Cosmos FAQ
What is an account sequence mismatch error?
Every active wallet on a Cosmos blockchain has an account number. This is given out the first time that wallet receives native coins on the chain. Every time you sign a transaction, you need to include both this account number and an account sequence number. This is a monotonically increasing nonce to avoid replay attacks and other issues. It's possible to get an account sequence mismatch error if the node you're talking to is expecting to see a different sequence number on a transaction. This can happen for multiple reasons, but the most common are:
- The node you're talking to has fallen out of sync with the rest of the chain, and therefore has an incorrect view of your next sequence number.
- There are two services/people/something using the same wallet at the same time.
- You have a code error where you're using the wrong sequence number.
- There's a fundamental bug in the node you're talking too.
A related error is about account not found. This occurs when a wallet doesn't have an account number yet, because no one has sent that wallet any native coins.