system_version - JSON-RPC Method

Description

Returns the version of the node implementation. This JSON-RPC method provides information about the node software being used, which is useful for compatibility checking and debugging.

Parameters

This method does not require any parameters.

Returns

Field	Type	Description
result	string	Version string of the node implementation

Request Example

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

Response Example

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": "Parity Polkadot/v0.9.43-ba42b9ce51d",
  "id": 1
}

Code Examples

JavaScript

const getNodeVersion = async () => {
  const response = await fetch('https://api-polkadot.n.dwellir.com', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      jsonrpc: '2.0',
      method: 'system_version',
      params: [],
      id: 1
    })
  });
  
  const data = await response.json();
  return data.result;
};

// Parse version information
const version = await getNodeVersion();
console.log('Node version:', version);

// Extract implementation and version
const [implementation, versionInfo] = version.split('/');
console.log('Implementation:', implementation);
console.log('Version:', versionInfo);

Python

import requests
import json
import re

def get_system_version():
    url = "https://api-polkadot.n.dwellir.com"
    headers = {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
    
    payload = {
        "jsonrpc": "2.0",
        "method": "system_version",
        "params": [],
        "id": 1
    }
    
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, data=json.dumps(payload))
    return response.json()["result"]

# Parse version
version = get_system_version()
print(f"Full version: {version}")

# Extract components
match = re.match(r"(.+?)/v?([\d.]+)", version)
if match:
    implementation = match.group(1)
    version_number = match.group(2)
    print(f"Implementation: {implementation}")
    print(f"Version: {version_number}")

Common Version Formats

Implementation	Example Version	Description
Parity Polkadot	Parity Polkadot/v0.9.43	Official Parity client
Cumulus	Cumulus/v0.9.420	Parachain collator
Substrate Node	Substrate Node/v4.0.0	Generic Substrate node
Custom	MyNode/v1.0.0	Custom implementations

Use Cases

1. Compatibility Checking: Ensure node meets minimum version requirements
2. Feature Detection: Determine available features based on version
3. Monitoring: Track node versions across infrastructure
4. Debugging: Identify version-specific issues
5. Analytics: Analyze network node distribution

Related Methods

• system_chain - Get chain name
• state_getRuntimeVersion - Get runtime version
• system_health - Get node health status
• system_properties - Get chain properties