/blocks/head - Polkadot

Example code for the /blocks/head REST method. Complete guide on how to use /blocks/head REST in GetBlock Web3 documentation.

This endpoint returns the most recent block, including its extrinsics, events grouped by phase, and author. The finalized head can be requested with the finalized query parameter.

On GetBlock's unified endpoint, Asset Hub is the default network. To call this endpoint against the Relaychain, add an /rc prefix to the path (for example, /rc/blocks/head).

Endpoint

GET /blocks/head

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
finalized	boolean	No	Return the latest finalized block instead of the best block
eventDocs	boolean	No	Include event documentation
extrinsicDocs	boolean	No	Include extrinsic documentation

Request

cURL

curl --location 'https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/blocks/head'

JavaScript

example.js

const response = await fetch('https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/blocks/head');
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

example.py

import requests

response = requests.get('https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/blocks/head')
print(response.json())

Response

{
  "number": "6754362",
  "hash": "0x255bc00927df8d33d561792635cbc6bde480a0a505eef5ff28630ece3fc15b32",
  "parentHash": "0x570e3f417a41646d9b978bf2ac3d68be48bb0f73082825f438af58a37cfe0ef8",
  "stateRoot": "0x176c67eca385c24403ba774550ff75dcfa652d6d6cf2d2ecbccf56e513db601c",
  "extrinsicsRoot": "0xada254ef8321e28a6667ad75659be6464944174bd5540667da94590a0a4a596f",
  "authorId": "15oF4uVJwmo4TdGW7VfQxNLavjCXviqxT9S1MgbjMNHr6Sp5",
  "extrinsics": [],
  "onInitialize": {
    "events": []
  },
  "onFinalize": {
    "events": []
  },
  "finalized": true
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
number	string	Block number
hash	string	Block hash
authorId	string	Block author (validator)
extrinsics	array	Decoded extrinsics with their events
finalized	boolean	Whether the block is finalized

Use Cases

• Block Explorers: Render the latest block with decoded extrinsics

• Indexing: Ingest blocks without decoding SCALE manually

• Event Monitoring: Watch events emitted per block

• Finality Tracking: Follow the finalized head