getchaintips - Bitcoin

Example code for the getchaintips JSON-RPC method. Complete guide on how to use getchaintips JSON-RPC in GetBlock Web3 documentation.

This method returns information about all known tips in the block tree, including the main chain and orphaned branches.

Parameters

None

Request

curl --location --request POST 'https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getchaintips",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
}'

import axios from 'axios';

const data = JSON.stringify({
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getchaintips",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
});

const config = {
    method: 'post',
    url: 'https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/',
    headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    data: data
};

axios(config)
    .then(response => console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data)))
    .catch(error => console.log(error));

import requests
import json

url = "https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/"

payload = json.dumps({
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getchaintips",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
})

headers = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, data=payload)
print(response.text)

message = "hello world"
print(message)

use reqwest::header;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
    
    let response = client
        .post("https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/")
        .header(header::CONTENT_TYPE, "application/json")
        .body(r#"{
            "jsonrpc": "2.0",
            "method": "getchaintips",
            "params": [],
            "id": "getblock.io"
        }"#)
        .send()
        .await?;
    
    println!("{}", response.text().await?);
    Ok(())
}

Response

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "result": [
        {
            "height": 820000,
            "hash": "000000000000000000046b9302e08c16ea186950f42a5498320ddd1bd7ab3428",
            "branchlen": 0,
            "status": "active"
        },
        {
            "height": 819998,
            "hash": "000000000000000000047c9402e08c16ea186950f42a5498320ddd1bd7ab3425",
            "branchlen": 1,
            "status": "valid-fork"
        },
        {
            "height": 819990,
            "hash": "000000000000000000048d9502e08c16ea186950f42a5498320ddd1bd7ab3420",
            "branchlen": 3,
            "status": "headers-only"
        }
    ]
}

Response Parameters

Field

Type

Description

height

number

Height of the chain tip.

hash

string

Block hash of the tip.

branchlen

number

Length of branch connecting to main chain (0 for main chain).

status

string

Status of the chain: "active", "valid-fork", "valid-headers", "headers-only", or "invalid".

Status

Description

active

This is the tip of the most-work chain.

valid-fork

This branch is not part of the active chain but is fully validated.

valid-headers

Headers are valid but block data not available.

headers-only

Only headers received, not validated.

invalid

Block or one of its ancestors is invalid.

Use Case

The getchaintips method is essential for:

Monitoring chain reorganizations
Detecting potential 51% attacks
Analyzing blockchain forks
Building chain visualization tools
Debugging node synchronization issues
Monitoring network consensus

Error Handling

Status Code

Error Message

Cause

403

RBAC: access denied

Missing or invalid ACCESS-TOKEN.

Integration With Web3

The getchaintips method helps developers:

Build chain reorganization monitors
Create fork detection systems
Implement consensus monitoring
Visualize blockchain structure
Analyze chain competition

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Last updated 7 days ago

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