Getting Started

Get up and running with the Spectrum API in under a minute.

1. Get your endpoint URL

Sign up at spectrumnodes.com to get your assigned endpoint URL. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our User Guides: covering account creation, endpoint setup, billing, and more.

2. Make your first request

Use the endpoint URL from your dashboard, for example https://spectrum-01.simplystaking.xyz:


curl -X POST https://your-endpoint.simplystaking.xyz/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"getBlockHeight","params":{"chain":"ethereum"},"id":1}'

Response:


{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": {
    "data": {
      "chain": "0x1",
      "height": 24535031
    }
  },
  "id": 1
}

Try a few more:


# Get ETH balance
curl -X POST https://your-endpoint.simplystaking.xyz/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"getBalance","params":{"chain":"ethereum","address":"0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045"},"id":1}'
 
# Get token price
curl -X POST https://your-endpoint.simplystaking.xyz/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"getPrice","params":{"symbol":"ETH"},"id":1}'
 
# Compare gas fees across chains
curl -X POST https://your-endpoint.simplystaking.xyz/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"compareGas","params":{},"id":1}'

3. Install the SDK (optional)


npm install @spectrum-nodes/sdk


import { Spectrum } from '@spectrum-nodes/sdk';
 
const spectrum = new Spectrum({ api: 'https://your-endpoint.simplystaking.xyz/YOUR_API_KEY/' });
 
// Get the latest block height
const block = await spectrum.core.getBlockHeight('ethereum');
console.log(block.height); // 24535031
 
// Get a wallet's ETH balance
const balance = await spectrum.tokens.getBalance(
  'ethereum',
  '0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045'
);
console.log(balance.balance); // "32.126799"
 
// Get DeFi lending rates
const rates = await spectrum.yields.getLending({
  chain: 'ethereum', protocol: 'aave', pool: 'USDC'
});
console.log(rates.results[0].apy); // { baseApy: 2.3, extraApy: 0, totalApy: 2.3 }

4. JSON-RPC interface

The Spectrum API uses JSON-RPC 2.0 over a single POST to /v1:

curl -X POST https://your-endpoint.simplystaking.xyz/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "getBlockHeight",
  "params": {
    "chain": "ethereum"
  },
  "id": 1
}

Response:


{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": {
    "data": {
      "chain": "0x1",
      "height": 24535031
    }
  },
  "id": 1
}

Request format

Field	Type	Description
`jsonrpc`	`string`	Always `"2.0"`
`method`	`string`	API method name (e.g. `getBlockHeight`, `getBalance`)
`params`	`object`	Method-specific parameters
`id`	`number`	Request identifier returned in the response

Batch requests

Send multiple JSON-RPC calls in a single HTTP request by posting an array payload to POST /v1.

For complete examples and response behavior, see JSON-RPC Batch.

Error responses


{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "error": { "code": -32601, "message": "Method not found: foobar" }, "id": 1 }

Error Code	Meaning
`-32700`	Parse error: invalid JSON
`-32600`	Invalid request: missing required fields
`-32601`	Method not found
`-32602`	Invalid params
`-32603`	Internal error

Rate limits

Free tier: 10 requests/second
Pro tier: 100 requests/second

Rate limit headers are included in every response:


X-RateLimit-Limit: 10
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 9
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1709913600

Next steps

API Reference: Full endpoint documentation with interactive examples
TypeScript SDK: Typed client with caching, retries, and error handling
GraphQL API: Multi-chain GraphQL queries
Supported Chains: All 18 API chains
Platform Guide: Account setup, billing, teams, faucets