getBlock

Learn getBlock use cases, code examples, request parameters, response structure, and tips. Ask ChatGPT

The getBlock RPC method allows you to retrieve detailed information about a confirmed block in the Solana ledger. This is essential for block explorers, transaction history analysis, and understanding the state of the chain at a specific point in time.

---

Common Use Cases

• Inspecting Block Contents View all transactions included in a specific block.

• Retrieving Block Hashes Get the blockhash for a given slot, its parent’s blockhash, and its parent slot.

• Checking Block Height and Time Find out a block’s height (its sequence number) and its estimated production time.

• Analyzing Transaction Details With appropriate parameters, retrieve full transaction data, including metadata like fees, status, pre/post balances, and inner instructions.

• Fetching Rewards Optionally include reward information for the block.

---

Parameters

• slot (number, required): The slot number of the block to query (u64).

• config (object, optional): Configuration options include:

  • commitment (string): Commitment level. processed is not supported. Defaults to finalized.

  • encoding (string): How transaction data is returned. Defaults to json if transactionDetails is full or accounts, otherwise base64. Options:

    • json (deprecated)

    • jsonParsed (recommended for parsed keys and Lookup Table support)

    • base58

    • base64

    • base64+zstd

  • transactionDetails (string): Level of transaction detail to return. Defaults to full.

    • full

    • accounts

    • signatures

    • none

  • rewards (boolean): Include rewards array if true. Defaults to false.

  • maxSupportedTransactionVersion (number): Maximum transaction version to return. Set to 0 to include versioned transactions using Address Lookup Tables.

---

Response

If the block is found and confirmed, the result will include:

• blockhash (string): The base-58 encoded blockhash.

• previousBlockhash (string): The base-58 encoded blockhash of the previous block.

• parentSlot (number): The slot number of the parent block.

• transactions (array): List of transactions included in the block. Each entry contains:

  • meta: Transaction metadata (e.g., fee, logs, balances).

  • transaction: The raw transaction data, including signatures and message content.

• rewards (array, optional): Present if rewards: true was requested. Includes reward info (e.g., pubkey, lamports, postBalance, rewardType, and commission).

• blockTime (number | null): Estimated Unix timestamp of block production.

• blockHeight (number | null): Sequence number from genesis slot.

If the block is not found or unconfirmed, result will be null.

---

Example: Fetching Block Information

Here’s how to retrieve block info for a sample slot (e.g., 355184627) on Devnet. Replace it with a current confirmed slot number for accurate results. Also, replace X-API-KEY with your actual CoinVera API key.

Nodejs

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

async function getBlock(rpcUrl) {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(rpcUrl, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        jsonrpc: '2.0',
        id: 1,
        method: 'getBlock',
        "params": [
            355184627, 
            {
              "encoding": "jsonParsed",
              "transactionDetails": "full",
              "rewards": true,
              "maxSupportedTransactionVersion": 0
            }
          ]
      }),
    });

    const data = await response.json();
    
    // Print the exact full response
    console.log('Full RPC Response:');
    console.log(JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
    
    return data;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error getting health:', error.message);
    return null;
  }
}

// Example usage
const RPC_URL = 'https://rpc.coinvera.io/?x-api-key=your-coinvera-x-api-key';

getBlock(RPC_URL);

Python

Example Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": {
    "blockHeight": 428,
    "blockTime": null,
    "blockhash": "3Eq21vXNB5s86c62bVuUfTeaMif1N2kUqRPBmGRJhyTA",
    "parentSlot": 429,
    "previousBlockhash": "mfcyqEXB3DnHXki6KjjmZck6YjmZLvpAByy2fj4nh6B",
    "transactions": [
      {
        "meta": {
          "err": null,
          "fee": 5000,
          "innerInstructions": [],
          "logMessages": [],
          "postBalances": [499998932500, 26858640, 1, 1, 1],
          "postTokenBalances": [],
          "preBalances": [499998937500, 26858640, 1, 1, 1],
          "preTokenBalances": [],
          "rewards": null,
          "status": {
            "Ok": null
          }
        },
        "transaction": {
          "message": {
            "accountKeys": [
              "3UVYmECPPMZSCqWKfENfuoTv51fTDTWicX9xmBD2euKe",
              "AjozzgE83A3x1sHNUR64hfH7zaEBWeMaFuAN9kQgujrc",
              "SysvarS1otHashes111111111111111111111111111",
              "SysvarC1ock11111111111111111111111111111111",
              "Vote111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
            ],
            "header": {
              "numReadonlySignedAccounts": 0,
              "numReadonlyUnsignedAccounts": 3,
              "numRequiredSignatures": 1
            },
            "instructions": [
              {
                "accounts": [1, 2, 3, 0],
                "data": "37u9WtQpcm6ULa3WRQHmj49EPs4if7o9f1jSRVZpm2dvihR9C8jY4NqEwXUbLwx15HBSNcP1",
                "programIdIndex": 4
              }
            ],
            "recentBlockhash": "mfcyqEXB3DnHXki6KjjmZck6YjmZLvpAByy2fj4nh6B"
          },
          "signatures": [
            "2nBhEBYYvfaAe16UMNqRHre4YNSskvuYgx3M6E4JP1oDYvZEJHvoPzyUidNgNX5r9sTyN1J9UxtbCXy2rqYcuyuv"
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "id": 1
}

Developer Tips

• Slot vs. Block Height The getBlock method accepts a slot number, not a block height. While slots are generally sequential, some may be skipped by the validator leader. To get the actual block sequence number, refer to the blockHeight field in the response.

• maxSupportedTransactionVersion Is Crucial To retrieve blocks containing versioned transactions (now standard and using Address Lookup Tables), you must specify: "maxSupportedTransactionVersion": 0 Omitting this may lead to errors when querying modern blocks.

• Choosing transactionDetails Level:

  • full: For comprehensive analysis—returns the most complete data including metadata.

  • signatures: Best for listing only transaction signatures in a block.

  • accounts: A good middle ground—lists involved accounts without full instructions.

  • none: Use when you only need high-level block metadata like blockhash or rewards.

• Use jsonParsed for Encoding When requesting transaction details, jsonParsed is the recommended format. It provides a structured, human-readable JSON output and supports address resolution from Lookup Tables. Avoid using json (deprecated), as it lacks modern feature support.

• Block Unavailability Handling A null response can mean:

  • The slot was skipped.

  • The block hasn’t reached the requested commitment level.

  • The RPC node (e.g., CoinVera) has pruned the block due to ledger limits—common with older historical data.

• Include Rewards When Needed To retrieve block reward distribution info (e.g., for validators and stakers), set: "rewards": true This increases response size but is essential for full reward visibility.