state_getRuntimeVersion

Returns the runtime version on Kusama.

Use Cases

• Version checking - Verify runtime compatibility
• Upgrade detection - Monitor for runtime upgrades on parachain experimentation, early feature deployment, and production-grade testing with real value
• Client compatibility - Ensure API compatibility

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
blockHash	String	No	Block hash for historical version

Request

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

Code Examples

cURL

curl  \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "state_getRuntimeVersion",
    "params": [],
    "id": 1
  }'

JavaScript

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

const provider = new WsProvider('');
const api = await ApiPromise.create({ provider });

const version = await api.rpc.state.getRuntimeVersion();
console.log('Spec name:', version.specName.toString());
console.log('Spec version:', version.specVersion.toNumber());
console.log('Impl version:', version.implVersion.toNumber());

await api.disconnect();

Python

import requests

def get_runtime_version():
    url = ''

    payload = {
        'jsonrpc': '2.0',
        'method': 'state_getRuntimeVersion',
        'params': [],
        'id': 1
    }

    response = requests.post(url, json=payload)
    return response.json()['result']

version = get_runtime_version()
print(f"Spec: {version['specName']} v{version['specVersion']}")

Related Methods

• state_getMetadata - Get runtime metadata
• system_version - Get node version