diff --git a/rust/agents/relayer/src/relayer.rs b/rust/agents/relayer/src/relayer.rs
index 496628d70..d5077d678 100644
--- a/rust/agents/relayer/src/relayer.rs
+++ b/rust/agents/relayer/src/relayer.rs
@@ -347,7 +347,9 @@ impl BaseAgent for Relayer {
                 Self::AGENT_NAME.to_string(),
             )
             .await
-            .unwrap();
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| {
+                panic!("Error creating metrics updater for destination {dest_domain}")
+            });
             tasks.push(metrics_updater.spawn());
         }
 
@@ -417,7 +419,10 @@ impl Relayer {
     ) -> Instrumented<JoinHandle<()>> {
         let index_settings = self.as_ref().settings.chains[origin.name()].index_settings();
         let contract_sync = self.message_syncs.get(origin).unwrap().clone();
-        let cursor = contract_sync.cursor(index_settings).await;
+        let cursor = contract_sync
+            .cursor(index_settings)
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Error getting cursor for origin {origin}: {err}"));
         tokio::spawn(TaskMonitor::instrument(&task_monitor, async move {
             contract_sync
                 .clone()
@@ -439,7 +444,10 @@ impl Relayer {
             .get(origin)
             .unwrap()
             .clone();
-        let cursor = contract_sync.cursor(index_settings).await;
+        let cursor = contract_sync
+            .cursor(index_settings)
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Error getting cursor for origin {origin}: {err}"));
         tokio::spawn(TaskMonitor::instrument(&task_monitor, async move {
             contract_sync
                 .clone()
@@ -460,7 +468,10 @@ impl Relayer {
     ) -> Instrumented<JoinHandle<()>> {
         let index_settings = self.as_ref().settings.chains[origin.name()].index.clone();
         let contract_sync = self.merkle_tree_hook_syncs.get(origin).unwrap().clone();
-        let cursor = contract_sync.cursor(index_settings).await;
+        let cursor = contract_sync
+            .cursor(index_settings)
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Error getting cursor for origin {origin}: {err}"));
         tokio::spawn(TaskMonitor::instrument(&task_monitor, async move {
             contract_sync
                 .clone()
diff --git a/rust/agents/scraper/src/agent.rs b/rust/agents/scraper/src/agent.rs
index 3febc4092..fd9afc6d7 100644
--- a/rust/agents/scraper/src/agent.rs
+++ b/rust/agents/scraper/src/agent.rs
@@ -200,7 +200,10 @@ impl Scraper {
             )
             .await
             .unwrap();
-        let cursor = sync.cursor(index_settings.clone()).await;
+        let cursor = sync
+            .cursor(index_settings.clone())
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Error getting cursor for domain {domain}: {err}"));
         let maybe_broadcaser = sync.get_broadcaster();
         let task = tokio::spawn(async move { sync.sync("message_dispatch", cursor.into()).await })
             .instrument(
@@ -230,7 +233,10 @@ impl Scraper {
             .unwrap();
 
         let label = "message_delivery";
-        let cursor = sync.cursor(index_settings.clone()).await;
+        let cursor = sync
+            .cursor(index_settings.clone())
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Error getting cursor for domain {domain}: {err}"));
         // there is no txid receiver for delivery indexing, since delivery txs aren't batched with
         // other types of indexed txs / events
         tokio::spawn(async move { sync.sync(label, SyncOptions::new(Some(cursor), None)).await })
@@ -259,7 +265,10 @@ impl Scraper {
             .unwrap();
 
