state_getRuntimeVersion

Description

Returns the current runtime version, including specVersion and transactionVersion. Applications must monitor these values to refresh metadata and rebuild extrinsics after upgrades.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
blockHash	string	No	Block hash to query historical versions

Returns

Field	Type	Description
specName	string	Runtime specification name
implName	string	Implementation name
authoringVersion	number	Authoring version
specVersion	number	Runtime spec version
implVersion	number	Implementation version
transactionVersion	number	Transaction version
apis	array	Supported runtime APIs and versions

Request Example

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "state_getRuntimeVersion",
  "params": [],
  "id": 1
}

Response Example

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": {
    "specName": "bifrost_polkadot",
    "implName": "bifrost-node",
    "authoringVersion": 1,
    "specVersion": 21001,
    "implVersion": 0,
    "transactionVersion": 1,
    "apis": [
      ["0xdf6acb689907609b", 4],
      ["0x37e397fc7c91f5e4", 2],
      ["0xd2bc9897eed08f15", 3]
    ]
  },
  "id": 1
}

Code Examples

Python

version = substrate.rpc_request('state_getRuntimeVersion', [])["result"]
print(version['specName'], version['specVersion'])

JavaScript

const runtime = await api.rpc.state.getRuntimeVersion();
console.log(`Spec ${runtime.specVersion.toNumber()} txVersion ${runtime.transactionVersion.toNumber()}`);

Tips

• Trigger metadata refresh whenever specVersion changes.
• If transactionVersion increments, rebuild and re-sign extrinsics; old payloads will be rejected with 1010: Invalid Transaction.