proxmox/docs/06-besu/COMPILATION_RECOMMENDATIONS.md

Compilation Recommendations for Large Contract Project

Last Updated: 2026-01-31
Document Version: 1.0
Status: Active Documentation

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Date: 2025-01-19
Issue: Compilation timing out for 266 contract files
Status: Recommendations provided

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Problem Analysis

Current Situation

• Total files: 266 Solidity files
• Contract files: 148 contracts
• Deployment scripts: 10+ scripts
• Compilation: Timing out (30 minute timeout exceeded)
• Configuration: via_ir = true, optimizer = true, optimizer_runs = 200

VM Resources

• Memory: 16GB (5.3GB used, 8.9GB free, 10GB available)
• CPU: 4 cores
• Disk: 196GB (5.6GB used, 181GB free)

Resources are sufficient - the issue is compilation strategy, not resources.

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Recommendations

1. Compile Only What's Needed for Deployment (RECOMMENDED)

Instead of compiling all 266 files, compile only the contracts needed for the specific deployment scripts.

Strategy A: Compile by Deployment Script

# Compile only WETH9 Bridge contracts
forge build --force script/DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge.s.sol

# Compile only WETH10 Bridge contracts  
forge build --force script/DeployCCIPWETH10Bridge.s.sol

# Compile only LINK deployment
forge build --force script/DeployLinkToCanonicalAddress.s.sol

Strategy B: Use Selective Import Compilation

Foundry automatically compiles only what's needed for each script, but you can help it by:

# Compile with explicit script
forge script script/DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge.s.sol:DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge --dry-run

# This will compile only what's needed

2. Optimize Compiler Settings for Faster Compilation

Create a compilation profile optimized for speed vs. gas optimization:

[profile.fast]
optimizer = true
optimizer_runs = 1  # Minimal optimization for faster compilation
via_ir = false  # Disable IR for faster compilation (if no stack too deep errors)

Usage:

forge build --profile fast

Trade-off: Larger bytecode, more gas, but much faster compilation.

3. Increase Memory Limits

Set higher memory limits for Solidity compiler:

[profile.default]
solc = "0.8.20"
optimizer = true
optimizer_runs = 200
via_ir = true

# Add memory settings
[evm]
memory_limit = "1gb"  # Increase if needed

4. Compile in Stages

Break compilation into stages:

# Stage 1: Compile core contracts only
forge build --force contracts/bridge/trustless/

# Stage 2: Compile bridge contracts
forge build --force contracts/bridge/

# Stage 3: Compile deployment scripts
forge build --force script/

5. Use Incremental Compilation

Leverage Foundry's incremental compilation by not using --force:

# First compilation (may take longer)
forge build

# Subsequent compilations (only changed files)
forge build  # Much faster

6. Compile Deployment Scripts Only

For deployment purposes, you only need the deployment scripts compiled:

# Compile deployment scripts and their dependencies only
forge build script/DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge.s.sol script/DeployCCIPWETH10Bridge.s.sol script/DeployLinkToCanonicalAddress.s.sol

7. Adjust Optimizer Settings

Reduce optimizer runs for faster compilation:

[profile.deploy]
optimizer = true
optimizer_runs = 100  # Reduced from 200 for faster compilation
via_ir = true

8. Split Compilation with Cache

Use Foundry's cache more effectively:

# Clear cache first (fresh start)
forge clean

# Compile with explicit output
forge build --force --sizes

# This shows sizes and helps identify large contracts

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Recommended Approach for Deployment

Option 1: Compile Script-Specific (FASTEST)

# In VM
cd /home/intlc/projects/proxmox/smom-dbis-138

# Compile and deploy WETH9 Bridge (only compiles what's needed)
forge script script/DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge.s.sol:DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge \
  --rpc-url http://localhost:8545 \
  --broadcast \
  --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
  --slow

# Compile and deploy WETH10 Bridge
forge script script/DeployCCIPWETH10Bridge.s.sol:DeployCCIPWETH10Bridge \
  --rpc-url http://localhost:8545 \
  --broadcast \
  --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
  --slow

# Compile and deploy LINK
forge script script/DeployLinkToCanonicalAddress.s.sol:DeployLinkToCanonicalAddress \
  --rpc-url http://localhost:8545 \
  --broadcast \
  --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
  --slow

Advantage: Only compiles what each script needs, much faster.

Option 2: Two-Stage Compilation

# Stage 1: Compile with fast profile (if created)
forge build --profile fast  # Or compile incrementally without --force

# Stage 2: Deploy using deployment script
bash scripts/deploy-all-bridges-standalone.sh

Option 3: Update Deployment Script to Compile Per Script

Modify deploy-all-bridges-standalone.sh to compile before each deployment:

# Before each forge script command, add:
echo "Compiling contracts for WETH9 Bridge..."
forge build script/DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge.s.sol --force 2>&1 | tail -10

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Compiler Settings Comparison

Setting	Current	Fast Profile	Deploy Profile
optimizer	true	true	true
optimizer_runs	200	1	100
via_ir	true	false	true
Speed	Slow	Fast	Medium
Gas	Optimized	High	Medium
Use Case	Production	Development	Deployment

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Implementation Steps

Step 1: Create Fast Compilation Profile

Add to foundry.toml:

[profile.fast]
optimizer = true
optimizer_runs = 1
via_ir = false

Step 2: Update Deployment Script

Modify deployment script to use selective compilation or fast profile.

Step 3: Test Compilation

# Test fast compilation
forge build --profile fast

# Verify it completes within timeout
# Then use for deployment

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Alternative: Compile Locally and Copy

If VM compilation continues to timeout:

1. Compile on local system (which has more resources potentially)

2. Copy compiled artifacts to VM:

   # On local system
   cd smom-dbis-138
   forge build --force
   
   # Copy out/ and cache/ to VM
   tar czf compiled-artifacts.tar.gz out/ cache/
   scp compiled-artifacts.tar.gz root@192.168.11.10:/tmp/
   
   # In VM
   cd /home/intlc/projects/proxmox/smom-dbis-138
   tar xzf /tmp/compiled-artifacts.tar.gz
   

3. Deploy using pre-compiled artifacts

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Recommended Solution for Current Deployment

For immediate deployment, use Option 1: Script-Specific Compilation:

# Each forge script command will compile only what's needed
forge script script/DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge.s.sol:DeployCCIPWETH9Bridge \
  --rpc-url http://localhost:8545 \
  --broadcast \
  --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
  --slow \
  -vvv

This avoids the need to compile all 266 files upfront.

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Monitoring Compilation Progress

# Watch compilation progress
forge build --force 2>&1 | tee compilation.log

# In another terminal, monitor
tail -f compilation.log | grep -E "Compiling|Error|Success"

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Status: Recommendations ready for implementation
Next: Update deployment strategy to use script-specific compilation