system_peers - Polkadot

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

This method returns details of the peers currently connected to the node. It may be restricted on public endpoints.

Parameters

This method does not accept any parameters.

Request

cURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "system_peers", "params": [], "id": "getblock.io"}'

JavaScript

example.js

const response = await fetch('https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
        jsonrpc: '2.0',
        method: 'system_peers',
        params: [],
        id: 'getblock.io'
    })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.result);

Python

example.py

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/',
    headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
    json={
        'jsonrpc': '2.0',
        'method': 'system_peers',
        'params': [],
        'id': 'getblock.io'
    }
)

print(response.json()['result'])

Response

{
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "result": [
        {
            "peerId": "12D3KooWSueCPH3puP2PcvqPJdNaDNF3jMZjtJtDiSy35pWrbt5h",
            "roles": "FULL",
            "protocolVersion": 1,
            "bestHash": "0x255bc00927df8d33d561792635cbc6bde480a0a505eef5ff28630ece3fc15b32",
            "bestNumber": 6754362
        }
    ]
}

Response Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
id	string	Request identifier matching the request
jsonrpc	string	JSON-RPC protocol version ("2.0")
result	array	Array of connected peer objects

Use Cases

• Connectivity Diagnostics: Inspect a node's peer connections

• Network Analysis: Study peer roles and best blocks

• Troubleshooting: Investigate sync or peering issues

• Monitoring: Track peer quality

Error Handling

Error Code	Message	Description
-32602	Invalid params	A parameter is missing or has the wrong type or format
-32601	Method not found	The method is not exposed on this endpoint
-32000	Unsafe call	The method may be restricted on public endpoints for safety

Library Integration

The idiomatic way to call Polkadot RPC is the Polkadot.js API (@polkadot/api), which connects over WebSocket and exposes the method as api.rpc.system.peers.

polkadot-js.js

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

const provider = new WsProvider('wss://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/');
const api = await ApiPromise.create({ provider });

const result = await api.rpc.system.peers();
console.log(result.toHuman());