diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index fcdc4cc4d..a6f7730f6 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@
                 solc
                 nodePackages.prettier
                 solhint
+		(python3.withPackages (ps: with ps; [ black ]))
 
               ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [ darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks.SystemConfiguration ];
               shellHook = ''
diff --git a/scripts/espresso_block_scanner.py b/scripts/espresso_block_scanner.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8380c9905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/espresso_block_scanner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+### Simple live Espresso block scanner
+### Scan all blocks looking for transaction on each VM.
+### For each found transaction, display the VM block containing that transaction, including inclusion proofs for transactions in the Espresso block.
+
+import argparse
+import urllib.request
+import json
+import time
+import datetime
+import sys
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+    prog="Espresso Block Scanner",
+    description="Scans the espresso ledger looking for transactions. For each transaction it  prints out the namespace  block containing it",
+    epilog="",
+)
+
+parser.add_argument("-u", "--url", default="http://localhost:50000")
+
+args = parser.parse_args()
+
+url = f"{args.url}/availability/block/"
+
+# Keep track of transaction to avoid showing duplicates
+payloads = set()
+
+# Scan block by block
+block_number = 0
+while True:
+    try:
+        page = urllib.request.urlopen(f"{url}{block_number}")
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        # "Block not produced yet. waiting for 1 second
+        time.sleep(1)
+        continue
+    except urllib.error.URLError as ex:
+        # Server is down, reset block number to 0
+
+        print("URLERROR:" + url + ". Trying again in 10 secs")
+        print(ex)
+        time.sleep(10)
+        block_number = 0
+    else:
+        # We are Ok Espresso block found in page
+        # If block contains transactions, extract Rollup id and find block with inclusion proofs for the rollup
+
+        block = page.read()
+        struct = json.loads(block)
+
+        # throw exception if json is different from expected
+        try:
+            txns = struct["block"]["transaction_nmt"]
+            # we only need to show the block once per vm, so if several transactions are seen for same vm in same block, treat them as duplicates
+            seen_vms = set()
+            for txn in txns:
+                vm = txn["vm"]  # extract Rollup ID
+                payload = bytes(txn["payload"]).hex()
+                # if transaction already seen, skip
+                if payload in payloads:
+                    continue
+                payloads.add(payload)
+
+                # if vm already seen in block skip
+                if vm in seen_vms:
+                    continue
+                seen_vms.add(vm)
+
+                print(
+                    f"### New transactions for vm {vm} found on Espresso Block {block_number} ###"
+                )
+                namespace_block_url = f"{url}{block_number}/namespace/{vm}"
+                print("GET " + namespace_block_url)
+                # find block info for Rollup
+                vm_page = urllib.request.urlopen(namespace_block_url)
+                vm_block_str = vm_page.read()
+                vm_block_struct = json.loads(vm_block_str)
+
+                # Omit unnecessary data
+                del vm_block_struct["proof"]["phantom"]
+                if vm_block_struct["proof"]["left_boundary_proof"] is None:
+                    vm_block_struct["proof"][
+                        "left_boundary_proof"
+                    ] = "Null # left boundary proof not needed"
+                else:
+                    vm_block_struct["proof"][
+                        "left_boundary_proof"
+                    ] = "[...]"  # Merkle proof for inclusion of left boundary vm transaction
+                if vm_block_struct["proof"]["right_boundary_proof"] == None:
+                    vm_block_struct["proof"][
+                        "right_boundary_proof"
+                    ] = "Null # right boundary proof not needed"
+                else:
+                    vm_block_struct["proof"][
+                        "right_boundary_proof"
+                    ] = "[...]"  # Merkle proof for inclusion of righ boundary vm transaction
+                del vm_block_struct["header"]["metadata"]["l1_finalized"]
+                for proof in vm_block_struct["proof"]["proofs"]:
+                    # proof is too large to see, Eliding details
+                    proof[
+                        "proof"
+                    ] = "[...] # Merkle proof for inclusion of each vm transaction in the Espresso Block"
+                    del proof["_phantom_arity"]
+
+                # transform byte arrays in hex strings for visualization
+                root_as_hex = bytes(
+                    vm_block_struct["header"]["transactions_root"]["root"]
+                ).hex()
+                vm_block_struct["header"]["transactions_root"]["root"] = root_as_hex
+                for txn in vm_block_struct["transactions"]:
+                    payload_hex = bytes(txn["payload"]).hex()
+                    txn["payload"] = payload_hex
+
+                # transform unix timespamp to date
+                timestamp = vm_block_struct["header"]["metadata"]["timestamp"]
+                date = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(timestamp)
+                vm_block_struct["header"]["metadata"]["timestamp"] = str(date)
+
+                # print trimmed block
+                print(json.dumps(vm_block_struct, indent=2))
+                print()
+
+        except ValueError:
+            print("Error: invalid json structure")
+            exit(1)
+        block_number += 1