chain_getHead - Midnight

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

This method returns the hash of the current best (unfinalized) block. For finality-aware applications, prefer chain_getFinalizedHead.

Parameters

None

Request Example

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

import requests
import json

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

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

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

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

use reqwest::Client;
use serde_json::json;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = Client::new();

    let payload = json!({
        "jsonrpc": "2.0",
        "method": "chain_getHead",
        "params": [],
        "id": "getblock.io"
});

    let response = client
        .post("https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/")
        .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
        .json(&payload)
        .send()
        .await?;

    let result: serde_json::Value = response.json().await?;
    println!("{:#?}", result);

    Ok(())
}

Response Example

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "result": "0x87f5c08ba8334e4ee1642ff9646e94dd46080b71fff03714be8b36f22e481b95"
}

Response Parameters

Field

Type

Description

result

string

Hash of the current best block

Use Cases

Polling for the latest block as a starting point
Low-latency applications that prefer fresh-but-unfinalized state
Health checks and tip monitoring

Error Handling

Status Code

Error Message

Cause

403

Forbidden

Missing or invalid <ACCESS-TOKEN>

-32602

Invalid params

Request parameters are missing or malformed

429

Too Many Requests

Rate limit exceeded for your plan

SDK Integration

import { ApiPromise, WsProvider } from '@polkadot/api';

const wsProvider = new WsProvider('wss://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/');
const api = await ApiPromise.create({ provider: wsProvider });

// Call via the typed API:
const result = await api.rpc.chain.getHead();
console.log(result.toJSON());

// Or call the raw JSON-RPC method:
const raw = await api.rpc.rpc.methods();
// const raw = await (api as any)._rpcCore.provider.send('chain_getHead', []);

from substrateinterface import SubstrateInterface

substrate = SubstrateInterface(url='wss://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/')

# Generic RPC call:
result = substrate.rpc_request('chain_getHead', [])
print(result)

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