         let label = "gas_payment";
-        let cursor = sync.cursor(index_settings.clone()).await;
+        let cursor = sync
+            .cursor(index_settings.clone())
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Error getting cursor for domain {domain}: {err}"));
         tokio::spawn(async move {
             sync.sync(label, SyncOptions::new(Some(cursor), tx_id_receiver))
                 .await
diff --git a/rust/agents/validator/src/validator.rs b/rust/agents/validator/src/validator.rs
index bb7339e6b..a4f9a9e00 100644
--- a/rust/agents/validator/src/validator.rs
+++ b/rust/agents/validator/src/validator.rs
@@ -216,7 +216,15 @@ impl Validator {
         let index_settings =
             self.as_ref().settings.chains[self.origin_chain.name()].index_settings();
         let contract_sync = self.merkle_tree_hook_sync.clone();
-        let cursor = contract_sync.cursor(index_settings).await;
+        let cursor = contract_sync
+            .cursor(index_settings)
+            .await
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| {
+                panic!(
+                    "Error getting merkle tree hook cursor for origin {0}: {err}",
+                    self.origin_chain
+                )
+            });
         tokio::spawn(async move {
             contract_sync
                 .clone()
diff --git a/rust/hyperlane-base/src/contract_sync/mod.rs b/rust/hyperlane-base/src/contract_sync/mod.rs
index b4116d14b..50d0eac0f 100644
--- a/rust/hyperlane-base/src/contract_sync/mod.rs
+++ b/rust/hyperlane-base/src/contract_sync/mod.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use axum::async_trait;
 use broadcast::BroadcastMpscSender;
 use cursors::*;
 use derive_new::new;
+use eyre::Result;
 use hyperlane_core::{
     utils::fmt_sync_time, ContractSyncCursor, CursorAction, HyperlaneDomain, HyperlaneLogStore,
     HyperlaneSequenceAwareIndexerStore, HyperlaneWatermarkedLogStore, Indexer,
@@ -240,7 +241,8 @@ pub type WatermarkContractSync<T> =
 #[async_trait]
 pub trait ContractSyncer<T>: Send + Sync {
     /// Returns a new cursor to be used for syncing events from the indexer
-    async fn cursor(&self, index_settings: IndexSettings) -> Box<dyn ContractSyncCursor<T>>;
+    async fn cursor(&self, index_settings: IndexSettings)
+        -> Result<Box<dyn ContractSyncCursor<T>>>;
 
     /// Syncs events from the indexer using the provided cursor
     async fn sync(&self, label: &'static str, opts: SyncOptions<T>);
@@ -277,23 +279,25 @@ where
     T: Indexable + Debug + Send + Sync + Clone + Eq + Hash + 'static,
 {
     /// Returns a new cursor to be used for syncing events from the indexer based on time
-    async fn cursor(&self, index_settings: IndexSettings) -> Box<dyn ContractSyncCursor<T>> {
+    async fn cursor(
+        &self,
+        index_settings: IndexSettings,
+    ) -> Result<Box<dyn ContractSyncCursor<T>>> {
         let watermark = self.db.retrieve_high_watermark().await.unwrap();
         let index_settings = IndexSettings {
             from: watermark.unwrap_or(index_settings.from),
             chunk_size: index_settings.chunk_size,
             mode: index_settings.mode,
         };
-        Box::new(
+        Ok(Box::new(
             RateLimitedContractSyncCursor::new(
                 Arc::new(self.indexer.clone()),
                 self.db.clone(),
                 index_settings.chunk_size,
                 index_settings.from,
             )
-            .await
-            .unwrap(),
-        )
+            .await?,
+        ))
     }
 
     async fn sync(&self, label: &'static str, opts: SyncOptions<T>) {
@@ -322,17 +326,19 @@ where
     T: Indexable + Send + Sync + Debug + Clone + Eq + Hash + 'static,
 {
     /// Returns a new cursor to be used for syncing dispatched messages from the indexer
-    async fn cursor(&self, index_settings: IndexSettings) -> Box<dyn ContractSyncCursor<T>> {
-        Box::new(
+    async fn cursor(
+        &self,
+        index_settings: IndexSettings,
+    ) -> Result<Box<dyn ContractSyncCursor<T>>> {
+        Ok(Box::new(
             ForwardBackwardSequenceAwareSyncCursor::new(
                 self.indexer.clone(),
                 Arc::new(self.db.clone()),
                 index_settings.chunk_size,
                 index_settings.mode,
             )
-            .await
-            .unwrap(),
-        )
+            .await?,
+        ))
     }
 
     async fn sync(&self, label: &'static str, opts: SyncOptions<T>) {