coin selection. The actual mempool policy change (replacement with cluster limits) happened elsewhere; this commit is purely informational/warning plumbing.
Changed components
src/init.cpp argument registration and startup warning logicInspect captured patch +13 / −4
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index d1c6a5ca..58c97dd3 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -633,10 +633,13 @@ void SetupServerArgs(ArgsManager& argsman, bool can_listen_ipc)
argsman.AddArg("-deprecatedrpc=<method>", "Allows deprecated RPC method(s) to be used", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
argsman.AddArg("-stopafterblockimport", strprintf("Stop running after importing blocks from disk (default: %u)", DEFAULT_STOPAFTERBLOCKIMPORT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
argsman.AddArg("-stopatheight", strprintf("Stop running after reaching the given height in the main chain (default: %u)", DEFAULT_STOPATHEIGHT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
- argsman.AddArg("-limitancestorcount=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions if number of in-mempool ancestors is <n> or more (default: %u)", DEFAULT_ANCESTOR_LIMIT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
- argsman.AddArg("-limitancestorsize=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions whose size with all in-mempool ancestors exceeds <n> kilobytes (default: %u)", DEFAULT_ANCESTOR_SIZE_LIMIT_KVB), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
- argsman.AddArg("-limitdescendantcount=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions if any ancestor would have <n> or more in-mempool descendants (default: %u)", DEFAULT_DESCENDANT_LIMIT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
- argsman.AddArg("-limitdescendantsize=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions if any ancestor would have more than <n> kilobytes of in-mempool descendants (default: %u).", DEFAULT_DESCENDANT_SIZE_LIMIT_KVB), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
+ argsman.AddArg("-limitancestorcount=<n>", strprintf("Deprecated setting to not accept transactions if number of in-mempool ancestors is <n> or more (default: %u); replaced by cluster limits (see -limitclustercount) and only used by wallet for coin selection", DEFAULT_ANCESTOR_LIMIT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
+ // Ancestor and descendant size limits were removed. We keep
+ // -limitancestorsize/-limitdescendantsize as hidden args to display a more
+ // user friendly error when set.
+ argsman.AddArg("-limitancestorsize", "", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::HIDDEN);
+ argsman.AddArg("-limitdescendantsize", "", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::HIDDEN);
+ argsman.AddArg("-limitdescendantcount=<n>", strprintf("Deprecated setting to not accept transactions if any ancestor would have <n> or more in-mempool descendants (default: %u); replaced by cluster limits (see -limitclustercount) and only used by wallet for coin selection", DEFAULT_DESCENDANT_LIMIT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
argsman.AddArg("-test=<option>", "Pass a test-only option. Options include : " + Join(TEST_OPTIONS_DOC, ", ") + ".", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
argsman.AddArg("-limitclustercount=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions into mempool which are directly or indirectly connected to <n> or more other unconfirmed transactions (default: %u, maximum: %u)", DEFAULT_CLUSTER_LIMIT, MAX_CLUSTER_COUNT_LIMIT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
argsman.AddArg("-limitclustersize=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions whose virtual size with all in-mempool connected transactions exceeds <n> kilobytes (default: %u)", DEFAULT_CLUSTER_SIZE_LIMIT_KVB), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
@@ -901,6 +904,12 @@ bool AppInitParameterInteraction(const ArgsManager& args)
if (args.IsArgSet("-checkpoints")) {
InitWarning(_("Option '-checkpoints' is set but checkpoints were removed. This option has no effect."));
}
+ if (args.IsArgSet("-limitancestorsize")) {
+ InitWarning(_("Option '-limitancestorsize' is given but ancestor size limits have been replaced with cluster size limits (see -limitclustersize). This option has no effect."));
+ }
+ if (args.IsArgSet("-limitdescendantsize")) {
+ InitWarning(_("Option '-limitdescendantsize' is given but descendant size limits have been replaced with cluster size limits (see -limitclustersize). This option has no effect."));
+ }
// Error if network-specific options (-addnode, -connect, etc) are
// specified in default section of config file, but not overridden
Why this scored 19/100
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