`next` version (develop branch) not compatible with RPC 0.8.1 due to `pre_confirmed` block tag not being translated

[adambor]

Describe the bug
The next (develop branch) version of the starknet.js doesn't properly handle RPC spec v0.8.1, the culprit is that the pre_confirmed block tag is not translated to the v0.8.1 understandable pending, causing the requests with pre_confirmed block tag to fail.

To Reproduce
Use the library (develop branch) with any RPC which supports the 0.8.1 spec and call any method with the pre_confirmed block tag - i.e. getNonceForAddress()

Expected behavior
The library should properly handle talking to the RPC v0.8.1 spec

[devJaja]

Hello, I am a smart contract developer, open for contributions. contributed to over 20 project on OnlyDust, with expertise in Solidity, Cairo, TypeScript, and JavaScript. I am passionate about building secure and scalable blockchain solutions, and I would love the opportunity to contribute my skills toward solving this issue

[tabaktoni]

The issue is that a pending block is not the same as a preconfirmed block, so we do not translate pre_confirmed -> pending in rpc 0.8 nor pending -> pre_confirmed in rpc 0.9.
Consensus is that the pending request on RPC 0.9 will return empty from RPC nodes, implemented on the node side.
The same should be for pre_confirmed on RPC 0.8.
This could be a Specification proposal. If it is adopted, then we could implement it.

[adambor]

The issue is that a pending block is not the same as a preconfirmed block, so we do not translate pre_confirmed -> pending in rpc 0.8 nor pending -> pre_confirmed in rpc 0.9. Consensus is that the pending request on RPC 0.9 will return empty from RPC nodes, implemented on the node side. The same should be for pre_confirmed on RPC 0.8. This could be a Specification proposal. If it is adopted, then we could implement it.

Yep, understand, though that makes the Starknet.js v8 incompatible with RPC v0.8 - and this should be made clear. AFAIK the starknet.js was always supposed to be compatible with 2 newest RPC versions - this is not the case now. My suggestion - if I pass pre_confirmed to the v8 of the starknet.js lib, translate that to pending if the underlying channel is using RPC v0.8, this will ensure the starknet.js v8 is compatible with RPC v0.8 (this should be fine as pending==latest for starknet v0.14 and prior to that pending also meant a "pre-conf" from the sequencer, so the finality assurances you are getting are either the same or better than for pre_confirmed).