> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.getblock.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.getblock.io/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api.md).

# Zcash Blockbook (WebSocket) API

GetBlock provides fast and reliable access to Zcash nodes via the Blockbook WebSocket API. Connect to the Zcash network without running your own infrastructure.

The Blockbook indexer WebSocket interface for Zcash: request/response queries (status, account info, transparent UTXOs, transactions, broadcast) plus subscriptions to new blocks and address activity over a persistent connection.

Blockbook (REST) and Blockbook (WebSocket) are provisioned as separate interfaces with their own endpoint URLs. Enabling one does not enable the other.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Blockbook sees transparent activity only.** Shielded Sapling and Orchard value is encrypted to the holder's viewing key and is never indexed. In the normalized schema a shielded transaction arrives with `vin: []`, `valueIn: "0"`, and **`fees: "0"`**, whatever it actually paid. No WebSocket method exposes shielded components; read those from REST [api/v2/tx-specific](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-rest-api/api-v2-tx-specific-zcash.md) or JSON-RPC [getrawtransaction](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-json-rpc-api/getrawtransaction-zcash.md).
{% endhint %}

### Base URL

```bash
wss://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
The WebSocket endpoint is the access-token root. Do **not** append `/websocket`: that path returns `404 Not Found` and the upgrade handshake fails before a connection is opened.
{% endhint %}

### Message Envelope

Every request carries an `id` chosen by the client, a `method`, and a `params` object. The server echoes the same `id` on the matching response, so replies can be correlated on a multiplexed connection.

```json
{
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "method": "getInfo",
    "params": {}
}
```

A failed request returns an `error` object in place of the result:

```json
{
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "data": {
        "error": {
            "message": "Invalid address"
        }
    }
}
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Subscription notifications reuse the `id` from the subscription request rather than a fixed value. Give each subscription on a connection its own `id` so pushes can be routed by `id` without inspecting the payload.
{% endhint %}

### Methods

| Method                                                                                                   | Description                                           |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| [getInfo](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/getinfo-zcash.md)                       | Indexer status and the backend's consensus branch IDs |
| [getAccountInfo](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/getaccountinfo-zcash.md)         | Transparent address balance and transaction history   |
| [getAccountUtxo](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/getaccountutxo-zcash.md)         | Unspent transparent outputs for an address or xpub    |
| [getTransaction](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/gettransaction-zcash.md)         | Normalized transaction by txid                        |
| [sendTransaction](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/sendtransaction-zcash.md)       | Broadcast a signed, serialized transaction            |
| [subscribeNewBlock](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/subscribenewblock-zcash.md)   | Subscribe to new blocks as they are connected         |
| [subscribeAddresses](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/subscribeaddresses-zcash.md) | Subscribe to activity on a set of addresses           |

### Not available on Zcash

| Method        | Behaviour                                                                                                                             | Use instead                                                                                    |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `estimateFee` | Returns `-32601: Method not found`. Zebra implements neither `estimatesmartfee` nor `estimatefee`, so the indexer has nothing to call | The ZIP-317 conventional fee: 5,000 zatoshis per logical action, with a minimum of two actions |

### Zcash specifics

* **Amounts are in zatoshis**, at 1e-8 ZEC.
* **Fees follow ZIP-317**, not a fee market, and there is no fee estimator on any interface.
* **75-second blocks**, so block notifications arrive about eight times as often as on Bitcoin.
* **Consensus branch IDs** are reported by [getInfo](/api-reference/zcash-zec/zcash-blockbook-websocket-api/getinfo-zcash.md) under `backend.consensus`; transactions must be signed for the branch in force.
* **Transaction expiry.** Zcash transactions carry an `expiryheight` and cannot be mined after it, so a stuck transaction must be rebuilt rather than rebroadcast.
* **Transaction versions** 5 and 6 are both current; version 6 accompanies the NU6 upgrades.

### Support

* Support: <support@getblock.io>